Got Couch?

I went to India with $300 US dollars in cash, converted to just over 13,000 rupees. By the time I left three weeks later, I still had some rupees leftover despite having not once withdrawn additional money from an ATM.

That means I spent an average of $14 USD a day in India, including cross-country train rides. India is cheap, people, but this is unusually cheap.

How did I achieve this?

A: I worked as an auto rickshaw driver
B: I became a train station beggar
C: I Couchsurfed
D: It is written

Final answer: C

Alright alright, sorry for the cheesy “Slumdog Millionaire” reference.

But seriously. Three weeks of travel for 300 bucks?! Even I’m impressed with myself. Combining my backpacker smarts (11 months in the making) with this wonderful thing called Couchsurfing, I managed to travel to four vastly different regions of India on this teeny budget and still save a bit of money to help with my onward travels.

But having a free place to stay is hardly the best part about Couchsurfing. The best part, by far, is the cultural experiences and fascinating people that come along with it.

What is Couchsurfing?

A worldwide network for making connections between travelers and the local communities they visit.

I particularly love their vision statement:

We envision a world where everyone can explore and create meaningful connections with the people and places we encounter.

By setting up a simple profile on the Couchsurfing website, you are already on your way to unique and authentic travel experiences. You’ll get to see a city or town or village from the perspective of someone who actually lives there, and do a bunch of cool stuff you’d miss out on as a hotel-dwelling tourist or hostel-hopping backpacker.

I did the hostel thing for a long time because I was skeptical of living in a stranger’s home, especially being a female and traveling alone. But joined at the hip with my awesome travel buddy and seasoned Couchsurfer in India (hi Maja!), I had no woes. I even went it alone in Singapore where I stayed with the most adorable family, ate home-cooked Singaporean food and made a friend for life (hi Asniah!).

The key is to read prospective hosts’ profiles in detail and read a lot of their reviews. After exchanging a few messages, it should be pretty clear if you’d be comfortable with certain hosts. I personally opt for families.

And it’s so rarely a “couch” I end up on. Sometimes it’s my own private room and bathroom (Maja and I once had an entire waterfront house to ourselves!). And sometimes it’s a mattress on the floor and cold showers.

And it’s not always an overnight accommodation. Sometimes it’s just someone who wants to show me around or pick me up at the train station to help me find a hotel or simply to meet for tea and have a nice conversation.

It’s not just a bunch of hippies either. I’ve met lawyers, housewives, students, entrepreneurs, a graphic designer, a master marine, an HR recruiter, a corporate finance specialist. I’ve stayed with Hindus, Catholics, Muslims, Sikhs. And I’ve shared space with grandmothers, ex-pats, infants and pets.

Of course not all my Couchsurfing experiences have been perfect. But it’s a wonderful resource if used wisely and with an open mind. And every single surf makes for an interesting story.

If my bank account lasts long enough to get me to Europe, I think it’s very possible to Couchsurf my way through the entire continent. How cool would that be!

One of the few things I look forward to about returning to the “real world” (which I’d rather not think about at the moment) is having a home in which to host Couchsurfers. Someday when this dream of a journey has ended, I’ll still have Couchsurfing to keep my travel spirit alive. A little pay-it-forward, if you will.

And while I’m here, I’d like to thank those who’ve hosted me and/or helped my travels in some way through Couchsurfing: Asniah (Singapore), Tony (Kampot), Gaurav and Dev (Mumbai), Daniel (Goa), Latika (Goa), Harsha (New Delhi), Gurdeep (New Delhi), Sid (Varanasi), Mayur (Varanasi). If it weren’t for many of you and the kindness of countless other strangers, I’d have had to pack my bags and head home a long time ago.

For more on my India travels: