If you haven’t been able to tell by now, we have been on a very serious Couchsurfing kick. Not only are we having some of the most amazing experiences but are meeting incredibly rad people.
We mainly went to Banos due to a bazillion people talking about the rafting, rappelling, bungee jumping, and crazy things you can do there on the cheap. I mean, in Costa Rica we were trying to set up a rafting day but refused to pay $140 a person.
And while Banos is a GORGEOUS place in and of itself, some of my favorite times were spent with my Couchsurfing friends.
I knew that I was going to love Banos the moment we arrived to Juank’s house to surf. The man knows how to greet a weary traveler.
He is no stranger to hosting people. Juank has had the pleasure of meeting 400+ people around the world (and I’m convinced the people who own hostels in town must hate him due to taking all their business away) and has a million crazy stories to tell. Our first night in town he was hosting 7 surfers (some of which we are still currently traveling with) and I think at one point the count was up to 13! Bodies were found on couches, mattresses, hammocks, tents, sleeping bags and bean bags. Couchsurfers have serious a commitment to making travel affordable.
Hell, if I had that much extra room in my house to host people, you bet your sweet ass I would be doing it too! 😛
The house was always flooded with good music, good energy, and great people.
After all our great BBQs, beers, conversations, and new found friendships, I wasn’t ready to leave at the end of the week. For Juank, he wasn’t ready for us to leave either.
So goes the life of the traveler and Couchsurfing host – perpetually losing people.
That would be the hardest thing for me when we host. Letting go.
Although, we did manage to leave a little bit of ourselves behind.
Having worked in a hostel, I can confirm that they really don’t like the couchsurfing model 😉 Mostly because hostels can’t compete with free, and also because they feel it’s actually a bit dangerous and unregulated – hostels have to have things like insurance and comply with local safety laws etc.
Personally I like the idea of couch surfing, and believe it suits a different style of travelling. I’ve never actually tried it though, but posts like these are encouraging me to do so 🙂 Oddly I’d always thought of it as more of a singles thing – how do you find it works as a couple?
What an awesome host!!! Lucky you!!! 🙂
CSing is the best!!!!!!!!
Sounds like an awesome host!
Nice, guys! Looks like a fun time. That view from the balcony is unbelievable!
Got to love Couchsurfing experiences 🙂 Awesome photos. Making me think about Ecuador in addition to my Central American trip.
@Laurence: Couchsurfing as a couple is really hit or miss. We’ve been hit up for a threesome before lol. But other than that we more often than not have our own room. It is really nice.
@D: I know! Juank is AMAZING!
@Andi: And how! I love it so dearly.
@Amanda: One of my favs for sure!
@Kim: There were times where I couldn’t believe where we were. Just stunning.
@Harrison: You know, that is how we ended up doing our entire Central/South America trip. First it was just supposed to be Costa Rica… then we added Ecuador.. then I was like, “Well hell, we were planning on Peru anyway…” and here we are. You have been warned!
Seeing some familiar faces at the photos 🙂