In my previous posts, I wanted to present you the idea of Couchsurfing – the platform that gathers “hosts” i.e. people who offer a free stay at their home for a short time and “guests” i.e. people who use that hospitality.
Yesterday I wrote about it more in detail and I showed how to create an account and what kind of information you will actually need to fill in in order to make your profile trustful.
Today I want to tell what the ways to stay safe on the platform are.
There are various ideas that are important to Couchsurfing community. Like “participate”, which in this particular environment means:
Spend time with your host or surfer. Make new friends and help each other discover new things about the world. If you’re new to Couchsurfing, tap into your local community first. It helps to know people near you, so meet other Couchsurfers in your area by joining groups and events.
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Many people have asked me how on earth I could trust someone I never met before and stay at his/her house. Well, I think that this idea is not for everyone. But I will write about that later on.
Verification
There actually are 2 types of accounts: verified and not verified. Verification doesn’t take much time but it costs 60$. I cannot judge if this is crucial or not, back when I was using it the most – 2015 and 2016 I could find a “safe” host without a problem. But that could have changed since then. And what are the pros of buying the “verification”? You have unlimited messages to the members of the community. The profile is more trustable as verification helps to confirm the identity. You can count on the help of Couchsurfing’s “Trust and Safety team”, which is available to you “around the clock”.
But to be honest the team is there to help everyone in need so I think this is more a marketing move. The vast majority of accounts are the ones that are not verified. What to do then?
Another crucial concept is to:
“Connect”: Finding a place to stay is just part of the Couchsurfing experience. More importantly, it’s about human connection. When you write a couch request, let hosts know why you think you’d enjoy each other’s company and what you’d like to contribute to your stay. When you’re there, get to know your host and their way of life. See what you learn.
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Safety first!
The members’ safety bases mostly on the idea of trustful references. As I explained before each account has a “Reference” section, where other guests and hosts leave their comments about you. Based on those comments you develop a reputation. If they are neutral or negative chances are pretty small that you will be able to interact and profit from the community. But the essential is to be honest! About everything you encountered during the visit. The system reassures that your reference will only be seen once the counterpart has written his/her reference, or until 14 days have passed. Why s that important? Because after 14 days, members cannot write the opinion or change it.
One of the most important things on the platform is to carefully review member profiles! It takes a lot of time, I know. I may be frustrating at times. But yes, it is essential if we want to remain safe and have only good experiences. Of course, no one will guarantee that the person that you have chosen will be a perfect host/guest. But. If you read all the opinions carefully the chances of a fuckup get significantly smaller.
So you have your Couchsurfing host. You arrive at his/her place and immediately your intuition screams “run!”. Please be prepared for those kinds of situations. I am not saying this may happen to you – it didn’t happen to me – but it is always better to be prepared.
So what can you do? The easiest thing – be aware where I the nearest hostel where you could spend a night if your couch arrangement didn’t work out. It is much better to pay for one night than to spend that night in an uncomfortable/unacceptable environment.
In case you have more questions, some of them have been already answered in this section of couchsurfing.com.
Sending joy! :)
Pura Vida and enjoy the travel!
Kasia
- More about me here :)
and here: You can travel without being wealthy aka a girl from a "struggling" family chasing her dreams!
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