Many people find the idea of meeting, yet alone, staying with strangers pretty crazy. Given that’s understandable, it’s fascinating to see that even COVID-19, which brought the world to a standstill, couldn’t phase this group of Couchsurfing travelers. But I get it, it’s weird. And it also sounds too good to be true, right? Strangers hosting you in their house… for free. Sus. That’s what I thought at first too, but honestly, I was more intrigued than afraid. And for many years, it paid off. Well, that was up until I had my worst couchsurfing experience.
All I remember was opening my eyes and seeing him towering over my motionless body. I could move every other part of my body except my legs and arms, which seemed frozen in time when I needed them the most. It was also the coldest I had felt for months, and I genuinely believed that was it; that was where my Couchsurfing experience turned into a horror story that would be used as an example for others.
He got closer.
My body stiffened.
He leaned closer, and big, steady hands approached my body. I did nothing but stare and give a silent prayer, but his hands drew closer.
Summoning every ounce of energy I had left in my body, I raised my upper body from the tiny mattress, and in a flash of a second, he vanished. He was gone. Well, he wasn’t trying to strangle me, but he was there, in the room. I caught my breath and held my leather jacket even tighter. A slight breeze came through the open window.
I looked at him.
Was I dreaming, hallucinating? Experience a bit of both. I didn’t know what it was. But I knew I didn’t want to experience it again.
I looked at him again. I was gobsmacked by how differently we were experiencing that night. He snored snore like a freight train, lost in dreamland, while I, on the other hand, just escaped a nightmare.
My worst couchsurfing experience had just begun.
Have you ever had a bad experience with Couchsurfing?
Before that night, I wouldn’t have said yes. Maybe I had had a few uncomfortable situations here and there, but it was nothing like I experienced that night. Given I had been looking forward to this trip, I didn’t expect anything bad to happen while I stayed with my host. I had done this before. It was not my first rodeo.
But that was precisely what caused me to make an error.
I got complacent.
So, yes. I do take some blame for my worst Couchsurfing experience. But let’s get to our final words yet, this story has only just begun.
My Worst Couchsurfing Experience
Earlier this year, I was going to go on my longest trip yet! It was only going to be for a few days in Lisbon, but I decided to go all out. I decided to fly into Milan, spend a few days there, meet my friend in Lisbon, and then travel to Barcelona to admire the works of Gaudí.
It was a bulletproof plan.
And obviously, I was going to couch surf because that’s what one does.
Worst Couchsurfing Experience | Before The Trip
Finding a Couchsurfing host in Milan wasn’t as easy as I thought. I made a public request, and not many people responded. A few did, but they seemed rather strange. A friend of mine had couch-surfed in Milan, so I thought maybe I’d stay with the same host.
That would have been a good idea, except I mistook him for somebody else.
In my head, I was staying with the same guy that previously hosted a friend of mine. Since she wasn’t really a couch surfer and still had a pleasant time with the person, I imagined everything would go very well.
I didn’t check the home section on his profile and the preferences he had seemed okay.
Nearing my trip, I messaged him, like I normally do with all my hosts, because it’s important to have an established relationship before the trip. It was a bit difficult to do this with him. His responses were often direct, short, and always a bit far from the actual conversation.
I thought it was a matter of language barriers, but little did I know that this was a sign of something bigger and would eventually lead to my worst experience on Couchsurfing.
Worst Couchsurfing Experience | The Trip
It all started to go downhill when I got to the airport. Check-in was breezy, and I was there in time to hang around the airport before my flight. It was a Friday, and I had worked all week, so I was exhausted, but happy to be going somewhere warmer. My host still hadn’t yet sent me his house address, so I started to feel a bit anxious.
My flight was at 8 PM and I was going to arrive early enough to eventually get to his house without any issues. That was the plan until my flight got delayed by 2 hours. I was upset, naturally, and to add on, I had to pay for my baggage as well.
It turns out small suitcases don’t count as standard carry-ons. I learned that the hard way.
