So, you have heard about Couchsurfing but haven’t figured out how to make the best of it. Or you have used but not successfully get any host or meet-up. In this article, I’ll give you a complete guide on how to use Couchsurfing.

What is Couchsurfing?

To whom may not know about this, Couchsurfing is a useful travel application which connects travelers and locals. It’s based on the kindness of the host, or the enthusiasm and open-minded attitude of users. Couchsurfing is an alternative way of traveling on the budget because it’s not only about offering a free stay, but also about culture exchanging.

What can you do with Couchsurfing?

1. Staying at a local’s place

Couchsurfing is a great way to travel on a budget because you can save money on accommodation. You can stay at someone’s place after sending the request to them and get accepted. Depending on the host’s house description, you may sleep on the couch in the living room, or have a private room. During your stay, you can cook with your host and hang out with them if you’d like to 🙂

You can save a lot of money by making use of Couchsurfing. Just imagine that you visit Switzerland, you can save at least 30 Euro per night!

2. Hosting

If you’d like to meet travelers around the world, why not offer a place for them to stay? I think this is a great opportunity to meet many people and make new friends. Also, hosting travelers is the best way to contribute to a Couchsurfing community!

You can earn 3 months of verified membership by hosting travelers. So don’t hesitate to open your door and share your lives with others 😉

3. Meeting people

Traveling alone? No worries! You can meet up with locals or other travelers easily by Couchsurfing! Specifically, you just need to search for hosts or travelers who are coming to town, send a nice message to meet them in advance.

Also, you should public your trip so others can contact you easier. Many locals offer to show new people around their city in the free time as well. So take that chance and get to know more people!

4. Attending events

You can search for events in the city you’re visiting, or it will automatically appear when you public your trip. There are several Couchsurfing events such as weekly meeting, discovering the urban area, etc.

Search for events around you 🙂

5. Hangout

If you use the mobile version of Couchsurfing, you can turn on your location and use Hangout function. Just choose “Become Available”, then fill out what you want to do. You can see the distance between you and other, and also what they would like to do. If you’d like to contact them, press “Hello”.

Choose Hangout Now

Then “Become Available”

What would you like to do? Type and then press My availability

A group of people I met on Couchsurfing in Poland!

How to use Couchsurfing successfully?

1.  Create an account

The first step is to create a Couchsurfing account. You can either use Facebook or login by your email. It will only take 1 minute to set it up!

2. Upload pictures

I suggest you to at least 3 Couchsurfing pictures on your profile. If you want to host travelers, it will be better to upload pictures of your place as well.

3. Add friends

Your profile will look suspicious if you have no friend or just 1 or 2 friends. If your account is connected to Facebook, you can send friend requests to your friends on Facebook.

4. Fill up your profile

It’s important to let users know more about you, such as your interest, reasons that you are on Couchsurfing or countries you have visited. Write some interesting information about yourself will increase your chance to get hosted or host someone!

This is my account on Couchsurfing 🙂 Having a full profile will help you a lot!

5. References

Many people don’t like to host or ask someone to host if that person does not have any reference. Reference is very important on Couchsurfing because it shows the valuation and reliance of a person. If you just start using Couchsurfing, you can ask your friends to write some references for you first.

Having references will prove that you’re trustworthy!

6. Host/ Find travelers

Start to use it! Yes, you are ready to begin 🙂

Create a trip/ Host a Traveler/ Browse Events – Many things to do!

Is it safe to use Couchsurfing?

Stay tuned and I will tell you how to stay safe on Couchsurfing in the next article!

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