I am fresh from my first ever Couchsurfing experience and it was pretty amazing. I stayed with a local girl in Kaili, a small city that I am really impressed with. She’s part of the local minority Miao people and has started her own business teaching English to local kids. She and her twin sister have made names for themselves by teaching themselves English after having left school at age 14. I stayed in her apartment she shares with her father and his girlfriend and even sat in on her English class one morning.
The night I arrived I found myself out at a local nightclub which was an experience complete with drinking beer in shots and a flamethrowing bartender. The following day we headed off with some of her friends to an area a bit out of town where locals swim in the river, drink beer, have BBQs and play mahjong and cards. It was truly the sort of place I never would have discovered for myself and I loved every minute of it.
So I am definitely a fan of Couchsurfing but I never would have expected not to be. The only downside is that it’s pretty much impossible to get work done if your host is good enough to show you around. If you get a host who might be busy with work of their own then you might be able to spend your days getting things done.
But then again, for me the whole point of Couchsurfing is to immerse yourself in the local culture and hiding yourself away on your computer sort of defeats the purpose so work be damned! At least until the next stop.
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