Couchsurfing is a great way to meet local people when travelling and keep that travelling feel alive when hosting. It is more fun than staying in backpackers or hostels - which I am now too old for (no more patience for people rolling in at 2am and shuffling about or turning lights on etc). I've had some great CS experiences as a guest (and a host), which I would never have had if I was not a part of the couchsurfing community. I have couchsurfed with: A Korean in Rwanda An Australian in Qatar A Spaniard in Wales A Belgian in Burundi An Indian in Austria A Slovakian in Romania A Malaysian in Poland A Sri Lankan in Oman A South African in Timor Leste An Iranian in Uzbekistan And local hosts in USA (San Francisco, LA and Hawaii), Malaysia, Iraq, Argentina, UK (London and York), Azerbaijan, Tanzania, Croatia, Bulgaria, Poland, Mozambique, Slovenia, Argentina, Uzbekistan, Timor Leste, Zimbabwe, Tajikistan, and Peru. Met with couchsurfers in: Jamaica, Cuba, Thailand, Vietnam, Poland, Oman, Australia, Iraq, Slovakia, Malaysia, Kyrgyzstan, and Tanzania. Hosted guests from: Spain, Israel, Germany, New Zealand, USA, Italy, Argentina, Netherlands, China, Turkey, South Korea, and France. (95% of my experiences have been positive, the other 5% are now funny and weird stories that I can tell!)

I wrote a book about my travels in Africa, it's called 'Everything All of the Time' and you can buy it on BookBaby and Amazon. I also do some travel writing at travelonastustring.com Instagram: @travelonastustring