Couch Surfing 101

Looking to see the world and enjoy extraordinary experiences without breaking the bank? Angel Campey lets us in on her secret to travelling to places like New York City and Montreal on a shoestring.

- Angel Campey

People are always fascinated with the concept of how I travelled during the early days of my career as a comedian. Without much cash and having no connections, I was able to do lengthy tours of New York City comedy clubs. I even did a stint in Montreal, Canada.

With the South African rand doing its ever-precarious dance around the broke-to-very-broke line in international markets, and the fact that I’m an artist who perpetually resides on that line, how did I do it? It was simple. By using the internet in its purest form.

I made use of Couchsurfing, an online network of strangers who share their homes with travellers for free. I travelled North America alone, staying with strangers that I met on the internet. Yes, it sounds like the beginning of a pretty bad slasher horror movie. But it’s really one of the most joyful and immersive ways to explore a city, especially firstworld cities where we’d otherwise have to sell a kidney to stay in a hotel.

Now, you do require a degree of social skills and willingness to adapt, a back that’s going to cope with crashing on the odd sofa, and enough common sense to suss out a potentially dodgy situation. Armed with wit, bravery, hope and reliable Wi-Fi, you can travel to some of the more expensive cities in the world and stay for free. This is while living like a local, in neighbourhoods you most likely wouldn’t otherwise know about, rather than staying in places on the tourist trails.

Couchsurfing works like most other social platforms. It’s free, requires that you verify your identity and create a profile, then list as either a host or a surfer. There are also a bunch of social activities, so even if you’re staying somewhere other than a couch, you can join up with a group in a city and go sightseeing together.

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