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On The Couch
Couchsurfing? Surely a sofa would sink on the open sea? Couchsurfing is a global community of over a million people in 232 countries that offers couches, beds and body-sized horizontal surfaces via the internet for fellow members to bunk down on for the night. Couchsurfing is everywhere, from Kazakhstan, where there are124 empty couches for the daring traveller, to Antartica where 30 cold couches are available. It's free, it's friendly and it's the new way to travel. Fleur Britten, Sunday Times features writer is about to lose her couchsurfing virginity. Starting out in Moscow and taking the Trans-Siberian Railway with a couple of stops in Siberia and Ulan Ude, she'll then fly to Beijing and travel through China, crossing into Kazakhstan, followed by Ubekistan. Finding couches in the unlikeliest of places finally arriving back in London to play host to other couchsurfers. With the promise of 'couch available' rarely entailing a couch alone, with stories of meals, unofficial local tours and a family-like welcome, she will explore the unique couchsurfing community and so-called 'couchsurfing spirit'. What motivates people to invite strangers to sleep on their sofas? How is it possible to couchsurf and stay safe and what is it that is it that has made couchsurfing such a phenomenon? This is an adventure of kindness that will lead Fleur to meet the most unusual people and visit the most unexpected places. Combined with revealing, candid images this promises to be much, much more than your average travelogue.
- GenresNonfictionTravel
362 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
27 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
November 14, 2017
Fleur comes across whiny and ungrateful. While I can empathise with her in some parts, it feels a bit like she missed the point of couchsurfing. I also think this book could have had more depth if she'd written more about the things she saw and experiences when travelling, instead of focusing on the fact she had an uncomfortable bed.
Parts were funny and entertaining, such as the lovers tiff she was party to, or her own grumpy couchsurfer.
On the whole though, this read like a privileged girl goes travelling for free, while pining for some bum back home. Nothing new or groundbreaking and I think she'd have had a lot more depth if she'd embraced travelling and stopped going on about the bloody "emperor"
Parts were funny and entertaining, such as the lovers tiff she was party to, or her own grumpy couchsurfer.
On the whole though, this read like a privileged girl goes travelling for free, while pining for some bum back home. Nothing new or groundbreaking and I think she'd have had a lot more depth if she'd embraced travelling and stopped going on about the bloody "emperor"
February 21, 2020
This book is an eye opener into the world of couch surfing. It's a lot of laughs and extreme relatable even if you've never done (couchsurfing) before.
May 7, 2020
Found this book on a couchsurfing trip. I enjoyed reading it. I've been a host and other couchsurfers hosted me so it was fun to read other couchsurf experiences.
July 17, 2015
Fleur travels in Russia, the Middle-East and China via couchsurfing.org.
The narrative works best when she provides a window into another world, reporting without making comments or judgements. She does this well towards the end of the book where she reports many conversations in China, Kazakstan and Uzbekistan with foreigners and locals giving their (often conflicting) perspectives on communism, democracy, and dictatorships.
None of her adventures are particularly exciting, which fine, except that her character seems to have no motivation for couch surfing and instead positions herself as a victim of it, coming across as negative and resentful. In Russia, although she remains polite with her hosts, to her readers she complains about the food and sleeping arrangements her hosts provide, criticising the size of their egos and how much they like to talk:
"Admiration for our host soon distorted into a sense of asphyxiation. I sank into my wine - at least just listening, and not having to talk, offered some kind of respite." (47)
Despite writing in the past tense, supposedly with some perspective on the trip, she seems to have no awareness of her limitations and failings. She expects openness and generosity from her hosts, and yet has trouble doing the same as their guest.
Her British patriotism and Orientalism could do with some serious interrogation, especially her unquestioned search for "native" hosts. Occasionally she acknowledges her Britishness but always chooses to withdraw from the situation rather than learn something about herself:
"My British pride was boiling... I consoled myself with the fact that at least when hosts could be tolerated no more, it would soon enough be time to leave." (50)
Her constant negativity and insensitivity to cultural difference, as well as her apparent lack of desire to exchange or compromise on her own cultural values, makes it hard to understand why she's couchsurfing.
