I’ve been asked many times if I’ve had a bad couchsurfing experience. In fact, that is one of the first things people ask me when they find out I couchsurf or when they want to know more about the community and this interesting method of traveling.
The reality is that I haven’t had any bad experience while couchsurfing but of course, I’ve had a few interesting and memorable experiences with a few of my hosts, and by far, the best one has been with my host Jonas, in Berlin.
It was 4:00am and I had just arrived by train to Berlin’s central station, Berlin Hauptbahnhoff. I had coordinated with my host Jonas to meet him that day, though for some reason, we missed to inform each-other of the arrival time and address (how did that happen?!) So, I had a place to stay in Berlin, but I didn’t know where it was.
Of course, since it was so early in the morning and I had no idea where I could go in the city at that hour, I decided to sit at a McDonald’s in the station (the only place open), and wait till 8:00am to call my host to get the address. I took out my phone and as I started dialing… surprise… it wasn’t working.
I moved in and out of the terminal searching for signal, but my phone was as resistant of getting a signal as a child is of drinking his medicine.
No luck! Damn jailbroken iPhone! Damn Berlin’s telecommunications!
First things that came to my mind… Was Jonas trying to contact me? Will he think I stood him up? Will I have to start looking for a cheap Berlin hotel or hostel in case we fail to get in touch?
I quickly looked for the first wi-fi spot so I could message him through Facebook and couchsurfing.org. Message sent… now it’s the waiting game.
I waited patiently for a response but I wasn’t going to just sit there waiting, so I threw my backpack into a locker and roamed around Berlin; visiting sites like the Reichstag, the Jewish Memorial, and a few other – always jumping between Starbucks and other cafes to catch a wi-fi signal for a quick glimpse into my email.
Hour after hour I checked my email inbox. No response… so without much worry I continued my day. What’s the worst that could happen?!
At around 5:00pm, my concern of having no place to stay started to kick in. It was now time to start looking for a hostel.
But before, one last look. Alas!
A message from Jonas! Phew… A facebook response never felt so good.
I was so glad I took it easy and didn’t panic first thing in the morning when there was no communication between us. Turns out he was trying to contact me all day through text messages and calls; with no success. Damn you again cell phone!
In the end, those moments of “housing uncertainty” were worth it. Jonas and his roommates had the coolest apartment I’ve couchsurfed in, even with a spider pig! Yup, The Simpsons spider pig!
The rest was a memorable stay at their place, watching football with a few German beers, dinner and a good chat with all the roommates, and more. In addition, they made my city experience even more memorable as Jonas took his time to show me around the artsy parts of Berlin I would have never thought to visit.
Local knowledge and interaction beats any hostel!… this is what I love the most about Couchsurfing.
Lesson learned: Always get the address before arriving and if possible, schedule with your host your arrival time.
Oh man, I have nothing but love for the Couchsurfing project. I actually don’t know anyone who’s had a really bad experience with it, either – I think it’s actually quite easy to get a read on the people you’re looking to host or surf with before you go!
Hey Naomi! I agree, all those good experiences come with a good search and screening of your host/guest. It’s a good way to improve the chances to click and have a great time.
That’s a good lesson learned about the time and address!
I’ve never done couchsurfing officially but I did do it unofficially one time. It was Florence, 3 am, with a girl I met on the street. It worked out well! 
Good lesson learned, indeed!
Haha! Florence + 3am + girl met on the street… Many people don’t call that “couchsurfing”!
LMAOOOO Norbert XD
It doesn’t seem like you to forget such an important information as an address before heading off to your destination. I’m glad, however, that your story had a happy ending. Though I’ve heard nothing but great things about couchsurfing, I’m still wary of it. I’d like to be more open minded, but I’m in constant fear for my own safety. After all, these people are total strangers, no? I wouldn’t mind couchsurfing if I was the only person there, but if I have to share a place with others, I probably wouldn’t be able to go to sleep. Such a dilemma – on one hand, I would like to try it for all its benefits and on the other, I can’t get pass it being a safety concern.
I know! It’s so not me forgetting that, but it did happen. Still, the experience was great! It is totally understandable your safety concerns. In fact, most people have that same concern, but in general the couchsurfing project is like a network of likeminded people who are there to help fellow travelers.
While I can’t guarantee any degree of safety, I can say that my personal experiences have been extremely good and have never presented a safety issue. From the people I know that couchsurf, I believe they’ve had similar positive experiences. I would recommend you to couchsurf with a friend you trust so that you’re not the only one staying at a random person’s place.
Ahhh, don’t you just love couchsurfing? My best travel tales, for the most far, stem from encounters and surfing with CSers
I love it!!! Yes, I have great tales with couchsurfers. It’s always an experience!
Lesson learned?! Yeah, unfortunately i also had such experience, but as a host – my CS was not able to contact me because he forgot the details. When i called him later on, he told me that he just checked-in a hostel…But we made the best of the situation and had some beers by doing a pubcrawl in Hamburg. And the CouchSurfer came from….Berlin
Hey Steve! I guess these stuff happen every now and then, but it’s cool you guys had the chance to meet for the pub-crawl, which sounds really cool!
Haha, an important detail to have forgotten! Great to hear that it all worked out, though. I’ve only Couchsurfed once, but it was a really good experience, and I’ll definitely do it again sometime.
I know!! How silly of both of us! But it all worked out more than fine at the end. I’m glad you had a good couch surfing experience! I see many women scared of couch surfing by themselves (and guys too), so it’s good to hear that others have had positive experiences too.
Hehehe love this Norbert! I’ve CouchSurfed a bunch of times with no issues (though I did get locked out of a host in Shanghai’s apartment the night before my early flight to the US because the key broke in their lock!).
I do have one great memory though of coming back from a local CS event in Brooklyn with another guy who was hosting someone that night. He hadn’t heard from her, though she had his address. Eventually we left the event in Brooklyn so he could hopefully beat her back to his apartment in Harlem.
We were waiting for the 1 at Columbus Circle when who should walk up but his surfer, having just gotten off the A from JFK!
Yikes… getting locked out! ha! ope that doesn’t happen to me.
It’s crazy the weird encounters you can have on the NYC subway. I’ve been trying to meet with a friend for months, with no success. The other day we randomly bumped into each other on the subway, and what’s funny is that none of us take that particular train line, ever!
Ah schoolboy error – not exchange addresses and setting a time
Glad it all worked out in the end.
haha! yeah, schoolboy error I guess. So silly of us… but everything was cool in the end.