How is it staying with people?

So far I have:

-heard people banging.

-had a cat take a dump a foot away from me.

-had a cat bite my toe. (F***ing cats!)

-shared a bed, shared a room, had my own room, or the couch.

-stayed in clean homes and not so clean homes.

-had majority of hosts cook for me, be my tour guide, and party pal.

-had more chemistry with some than others.

-made friendships that will last a lifetime.


90% of the time it has been fantastic. The remaining 10% was OK, but not bad. But 100% of the time it was well worth it. The entire time I´ve been in Europe I´ve only paid for 2 nights of housing! But again, as I´ve expressed before, I´m not doing it just to save money. How f***ing boring and uneducational would it be to stay in hostels and hotels.

People back home often asked me what it´s like staying with people. Some people may find it strange or unsafe to stay with people you don´t know. At first I was a little nervous, but you gotta take chances and have faith that there are good people out there, and there is.

Plus, people who belong to Couch Surfing, Servas or Wwoof tend to be like minded people. More often than not, they´re liberal, open-minded, generous, warm, welcoming, and genuine. People who got soul. People who aren´t just about "me." If there were more of these people in the world it would be a better place.

In addition, within this community of travelers, there´s a common understaning or unwritten rule that you take care of a fellow traveler. You take care of someone now, and someone down the road will take care of you. It´s how it should be in all aspects of life - you help take care of people.

As I write this, I think about my favorite people in my life, and they all follow this philosophy.