Couch Critic

The statements and opinions on this page are solely those of its authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of CouchSurfing International.

This is part of the CS Magazine that we are working on.
You are looking at drafts which will be revised, edited, and eventually published.

CouchSurfing is a great thing and traveling with it makes life wonderful but there are as well times when you come across people that make it less cool. When someone writes to you that you are welcome at their place and that it will be a pleasure to show you around their town; and when you come he/she is not there working or going for a party and not taking you with him/her. This is a problem mainly for a CouchSurfers who travel on their own.

It would be great if people would write in their emails: Yes you can come and surf my couch but I cannot show you around because Im busy. That gives a lonely CouchSurfer time to maybe find someone else who can help him and who is willing to show his/her town. The worst is of course when you find yourself at someones door and there is no one inside. This kind of situations happen as well. Or when someone writes very nice and polite mail and then it appears that yes, you can stay at his place but it is quite illegal because the owner of the house doesn't let any guests;and then he/she says that you cannot use the bathroom nor kitchen because the owner cannot see that you are there (sic!). This is highly unpleasant situation for all the travelers. Well I found myself in all those situations so I just want to share it with others and ask what can we do to change it?

One has to wonder too because at times you might feel nice and dandy this week and the following week you might not and not feel like hosting which is common.

People go through mood-swings and it is always a good idea to have a backup and do mention it when you talk to your backup that if everything is okay with primary choice you will let them know and thank them, otherwise transfer on over to your backup couch.

article history edit