CEO of travAlliancemedia Mark Murphy said if a traveler were conflicted to couchsurf, he would encourage them to. But Murphy would advise proceeding with discretion.
“I would caution people to do their homework because you’re traveling as a single solo traveler; you're ending up in a place you might not be familiar with, staying in someone's place,” Murphy said.
“You just wanna make sure that you aren't going to run into any issues, and I think I'd be more concerned as a woman traveling alone than a man traveling alone, naturally, in that situation.”
Sherry BonDurant, marketing researcher for the Illinois Housing Development Authority and freelance writer for the Chicago Tribune, is a female couchsurfer.
BonDurant has been actively involved in couchsurfing, with most of her activity as a couchsurfing host, or allowing people into her home.
BonDurant moved away from her hometown of Madison, Wis. to Chicago in 2006.
She said she enjoyed big cities, and found that there were more cultural things and different things to do. Not to mention, Chicago wasn’t too far from her family.
When she moved to the Windy City, she saw an advertisement in the RedEye about couchsurfing and decided to join to meet people.
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| Photo: Nothing like home sweet home on a couch. Credit: Lamar Colyer III. |
Since then, BonDurant has been couchsurfing dating back to 2007, hosting over 100 people in that timespan. Although, she hasn’t been hosting or surfing for about a year.
But BonDurant agrees that concern for female couchsurfers is warranted.
“Well, I do -- since I am a female -- I do find it more of a concern for women. However, like I said, I just have to get past that to enjoy hosting males,” BonDurant said.
But here’s a twist.
She was caught in a bad situation, but it came from hosting a female.
“The worst experience I had was a female thing with me; she was crazy,” BonDurant said.
"It didn't take me long to figure out that she had some serious psychological issues. Just the way she was talking, and she was obviously making up stories because they were outrageous things that I knew just weren't true,” BonDurant said.
BonDurant says she didn’t want to kick her out, because she knew her guest had nowhere to go. So she let her spend the night.
But one day, the woman went out and didn’t return.
BonDurant said she waited all night, called her phone, and didn’t get a trace of her.
She returned late the next day and acted nonchalant about her whereabouts.
Therefore, that prompted BonDurant to dismiss the individual from her apartment.
That wasn’t the end of it, though.
“She came back to my apartment; she was trying to get into my security-locked building,” BonDurant said.
”So I had to put a photo up of her face, and tell the doorman that she wasn't allowed in the building.”
The woman proceeded to call BonDurant, which she ignored.
The calling finally stopped, and the woman’s actions led BonDurant to conclude that she was the most outrageous person she ever encountered. That she wouldn’t just say trouble in couchsurfing is a strictly a male ordeal.
But with couchsurfing, there is always a potential threat for robbery, harassment or sexual assault, especially with men.
BonDurant says that sexual assault by a man would be most concerning for females; considering she has read that assault is problematic for women, and that issues like this removes the joy of the cultural exchange of couchsurfing.
Even though her bad experience wasn’t with a male, BonDurant suggests that to avoid being in a situation like hers, women need to communicate with men in advance and make sure he has a plethora of positive female references before hosting or being hosted.
She said to become friends with that male on Facebook. Find out their expectations and what type of person they are.
If you would like to get advice or tips for traveling, or just want to follow on her "quest to travel," like BonDurant's Facebook page of Global Hidden Gems.
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