Wiesbaden: My first couch-surfing experience

In my last post, I talk about my experience visiting Wiesbaden, Germany. Now in this post I will tell you about why and how I decided to go to Wiesbaden. As I mentioned already, I was going to Wiesbaden to visit my friend who moved there for an internship. The first time that I went to visit her, I actually decided to make it a surprise and I didn't tell her anything!

The friendship reunion.

I'm going to rewind first to three years ago when I studied in Amiens, France. Back then I had two really good friends and we were a fun group. One of these friends is from Morocco, and this year she contacted me to visit with me in Madrid. I was so excited that she came to see me.

Our other friend, the Spanish one, had just left Madrid to go to do her internship in Wiesbaden, so we spontaneously decided that it would be a good idea to go there together and surprise her! It was actually a good idea because she still had not made many friends there yet.

The plan.

Organizing the surprise trip was less complicated than I had expected, and actually it turned out to be quite easy. Basically all we had to do was:

• Buy our plane tickets from Madrid to Wiesbaden (roundtrip).
• Find adequate (yet cheap) housing close to our friend's new apartment).
• Make sure that our friend would not be making any plans whatsoever during the time that we were planning to visit her.      

The plane tickets.

Buying the plane tickets were the easiest part. We used AirEuropa, which sometimes has excellently cheap prices (€60 roundtrip), although the airplanes are very basic and a bit old-looking. As long as the price is good and the plane takes me to where I want to go, I am totally satisfied. 

Other times, I have used Latam, which is one of my favourite airlines. The reason why I love Latam is because I have also been able to get roundtrip ticket prices with them from Madrid to Wiesbaden for under €100, yet the airplanes of Latam are a completely different, luxiurious experience (compared with the basic airlines).

These are international planes, coming originally from South America and stopping in Madrid before continuing to Wiesbaden. This means that these flights have the screens to watch movies, listen to music and play games, and they also offer a free sandwich with drinks during the three hour flight.

The windows of the plane were what amazed me the most: They do not have the physical plastic shades like in other planes. Rather, the windows in the Latam airplanes are controlled by sensory touch buttons, which you can adjust manually to gradually darken the shades to your preferred level. Even at the darkest shade level which will block the sunlight, you can still look outside and see the clouds and view. To me, this is very high-tech and it is the first time I have seen airplane window shades like that.     

The only negative points to using Latam is that you need to remember to bring your passport with you to the airport if you're a non-EU citizen because even though the flight is only going to Germany, it is technically considered an international flight since the origin is coming from South America. The first time that I took Latam, I did not know that having my passport was a requirement; I assumed that since I was traveling within the Schengan region, having my Spanish residence identity card would be sufficient. However, when I arrived to the ticketing desk to check in, they asked me for my passport.

I almost had a heart attack on this day because I thought I had to go back home to get my passport, and I would have missed my flight. I don't know how, but I was the luckiest person in the world on that day: I started desperately looking in my purse, and I miraculously found my passport there. There are very few days that I can remember being as happy as I was in that moment of finding that I had my passport with me. This is the situation where I say: "The past me was looking out for the future me".

Anyway, I have veered off track here and I must get back to the story.     

The housing.

As poor college students, we were looking for the cheapest accommodation possible during our 3-day visit to Wiesbaden. We were not going to count on staying at our Spanish friend's apartment because she was sharing a bedroom with another girl, and there were three other flatmates living in the other available rooms. Given that the apartment was a full house, I did not want to impose on them, so we looked for other accomodation.

We did not have that much money to spend on hostels or hotels, so we tried our luck with Couchsurfing. I was a bit uneasy at first about this because I foster a general lack of trust in people, and I did not want to have to get ourselves in any awkward or uncomfortable situations. In any case, I sent out a few requests to female hosts, and one girl responded back to me with an affirmative answer. She seemed really nice and welcoming, so we accepted and booked our Couchsurf stay with her.

After arriving at the Frankfurt airport, my Moroccan friend and I took the train to Wiesbaden, and our Couchsurfing host met us at the station. She was very friendly and took us to her small flat where we put our things and settled a bit to rest, introduce ourselves, and talk to get to know each other. It turned out that our host lived on the same street as our Spanish friend, only about 10 minutes away by foot! This was a lovely surprise.

The surprise.

Shortly after having moved to Wiesbaden, my Spanish friend had given me the phone number of her roommate, so that I could have a way to contact her just in case. This was perfect because thanks to this, I was able to speak with the roommate to inform her about my plan and to make sure that they would be at the house when we arrived for the surprise. She assured me that they would not be going out and that we could come by the apartment at any time after arriving in Wiesbaden. 

After having something to eat and spending time with our new host, we decided it was time to do what we went there for. The three of us (me, my Moroccan friend, and our host) went together down the street, found the house, and rang the doorbell of our Spanish friend's new apartment. Her flatmate opened the door, and she was sitting in her room drinking tea and speaking with her roommate. We walked in, and she stared at us with a blank face for about two seconds before any sort of reaction came out of her. Thankfully it was a positive reaction!

She couldn't believe that we had come all the way to Wiesbaden and we were standing inside her new flat. It was a nice reunion, and I was so happy that the surprise was totally successful. She was completely unsuspecting, and the best part is that she texted me shortly before our grand entrance saying that she really missed me and wished I could be there with her to hang out and do things together. Only about less than 30 minutes later, that wish came true.

My opinion on Couchsurfing.

Mutual respect and consideration.

Couchsurfing is not just a program to get free housing when you travel. It should be an experience where there is mutual respect between the host and guest. This respect can be in the form of anything from general manners such as using "please" and "thank you", to respecting their expectations of the visit, to respecting their personal space. There should be a balance of spending time with your host or guest, as well as giving each other time to do your own thing.

Communicating your expectations with your host or guest is a must.    

Couchsurfing is not babysitting, nor is it a free hotel to come and go as you please (unless of course your host is totally cool with that and outright tells you that they don't care). In my experience of Couchsurfing for the first time, I think I expected having more free time to do what I wanted to do, and I didn't consider that adequate time must also be spent with the host. We definitely did spend time with our host, and she was so kind to us; she even gave us a tour of the city. However, being a very independent person, it was at times a bit frustrating to feel like we had to do everything together.

I think it is very important to communicate these factors and expectations between host and guest before approving any Couchsurfing requests. Perhaps a host is very laid back or very busy at work and does not mind spending just a little bit of time with their guests. Some hosts even provide the keys to their guests. Other hosts may feel offended or used if their guests express that they want to go out and do things on their own or with friends.        

Get out of your comfort zone.

To be a successful Couchsurfer, you must be open-minded and willing to get out of your comfort zone. I don't just mean "go out and travel and stay with a stranger". I'm talking about the most basic things like, for example, being prepared if your host has lower standards of cleanliness than you do. Personally I feel uncomfortable if I have to stay in a place which is messy or dirty, but I try my best to be open-minded and deal with it.

Another example of getting out of your comfort zone, depending on how socially adept you are, can be as simple as getting to know your host whom you have just met. Things can get even more stressful when you have to do it while speaking a language that is not your own. However, you will definitely learn a lot in both language and culture: valuable things that you cannot learn in school.      

Overall, I think Couchsurfing is a great idea, and I think that it is perfect for travelers who are very social and are open to meeting new people and getting to know them well. Being a more introverted and very independent person, I may find Couchsurfing more difficult to get used to, but I will not totally rule it out. Since everybody has different personalities and interests, I may find a host who I instantly connect with and become very close friends with. I hope to have other successful Couchsurfing opportunities in the future.