At the same time she doesn't provide enough context for her own ideas about hospitality. Her own view is offered as the objective standard, and she fails to take the opportunity to learn about different versions of hospitality from her hosts.
She's obsessed with providing each host with a gift but never explains where that impulse come from, or how it fits into her own culture's understanding of hospitality or how that fits in a the context of global hospitality exchange. While resenting her hosts for being too talkative, she's desperate to "pay her way" with a gift of chocolates, or a book, or slippers. She fails to see that her "gift" could be simply listening to her host without judgement. In this she seems to completely miss the point of couch surfing, which makes it hard to sympathise with her as it seems she's reporting on a world that she doesn't really understand or know how to navigate.
Ultimately it feels like she's just a journalist who's identified a trend and decided to write a book about it, but hasn't been prepared to give enough of herself either to make the journey or the book a success. It's a shame that she felt the need to keep both her hosts and her readers at such a distance.
The narrative works best when she provides a window into another world, reporting without making comments or judgements. She does this well towards the end of the book where she reports many conversations in China, Kazakstan and Uzbekistan with foreigners and locals giving their (often conflicting) perspectives on communism, democracy, and dictatorships.
None of her adventures are particularly exciting, which fine, except that her character seems to have no motivation for couch surfing and instead positions herself as a victim of it, coming across as negative and resentful. In Russia, although she remains polite with her hosts, to her readers she complains about the food and sleeping arrangements her hosts provide, criticising the size of their egos and how much they like to talk:
"Admiration for our host soon distorted into a sense of asphyxiation. I sank into my wine - at least just listening, and not having to talk, offered some kind of respite." (47)
Despite writing in the past tense, supposedly with some perspective on the trip, she seems to have no awareness of her limitations and failings. She expects openness and generosity from her hosts, and yet has trouble doing the same as their guest.
Her British patriotism and Orientalism could do with some serious interrogation, especially her unquestioned search for "native" hosts. Occasionally she acknowledges her Britishness but always chooses to withdraw from the situation rather than learn something about herself:
"My British pride was boiling... I consoled myself with the fact that at least when hosts could be tolerated no more, it would soon enough be time to leave." (50)
Her constant negativity and insensitivity to cultural difference, as well as her apparent lack of desire to exchange or compromise on her own cultural values, makes it hard to understand why she's couchsurfing.
At the same time she doesn't provide enough context for her own ideas about hospitality. Her own view is offered as the objective standard, and she fails to take the opportunity to learn about different versions of hospitality from her hosts.
She's obsessed with providing each host with a gift but never explains where that impulse come from, or how it fits into her own culture's understanding of hospitality or how that fits in a the context of global hospitality exchange. While resenting her hosts for being too talkative, she's desperate to "pay her way" with a gift of chocolates, or a book, or slippers. She fails to see that her "gift" could be simply listening to her host without judgement. In this she seems to completely miss the point of couch surfing, which makes it hard to sympathise with her as it seems she's reporting on a world that she doesn't really understand or know how to navigate.
Ultimately it feels like she's just a journalist who's identified a trend and decided to write a book about it, but hasn't been prepared to give enough of herself either to make the journey or the book a success. It's a shame that she felt the need to keep both her hosts and her readers at such a distance.
September 1, 2011
An intruiging read, exploring what it is to travel with the desire to actually discover the real local culture. With insights not only into Britishness, and being a foreigner, but also into fears, hopes, selfish or altruistic desires, inter-relating cross culturally, and humanities inbuilt coping mechanisms. Fleur britten takes you with her across the globe sharing personal experiences, insights, and her innermost feelings. Privy to this special information one really feels a part of the journey, amongst some colourful characters, intruiging sights and sounds. Better than a travel guide.
June 19, 2011
Couch surfing as a concept intrigues me. I would like to do it but I have hermit like tendencies and like going back into my shell after a long day of sightseeing.
September 24, 2015
Easy to read, quite interesting stories of the authors travels, nothing over exciting, funny at times and interesting to get an insight into couch surfing and how It differs throughout the world.
July 29, 2016
Great writing style and Fleur has my full respect for couchsurfing a continent alone.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews