CouchSurfing - What? How? Why? When? Where? PART 2

As for Couchsurfing as a guest, here are some suggestions:

Before

· Prepare early. Even though some hosts consider last minute application, you don’t really want to take that risk.

· Before you start to apply for a couch, complete your account profile as detailed as you can so that hosts can get to know you better before they decide whether to host you or not.

· Read hosts’ profile carefully and choose the one who share the same hobbies with you. You will feel much easier to talk with them and have more fun hanging out with them.

· Read former guests’ comments to find out if they are nice to guests.

· Choose location carefully. If you don’t have access to a car and the local public transportation is not convenient for you, don’t live in suburbs.

· Write a sweet application email to host and explain why you want to Couchsurfing at their place.

· Don’t worry about the “No” answer, keep trying and you will find your perfect host. From my own experiences, I often get about three “No” followed by one “Yes”. So that is good enough for me and I will talk about my own Couchsurfing experience in my following posts.

During

· Be polite and show your respect to your host. Don’t mess up with their houses by using their kitchen, drink their milk in the fridge without their permission and don’t forget clean your own mess. Those examples are all from a lady host who has hosted a lot of people and she got so mad at those bad guests.

· Be open-minded. Respect different cultures. Remember it’s all about culture-sharing.

After
· I often prepare some sweet and small gifts for my hosts as goodbye gifts. But it’s up to you though.
· Keep in touch with your hosts and you may become really good friends.

---PART 3 will be posted next week!