Day 1: Sitting on the Canada line, heading into Vancouver to kill a 9 hour layover, I'm preparing myself for my fourth trip CouchSurfing across Europe. Each tour had me board my flight unaware where I'd spend the following night. Regardless, I always ended up with a backpack full of luck with hours to spare as I found a couch to surf on. Now, already left Winnipeg, I'm anticipating where I'll end up.
October 2009 - Brussels, Belgium:
Being my first CouchSurfing trip, I'd sent out several requests prior to leaving, only to have a potential host cancel on me after his grandfather passed away. With my train to Toronto leaving in a matter of hours, I sent out a few more messages before leaving on the 35 hour rail ride with no internet access. It came down to a couple hours before I flew out of the country that I was able to check a library computer and receive a positive response from my first host. It was the beginning of figuring things out when they came up.
July 2011 - Copenhagen, Denmark:
Departing from Winnipeg via Iceland, all of my requests had come up cold and I was going to arrive with no idea where I was spending the night. It wasn't the start I wanted, especially after a no frills airline with not even complimentary water. Taking the train into the city in hopes of finding a hostel, my luck was on my side again as I made a last attempt to see if I received any messages. The 180 that comes with thinking I'd be staying in a hostel to spending the night at a house party till the sun came up was worth the wait. Despite having been up for a staggering 38 hours, the rest of the 36 day trip was flawless - not having to pay for a single night's accommodation.
September 2013 - London, England:
Planning on spending a few days in London before moving to Bradford for the semester, I had been far too busy to even send out any couch requests. In the truest sense, I left it to the last minute by firing up my wifi, while standing in line at British customs, and posted to London's last minute CS group. Within seconds I received a text message, a couple emails, and a phone call. While I felt prepared to venture into the city to find my way, it became a challenge once learning my bag containing my power adapter was lost. Past 11 at night, it seemed my good luck had run out as I waited 45 minutes in an empty Chiswick underground station. Fortunately it worked out in the end.
July 2014 - Frankfurt, Germany:
In a city that saw my first CouchSurfing experience fall through leading me to take a train to the airport to spend the first night, then a seedy hostel in the red light district the next, it could only get better this time around. I'm now back on the Canada line going into the airport after watching Germany take the world cup. I'll find my next couchsurfer at the Frankfurt airport again, although the good news is that he only works there. I'll meet him there shortly after I arrive and he finishes his shift. Talk about good timing.
While planning to scramble to find wifi so I could message my host, Aurélain, once I got to the airport, I was a little surprised to have him literally pick me up just as I walked off the tarmac. He escorted me through the airport on his electric cart to get my bag. I wondered aloud if it was a problem not going through border patrol. 'You're Canadian', he replied, 'it won't be a problem'. While we did end up doing a quick drive by to get my passport stamped, it wasn't the start to my trip that I had expected.
October 2009 - Brussels, Belgium:
Being my first CouchSurfing trip, I'd sent out several requests prior to leaving, only to have a potential host cancel on me after his grandfather passed away. With my train to Toronto leaving in a matter of hours, I sent out a few more messages before leaving on the 35 hour rail ride with no internet access. It came down to a couple hours before I flew out of the country that I was able to check a library computer and receive a positive response from my first host. It was the beginning of figuring things out when they came up.
July 2011 - Copenhagen, Denmark:
Departing from Winnipeg via Iceland, all of my requests had come up cold and I was going to arrive with no idea where I was spending the night. It wasn't the start I wanted, especially after a no frills airline with not even complimentary water. Taking the train into the city in hopes of finding a hostel, my luck was on my side again as I made a last attempt to see if I received any messages. The 180 that comes with thinking I'd be staying in a hostel to spending the night at a house party till the sun came up was worth the wait. Despite having been up for a staggering 38 hours, the rest of the 36 day trip was flawless - not having to pay for a single night's accommodation.
September 2013 - London, England:
Planning on spending a few days in London before moving to Bradford for the semester, I had been far too busy to even send out any couch requests. In the truest sense, I left it to the last minute by firing up my wifi, while standing in line at British customs, and posted to London's last minute CS group. Within seconds I received a text message, a couple emails, and a phone call. While I felt prepared to venture into the city to find my way, it became a challenge once learning my bag containing my power adapter was lost. Past 11 at night, it seemed my good luck had run out as I waited 45 minutes in an empty Chiswick underground station. Fortunately it worked out in the end.
July 2014 - Frankfurt, Germany:
In a city that saw my first CouchSurfing experience fall through leading me to take a train to the airport to spend the first night, then a seedy hostel in the red light district the next, it could only get better this time around. I'm now back on the Canada line going into the airport after watching Germany take the world cup. I'll find my next couchsurfer at the Frankfurt airport again, although the good news is that he only works there. I'll meet him there shortly after I arrive and he finishes his shift. Talk about good timing.
While planning to scramble to find wifi so I could message my host, Aurélain, once I got to the airport, I was a little surprised to have him literally pick me up just as I walked off the tarmac. He escorted me through the airport on his electric cart to get my bag. I wondered aloud if it was a problem not going through border patrol. 'You're Canadian', he replied, 'it won't be a problem'. While we did end up doing a quick drive by to get my passport stamped, it wasn't the start to my trip that I had expected.