A few weeks ago, I wrote to you about Couchsurfing. Today I’m going to tell you about hosting our first guests.

Before I begin to tell you about our experience, I want to explain the use of names. You’ll notice today I’m going to refer to our guests as Betty and Cathy. Betty explained to me that although Couch surfing is very social, some parts of their lives are private and should remain so. So forgive my effort to keep their lives anonymous. For today’s blog, I’m also not going to give you any of their background info like where they are from, well, other than they are somewhere from Earth. I’ll also not talk about their jobs, which are both pretty cool and highly respected. I don’t think the rest of their background is essential for today.

We begin the story this past Monday with a knock at the door. Betty and Cathy entered the house with much fanfare from the kids. We have had many people stay at our home over the past few years, but it’s always been, family or close friends. It was hard to explain why they were staying at our house, but I quickly told them, “they are staying as guests, but they might leave as friends.” That seemed to appease their curiosity for the moment.

From the moment Betty and Cathy walked into the house, I felt comfortable with both of them. We showed them where they’d be staying and gave them the two-cent tour of the house. By we, I mean the kids. Betty and Cathy brought gifts for the kids and presented us with a bottle of wine, both thoughtful and unexpected. Since the kids and I had plans for our evening, we quickly had dinner where we learned about our guests.

Betty has been Couchsurfing for several years while Cathy had never done it before. Betty gave us great advice about what to look forward to as Couchsurfers. She also pointed out our most prominent problem for couch surfing is the size of our family, but she stressed it is still possible. We figured that, but it was great to hear it from someone who has that kind of experience. We exchanged travelling stories. Both Betty and Cathy have visited many different countries, and it was with great awe and admiration both Charo and I listened. That’s what we want to do and who we want to be. The best part of the night was our conversation that lasted till midnight, and the worst part of our night was the fact that it lasted till midnight since I had to work the next day.

On day two, our guests toured around the city. They left our house around 10 AM, but before they left, Betty accompanied Charo to walk the kids to school. Betty and Cathy met up with some acquaintances while I was at work, followed by a game of hockey. (For those of you who care, we won!) It was about 8:30 PM when I arrived home, and they came back about 15 minutes before I did. My kids set up an obstacle course for them with prizes to be won, and they were right into it. They were running around the house with Daniela and Mateo, following their instructions and playing the game. They were having so much fun they didn’t notice I was home. After the game, the kids quickly went to bed, which is highly unusual. I think they just wanted to impress Betty and Cathy. Once again, we were up till about 11:30 exchanging stories, political views, and other topics. Cathy is a huge star wars fan! I was going to break out my Wookie costume but thought better of it. We all decided that the original series is still the go-to for someone’s first Star Wars experience.

The next morning was the day we were going to say goodbye. Charo was working, and I needed to get to work so Cathy asked Charo and me if she helps with anything and Charo said she could walk the kids to school. We all agreed. So I got the kids ready, and they knew that would be time to say goodbye to Betty and Cathy. They were giving them the biggest hugs ever, and when they heard Betty and Cathy were going to walk them to school, they cheered! What a way to end our Couchsurfing experience.

Betty and Cathy left us a note telling us how much they’ve enjoyed their time with us. I hope they realize how enjoyable their stay was for our family. We appreciated the two wonderful people that entered our house. They came as guests, and now we have made friends for life!

Thanks for reading and happy adventuring.

I introduced Couchsurfing a few blogs back.

I also wrote why we like Couchsurfing.