When we eventually took off, it was 30 minutes past 10 pm. I feared I’d have to take private transportation and didn’t even know where he lived. I hadn’t been to Milan before, so I was extremely terrified. When I got there, way after midnight, I received his address and while it was only half an hour from my location at the time, I couldn’t figure out how to get there.
For starters, most buses weren’t operating that night due to strikes, and I couldn’t get a taxi because I didn’t know what app I needed, and no one around me understood my question when I asked.
This was already starting to feel like my worst couchsurfing experience, so I got the next bus that came to the station, hoping it go toward his house. It did…for a few minutes. And then I was farther from him than I had been before.
I was in the middle of nowhere in a city I hadn’t been to, walking through dark, empty alleys without any sign of life but the fear of God in me. What if I got robbed or attacked? Why wasn’t my host responding?
After many failed at getting a taxi, I was beyond frustrated. I had been circling the city for 40 minutes, and my host had no idea whether it was safe for me to walk to his house or not.
Right at that moment, I wish I was back in Budapest.
But I tried to keep myself calm. It had been a long week, I had to pay double my flight ticket for the bag and got delayed a couple of hours. It was going to get better, I told myself.
I eventually ended up in a hotel lobby. But it was too expensive for me to spend one night, so it was out of the picture. Fearing they’d say no, I took a chance and asked them to call me a cab. Luckily, they did! That was one of the few good things that happened to me that night.
Worst Couchsurfing Experience | The Final Straw
When I finally got to his house, at almost three in the morning, I stood outside his door for about 20 minutes because he lost his house keys. I don’t know about you, but don’t we all keep our house keys in the same place?
My night couldn’t have gotten any worse, so I tried to wait as patiently as I could.
As the door flung open, I felt a hint of relief and anxiety at the same time. He wasn’t the man my friend had stayed with, and he certainly hadn’t prepared for my arrival because he walked me into a dirty room. I couldn’t tell what exactly that room was. There was a huge dining table with empty alcohol bottles, a couch with a few blankets on it, and a huge cupboard with food. It was almost like the kitchen, living room, and dining room in one.
Which, again, isn’t a problem. Except for the fact that was it extremely dirty.
He asked if I wanted a drink or was in the mood to go out partying, but those two things were the last on my mind. SLEEP.
That’s all I wanted. To forget about the day and start again.
He was taken aback by my response, given it was a Friday and I was a tourist. So, for 20 minutes, he told me all about how he travels and what he always does on vacation, hoping to inspire me to do the same.
My response was the same. All I needed that night was to sleep. He wasn’t happy and frustratedly gave up. And then it dawned on me that there wasn’t anywhere else for me to sleep except there, in that room.
Deep down, I knew this was going to be the worst and longest night ever. I had a thin bedsheet and a mattress on the dirty floor. He took the couch, saying he had rented out his bedrooms for the night. I couldn’t change into my night clothes because I was way too uncomfortable.
Nothing about him or his house made me feel safe. So, in my denim jeans, Doc Martens, and leather jacket, I attempted to sleep. It was dark, quiet, and cold. Very cold. I was experiencing so many things at that moment and I would have given anything to be back in my own home.
I tossed and turned because I couldn’t sleep. What felt like hours going by were only just minutes. This was going to be the longest night ever. My couchsurfing horror story. And then there he was, towering over my motionless body. I could move every other part of my body except my legs and arms, which seemed frozen when I needed them the most. It was also the coldest I had felt for months, and I genuinely believed that was it; that was where my Couchsurfing experience turned into a horror story that would be used as an example for others.
I was living my worst couchsurfing experience.
…but the story doesn’t end here. Luckily, dawn broke, and it all turned out for the best.
Final words
Luckily, it hasn’t been all this bad. I’ve had some of my best Couchsurfing experiences happen after my worst couchsurfing experience and also way before this incident. You’d think I’d be scared off completely, but the many wonderful people I’ve met on couchsurfing remind me that it’s not too bad.
Also, there are several ways of practicing safety on couchsurfing, especially if it’s your first time!
Other countries I’ve couch-surfed in besides Italy include Turkey, Belgium, Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Austria, Switzerland, Slovenia, Czech Republic, and Spain.
