Laura Birchenough writes from Greece in response to my question about how she got on Couchsurfing in southern Italy;

Hi Andrew,

How are your plans coming along for your trip, good luck! I can honestly say that it is my couch surfing experiences that have made this trip so good for instance in both Greece and Bulgaria I didn’t feel as though I’d really arrived in the country and got to know it until I stayed with a couch surfer. In one evening of chatting you discover so much about that person, their culture, the food and hospitality. People go out of their way to make you feel welcome and at home and of course to show you the sights. I haven’t yet had a bad experience! It is also nice to know you have a comfortable bed to look forward to at the end of a days cycling. The only downside might be that you have to stick to your plans and you can’t go off on a whim to explore somewhere if you have agreed to be at someone’s house that evening. You could try going to a local CS event in your area to find out a bit more and meet some couchsurfers. It also gives you a feel for the CS culture and attitude, these events are usually pretty popular so you should have a good mix of people to talk to.

Happy planning, but don’t plan too hard as some of the unplanned events have been the most rewarding in my travels so far, and also be really open to offers of help or interest from strangers. This was one bit of advice I got and it is a great philosophy to adopt when cycling. You’ll find lots of Italians in particular will want to know what you’re doing!

Thanks for that Laura. 🙂 Click on her name above to see her latest blog post.