Couch Surfing in Colombia

My first week and a half in Colombia was all CouchSurfing. I stayed with:

Laura (who has the world's most beautiful dreads and is the best Colombian History
and Political Science teacher I've ever had),

Juliana (who has the most positive attitude, the most loving relationship and brightest traveling future ahead of her),

 and...

Angie (who is literally the exact same person as me).

 Of course we all bonded over our love of traveling, our interest in other cultures, our openness to learning from others and our craving for adventure. Duh--it's CouchSurfing. But there was something else we bonded over, too: the fact that we're the only ones who get CouchSurfing.

People who haven't experienced it all say the same thing: "What if you get robbed?" "What if you get raped?" "What if they're murderers?"

It sounds like I'm exaggerating when I list it out like that but people really do ask those questions.

Laura and her mom told me about how much Laura had to talk about it before her mom was actually convinced to do it. I believe they said it took months. Her mom thought it was dangerous, didn't think her house was nice enough and, even when she finally came around and said yes, didn't think it would be safe to invite men. She now admits she was wrong on all counts and they now accept Surfers of all genders, countries, races and the list goes on. But it took a lot of convincing.

Juliana had a similar story and Angie's parents still don't know she does it.

My mom called me on skype a few nights ago while I was staying at Angie's so I introduced the two of them. My mom said hi and then Angie's sweet little smile and wave made me burst out loud laughing. That is who is on CouchSurfing. I'm who's on CouchSurfing. The two of us are the people that everyone else is terrified of and that's just hilarious.

I understand it, though. Things sound scary before you try them and I'm guilty of this, as well. Up until this point, I've always looked for girls to stay with BUT I realized how silly that was while I was in Bogota. Laura's friend, Cristian, also just started hosting Surfers and we all hung out almost every day, whether he had someone staying with him or not. He'd come by with his car and take us to some other amazing part of the city until I got to know all the best parts! Since he's new on CouchSurfing, he didn't have many references and I got to be one of his first! He's the sweetest guy in the world and, hanging out with him, I realized how many amazing people I must be cutting off by refusing to stay with guys.

Karla (Venezuela), Me, Cristian (Colombia), Myriam (Switzerland) & Laura (Colombia),
hanging out, looking over the entire city of Bogota

I also met Karla (from Venezuela) and Franziska (from Germany), two other Surfers, while I was in Bogota. Both stay with guys as well as girls but, since the site is mostly men, Franziska told me she almost always stays with guys. She's 23 but she's been to many more countries than I have and has CouchSurfed so many times she can't count. In all those times with all those different men hosting her, how many bad experiences has she had? Zero.

I get that CouchSurfing sounds scary to people. I really do because even I have even been letting fear (the "lack of safety" in staying with a guy) influence me into taking unnecessary precautions. BUT something unknown that makes us nervous is all the more reason for us to pay attention to logic and experience and to be careful to not make decisions based in fear.

CouchSurfing is incredible because of the wonderful people you meet and the beautiful experiences you share together. I sincerely recommend that everyone tries either Surfing or Hosting at least once in your life because it's amazing!

Disclaimer: CouchSurfing is not AirBnb, just like traveling is not spending a week in Cancun or the Galapagos Islands. AirBnb people do it for the money and CouchSurfing has nothing to do with that. People Surf and Host for the love of cultural exchange and the opportunity to learn something from others. Every moment of it is incredible.