How To Pimp Your Couchsurfing Profile And Find A Place To Stay

Feature as good as Above Photo: Dave Austria

How to become the dictatorial couchsurfer.

Couchsurfing can be daunting. we mean, how does a single navigate the routine of asking the foreigner for the place to sleep for the night? Thats why Ive motionless to take the page from Kelly Diels book as good as suggest all readers the event to ask advice, tips or any questions we competence have about Couchsurfing.

Ill proceed with answering the couple of questions which appear to come up often. Then youll have the change the possibility to ask anything youve ever wanted to know about Couchsurfing.

Whats my Couchsurfing experience?

Ive been an active part of of Couchsurfing for the final 4 years. Ive couchsurfed as the family as good as alone. Ive hosted tons of people as good as both created as good as taken part in Couchsurfing meetups in Europe, the United States, Canada, Central as good as South America. we even partied as good as peeled potatoes with the Couchsurfing stay at Burning Man.

I feel gentle rocking up in any city in any nation upon this world confident in the fact Ill be able to find the place to stay, the organisation for the splash or simply someone to give recommendation about how to find the train to the subsequent town.

Im happy to help we rise the same sort of apparatus as good as village in Couchsurfing as well.

How Can we Create A Profile That Makes Others Want To Host Me?

Of all the questions people ask, oddly, this a single frequency comes my way. But we consider it is substantially the most important. The answer is comparatively simple, judicious as good as can be answered as simply as one, two, three.

One. Be yourself. Be real. The some-more honest we have been about who we have been as good as what we wish in the host or transport experience, the some-more expected we have been to find what we ! need.

Feature as good as Above Photo: Mike {Mike Murrow Photography}

Dont be fearful to include your interests as good as personal opinions. A intensity host is some-more expected to respond to the ask when your form overlaps with identical interests. That connection can lead to the fantastic surfing knowledge because, believe it or not,youve dispensed with all tiny speak by reading any others profiles as good as can rught away get down to the business of carrying fun.

Two. Begin meeting people as good as building up your friends as good as references before to we send out your initial cot request.

When we embrace the cot request, we rught away demeanour at how most friends the chairman has as good as then review all the references. Friends as good as references let me know how invested we have been in the Couchsurfing community. You dont need to be an card-carrying t-shirt wearing Couchsurfing ambassador, though we do wish to know youre not usually popping upon the site for the free place to stay.

References as good as friends also let me know which others have had positive experiences with you. They allow me to certitude you. If we have friends in common, even better.

Three. Make certain your friends as good as references have been real-life, real-time connections.

Nothing sets of my No-Surfing-With-Me warning bell faster as good as louder than the form with all or often online-only connections. On online-only friend usually tells me which youve contacted someone through an e-mail or chat. Maybe youve even sent the friend ask to someone we dont know. It tells me nothing about whether youre the good guest or if we get along with people face-to-face.

I have about 140 friends upon Couchsurfing. Only two have been online-only. Both of those have been people Ive known for good over the year as good as with whom we have ! grown an tangible friendship.

How does Couchsurfing talk about from alternative forms of social media?

Please, dont provide your Couchsurfing account the same approach we would Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare or even Linked In. While youre acquire to e-mail whomever we wish for recommendation of march they might not respond the final thing we wish to do is fill your Couchsurfing form with the garland of people we hardly know.

I already told we the initial thing we do when evaluating the form is review references. If the chairman has tens of references, though none of those people appear to know him over the couple jokes as good as the drink, we still know nothing about which person.

But if youve helped someone lay down the concrete floor in their basement, babysat their children as good as cooked the dish for them, then we know something. Now if youve had identical interactions with twenty different people, we proceed to get the genuine sense of who we are.

I admit, when we initial began Couchsurfing, we did supplement friends in an try to bulk up my profile. We all do it to the little extent. And which is the fine strategy for usually about any alternative social media forum. Not Couchsurfing.

Its the strength of my connectors which matter. Youre asking people to open up their homes as good as lives to you. Many have children. Would we certitude your home as good as family with someone we know usually through the couple of tweets as good as the reduced profile?

So how do we encounter people before to promulgation out your initial cot request?

Simple. Check groups. Theres the organisation for usually about everything, too. From women traveling solo to stamp pciking up to family groups acquire as good as literally all in between.

Thats where youll find meetings, get togethers, mash-ups, people seeking for the coffee, for someone to share the car rental, places to volunteer. Join a single of these get togethers. Get to know people in real-time in genuine li! fe.

< p>I assimilated up with Los Comelones in Costa Rica the couple of years ago. They encounter once every month or so to try new restaurants in as good as around San Jose. Randall e-mailed me about it, though he couldnt go which night. Since which night the organisation of us met for Peruvian Japanese food, Randall visited us. Weve stayed with him in San Ramon. Weve left out celebration as good as eating. Weve cooked together. Hes referred his friends to us as good as clamp versa. Ive even created an essay about him.

Its amazing where a single clearly minor e-mail can lead.

What else do we wish to know about Couchsurfing?

Now its your turn to ask anything we wish to know about Couchsurfing. Small or big. Complicated or simple. Just ask your question in comments below.