Couch Surfing

A few months ago, I discovered a website that has potential to revolutionize travel as I know it. Lots of you probably already know about CouchSurfing.com (or the similar HospitalityClub.org), but for those of you who don’t, here’s a brief synopsis: These two non-profit ventures match up people who have a spare bed/couch/gymnastics mat with people who are looking to for a place to crash. The crash-ers search for crash-ees in destinations of their choice and contact those with whom they want to crash. Or, even if a match for accommodations isn’t made, folks can meet up for a beverage, meal, or other wholesome activity.

Well, the potential for free accommodations is very tempting, so I signed up for CouchSurfing.com. Both of these websites are based on systems of references, trust, and accumulated good experiences, so I figured that I should be open to letting people stay at my place in Struga. That way, when I want to invade peoples’ homes later, they will trust me to not harvest their organs while they sleep.

As a result, I hosted my first couch-surfer a few days ago and had a great experience. Her name’s Anna, and she’s a French medical student who was studying for the past year in Bucharest. Before coming to Struga, she had couch-surfed in Thessaloniki (Greece) and Skopje. She stayed at my place for two nights. I showed her around Struga a little, gave her my Macedonia travel guide, sent her off to Ohrid for a day, and talked with her about the post-communist mentality that is common to Macedonia and Romania. She also met a bunch of PCVs at a party that was going on in Struga. It was fun to meet someone new and introduce her to the area, and even better that she (probably like most couch-surfers) was happy to explore the area independently, leaving me to maintain my normal routine. And I still have both of my kidneys.

Anna, I hope you have a pleasant 30-hour bus trip from Bucharest to Lyon, and good luck with the rest of medical school! (And I promise to write you a nice reference soon!)