Travelling Europe on a budget

Travel is a luxury, not a neccesity or right. If you can't afford to stay somewhere you should not go.

I thought the general rule in life (not specifically couchsurfing) was that if anyone ever puts you up in their house you should be willing to spend at least 50% of what a hotel would have cost on food/entertainment/transport for the both of you? This always seemed like a fair deal to me.

I've used couchsurfing but never actually stayed at someones house. I always just arrange to meet up with them, usually for coffee or lunch or sometimes they will offer to give me a tour of where I am visiting. I usually offer to pick up the bill for any small items e.g. coffee or snacks as I appreciate them taking the time out of their day for me. More expensive things we will split the bill.

Sorry I can't edit my last post.

I wanted to add that by meeting up with them you can still get the full cultural exchange without the problems people have mentioned in this thread involved with staying at their house.

If you travel by bike, your money will last a lot longer. You could conceivably due part of Asia as well by bike, though SE Asia would be more difficult due to the heat.

I like the idea that those people (Americans? Japanese? Aussies? ) who can afford to fly to an ''expensive European city'' are then too poor to pay for a hostel bed ;-)

Whoa, take a chill pill Gerard.

People do not host to feed and let someone sleep in their house to ignore them. Read the the Couchsurfing guidelines Max.

Where did this come from? Read my #12: it should not be used as a free bed ... as a host I would expect to spend time with the surfer.

Complete C RAP that Couchsurfing is for the poor. If someone wants to stay with me just to save money they can get stuffed

Again, are we talking about different things? If they stay with you just+ to save money, then I fully agree with you. But as long as they are +also interested in the cultural exchange aspect, I don't care if the main reason they signed up was to save money or not.

For example, one young guy I hosted had been diagnosed with an illness causing muscle atrophy and loss of mobility. Within some number of years he'd become immobile. He decided to make the best out of the time he had left as mobile and set out on an epic biking trip around the continent. One problem: he didn't have any money. So...... he turned to couchsurfing! I think examples like this make couchsurfing so great. It gives everyone a chance to travel and see the world, not just the rich/privileged ones.

I let Couchsurfers buy me dinner /../ buy me beer /../ tight arrses are not tolerated where I surfed

But what are you saying? That you take surfers out and expect them to pick up the bill? I don't know what to make out of it. I took a look at your profile, you have about 60 reviews, all of them positive. I have the exact same number of reviews as you coincidentally, all of them also positive. So it seems both of us are pretty likable. I'm guessing you're reading something into what I wrote that I didn't mean, and vice versa.

Travel is a luxury, not a neccesity or right. If you can't afford to stay somewhere you should not go.

So people born into a rich family should have more rights than poor ones? People in third world countries should just stay at home? I find that mindset completely whack.

max...how do these poor people in third world countries arrive at ''an expensive european city''?

How do they find couchsurfing opportunities without internet access?

Have many people here on Thorn Tree done Couchsurfing?
There never seems to be much in the way of actual feedback of stays/visits. I've never considered it myself so can't comment on experiences. However it does sound like as good way to get a cheap/free bed, as well as making friends (and possibly a few enemies) quickly.

Max I said travel was not a right. Therefore you shouldn't expect to travel, it is a luxury. Just as you shouldn't expect a ferrari or a rolex. I'm not saying people with less money shouldn't travel but they should always travel to locations within their budget. Would I like to go to Bhutan? Sure, but I can't afford the tourist tax so have not been. I'm not going to moan that people with more money can travel there because frankly I don't think just because I want to go somewhere I'm entitled to go.

It is completely irresponsible to go somewhere you can not afford to stay.

lucapal, they probably have internet at those nice big schools they go to where they learnt to speak fluent English ;-)

I think the point Max is that there is a segment who are only interested in a free bed, whether they could afford to pay for a hostel bed or not.

This is a segment of 'travellers' that gravitate towards anything they see they can take advantage of. Let me give a real life example. When I had my bar in Greece, two young guys came in one day and asked if there were any jobs available. I told them, 'sorry, no jobs here'.

They sat at the bar and told me a story of woe about how they had no money, nowhere to stay and hadn't eaten in 3 days. Now the funny thing is that this '3 days' comment seems to be a common phrase. I heard it numerous times from someone. It's an immediate Red Flag. You're dealing with a scammer.

These two guys continued to sit at the bar and try to extend their time. It was clear they were looking for a free beer. They didn't get one. Finally, they asked if they could leave their backpacks in my storeroom for a few hours while the went looking for a job. I agreed to let them do that.

A few hours later, they returned. Again, they sat at the bar, told me they didn't find any jobs, were going to have to sleep on the beach, yada, yada. Again they tried to prolong their time and obviously were hoping for a free beer or a handout of money to buy a meal. They got nothing. Finally, when about to go on their way, I went into the storeroom to pick up their packs and give them to them. As I picked one up, the top came open and out spilled half a dozen cans of beer.

How did they buy beer if they had no money for food? There story was all BS Max and they were not the only ones. This segment does exist and as I said, gravitate to anything they think they can USE without paying for.

No doubt there are plenty of people who see Couchsurfing, WWOOF, et al as ways to meet people, interract,etc. but there are others only interested in what they can get for nothing.

I think the crux of the issue is in the remark by gerardkenny

"Never had an issue with free loaders until the last 18 months, when there has seemed to have been a attitude shift and i am not the only one have have noticed."

More and more of the freeloaders (to use a polite term) are catching on.