Words from Russia: A couchsurfer’s take on its culture

I still haven’t tried couchsurfing–having a husband who’s somewhat squeamish about spending the night in our family’s homes, much less a ‘stranger’s’ home kind of dampens the incentive. But I really love reading stories about people who couchsurf–there’s so much camaraderie, openness, generosity, and enthusiasm in the CS community. Thanks for sharing your experience!

You know, it’s funny…I haven’t really heard of any bad stories – sure you might have a slightly annoying guest, or I’ve heard of people who take advantage of their hosts (staying longer than welcomed – host is too nice to say anything, or maybe eating their food), but as far as safety or other issues you might think of when you think of doing this, nothing (knock on wood!).

Like anything in life, there is bound to be the odd bad experience, but by far, in my experience anyway, the benefits far outweigh any negatives. When you start communicating with guests or hosts, you quickly get a feel for what they’re like. You can check comments others have left for them, read up on their profile,etc.

It really is the best way to get into a local culture, and away from the backpacker/tourist trail a bit. And when you’re hosting, having travelers come through and telling you their stories is great.

Get your partners in line! It’s something you should definitely give a go!

I’ve CouchSurfed in Russia, as well as other countries in Europe and Asia. I’ve never had any worry about safety and the only bad experience was a host who pretty much ignored me and everyone else in the commune in Estonia where he lived. But I always try to be self-sufficient anyway and I ended up meeting a lot of other people in this place, as well.