To make matters worse, he did not manage to book another hotel, it was about a larger conference. Everything was filled.
Finding himself in an unenviable situation, he wrote on some social media that his hotel was canceled and that he should attend an important conference. Within half an hour, he received several offers to spend the night with friends who were with him on that network. That's actually how it all started.
CS was officially created in 2003, with an idea that people who travel can connect, share experiences, travel together, be hosted by each other, etc.
I can say for myself that I have been an active member for several years. My experiences are mostly positive (there were also negative ones).
What attracts me to CS is the experience I picked up from a certain trip
Let's take for example: "Do you want to visit Lisbon?" it is your favorite city, you have read all about it, and you know which places you would like to visit. You bought a ticket, booked a hotel, visited famous localities, and came back full of beautiful memories. Sounds ok.
Now imagine that you go to Lisbon with a local, who has similar interests, and he hosts you, shows you the places where the locals stay, and tries some specialties that you may not even know exist. You see the city from the point of view of the one who lives there.
That's what attracts me when CS. Through CS, I changed from a tourist to a traveler. A man who visits various places, but outside the tourist framework, planned routes.
My life's wish was to go to the Maracana stadium in Rio and cheer for the Flamengos, but an even better experience was to meet the local fans and spend the whole day with them. Brazilians are generally very open and cheeky people, so the CS community there is very developed.
Unfortunately, some places are not very safe for tourists, and people want to visit them (I include myself here 😊), always in such circumstances I like to be in contact with someone from the CS community, who can give me first-hand information or make it easier me the way in any way.
I once got into trouble in Africa, the girl I was supposed to stay with for three days ended up staying for two weeks.
It turns out that what I thought was bad luck turned out to be the best experience I've ever had. We lived together for two weeks, prepared African specialties, waited for the electricity to come on so we could heat the water, washed everything by hand... This kind of experience cannot be booked through Airbnb 😊
In the end, maybe the best thing is that you make a friend in another country. Someone with whom you spent time together, socialized, and stayed in touch even after the trip. These are some of the advantages that I had using this application. If the app is a means to just sleep over at someone's place, then CS is not for you.
9 final facts about CS:
1. True Cultural Exchange
2. Locals know where the best food is
3. Tips on the best sight seeing
4. Score a traditional home cooked meal
5. You get to choose who you stay with…
6. It has to be said… Free accommodation!
7. Great way to meet other locals
8. Many CS hosts have pets and that for us makes the CS experience even better!
9. Make friends for life
