I'm getting older and older but the idea of staying and connecting with locals while travelling is still something I highly appreciate and love since I joined the platform while studying.
I've had a few sabbaticals over the last decade and was lucky enough to meet awesome hosts. A little while ago I moved to a small town in the south of Germany and somehow nobody wants to stay with us. Ertingen seems to be off the travelers radar. Even though it's tiny, there are many things to do and being in a rural area means having lots more space. So feel free to contact me when you are around.
I'd consider myself openminded and easy to be with. I'm happy to help if you need something. I think the idea of couchsurfing is that you offer help and accomodation to individuals that are part of the "couchsurfing family". There is no need to give anything back to a specific person, as long as you return favours to the "family". People that only see the free of charge night or food should stay with someone else.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I've had some great experiences with hosts and guests. Just to name some each:

I travelled to Lofoten Islands which is 200 km north of the Arctic Circle in October with a friend. It definitly wasn't peak season and therefore everything was closed. Our hosts' best friends' daughter had worked in the Viking Museum during summer and opended it up for us and gave us a private tour. We even got to wear the armour.
I got a request of a newly married French-Korean couple who wanted to stay at our place because the guy had spent some years of his childhood in the small town of Sigmaringen and wanted to show his wife what it was like. They arrived, we started with the usual small talk and introduction still standing in front of the house and he mentioned the street he grew up in. It turned out that our neighbours' dad (he recently passed away) was their neighbour years ago and as if that wasn't enough, he was over to help out in the garden that day. We crossed the street and they instantly recognised each other. What a small world.

I have to admit though that I don't like some of the recent changes of the homepage as well as some of the "new" participants and their usage of the community. I haven't had any bad experiences, don't get me wrong but I had people asking to stay and then not turning up without any notice. I think that's very rude and believe it or not we (my parents as well) were worried because we had to pick up people who had accidents or breakdowns with their bikes in the past.

I still believe in the idea and I try to do my best to help out and share as much as possible as a host and a guest and just hope that there are more "oldschool members" out there who'd like to experience couchsurfing the way I do.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I'm quite handy with tools, so I could help out in the garden or around the house. Hanging out and getting to know each other is an important part of travelling I think, so participating in a game/sports or of course share travel stories could be something to do together.
I'm not particularly good in the kitchen but I could try to cook some traditional Swabian food. So far there were no open complaints ;)

Countries I’ve Visited

Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Belize, Cambodia, Croatia, Egypt, France, Germany, Ghana, Guatemala, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Laos, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, Monaco, Morocco, Nepal, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Philippines, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Vatican City State, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, Germany, Norway

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