Introduce Yourself!

Thanks, @Emily !
Still exploring the platform a bit, but will definitely reach out later when I will actively try to contribute more. :slight_smile:

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Hi!
I am a new member of couchers

Blockquote

joined cs in 2008 by word of mouth. molested in my sleep by my first host. when l told this to a city ambassador for help, he condescended to me that l should have stayed with him instead. no help btw and that profile remained active for years until l complained again years later.

did that stop me? nope.

l hosted & surfed equally and had experiences with 100s of people. the max # of ppl l hosted at once was 13. then the dot org ‘management’ sold the community to a dot com. l boycotted from that point on.

joined BeWelcome & Trustroots in 2015.

l used cs again in 2019 to get people to join another community. got molested again, but the dot com did remove the profile immediately upon my complaint. now it looks like that needed no effort on my part. Tinder works much better as a travel service anyway, and with less molestation.

l heard about couchers prelaunch by word of mouth from a TR jost. l was turned off by the initial focus on web meetings. while some may assert this is typical and modern, it’s technologically exclusionary to people without reliable high speed internet, stability, or a camera. yes, people like that exist en masse and they travel.

l joined this forum because of the ID verification thread. ID verification does not promote safety: the men who molested me were a government employee and an international corporate employee respectively, both verified. it didn’t stop them from attacking me, and it did not bring repercussions on them. this requirement also actively excludes stateless and documentless persons. online hospex is primarily a gentrified experience, if there is any intention to change that, those persons must be included.

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Hey everyone.

My name is Daniel Ibuchi from Nigeria, I’m a construction engineer by profession. I used to travel more before covid happened and I used CS a lot, that was the good old days when courch surfing was free. Anyways, it’s good to be here to meet new interesting people.

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Welcome @elle and @danny!

Elle, I hope you’ll consider joining one of the women’s working group meetings, which we try to do on a monthly basis. A lot of us know how little CS did to help make the experience safe for women and Couchers.org is trying to change that. There’s a pervasive belief that couchsurfing is not safe for women, full stop.

May I ask what turns you off from web meetings? I run quite a few of them so it would be helpful to know what platform or format would be better for you to discuss and chat about your experiences and brainstorm.

l joined this forum because of the ID verification thread. ID verification does not promote safety: the men who molested me were a government employee and an international corporate employee respectively, both verified.

I’m glad the verification thread is what grabbed your attention! However, it’s worth noting that our approach will require in-person verification by real people and not just a credit card payment. Hopefully, since you’ll have to interact with other members, it will be an extra layer for creeps/abusers to pass, and might lead to them being held more accountable, if we can use it purposefully.

Good also to mention the aspect of it excluding stateless persons. I wonder if there’s been any thought put into how to verify such people - @moderators?

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7 posts were split to a new topic: Obstacles for representation in the community

I should have introduced myself a lot earlier, but … I never knew what to write here.
Now I am going to try to introduce myself.

My name is Richard and was an active traveler on CS, also always open to host new people, but due to the village I live in is rather small, I didn’t get many requests.
I was born in the Netherlands, but living in Belgium.
for more information about me, I refer to Couchers.org Beta

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Hi!

My name is Ed, I am an active host from the Bitterroot Valley of Montana in the USA. I started years ago on CS, then left the site in 2020 and joined TrustRoots and BeWelcome, plus others. I do construction, have lots of hobbies, and live with 5 little goats. Come visit sometime! You’ll have a little cabin all to yourself with a stunning view of the mountains.

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That sounds like a real nice place for both humans and goats @Cloudview

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Hi! My name is Kasia and I’m a professional translator.
I’ve been couch surfing for over ten years now and I love it.
Hope this site goes some way to bringing back the dream! :slight_smile:

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Salaam to all. I am Qaisar from Peshawar, Pakistan. Having 10 years of experience on CS with 113 positive references and 11 Vouches (old school badges) I decided to join Couchers as it is run by Volunteers and is not commercial.

I have never gone abroad, but love to meet travelers coming from faraway lands.

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pakhair raghlay @ArbabQaisar
Welcome aboard :slight_smile:

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Helloo!~

I have moderate experience in python for a year at my last job, but mainly a civil engineer by trade. I’m native English speaker and speak fluent French and German and might be able to help with translation there. I love community events and would prioritize attending if it were nearby to spread positive energy.

I went on a hosting spree in 2019 and hosted about 15 surfers over 2 months in the Summer, great experience and maintained many friendships from it still today. Other than that, I’ve not been able to use it much due to living situations then covid, but looking forward to using it again soon. I mainly host, but I have used it to travel before as well, tho I don’t prefer this cause its sometimes exhausting to make requests, feels like begging for attention.

Love to see this project to make couchsurfing better and I’ll help as I can!

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pakhair pakhair, thank you for such a delightful welcome in Pashto (my native language). I am new to this website finding my way around. Would like to keep contact with you.
ستاسو په لیدو ډیر خوشاله شوم ـ

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Hi,
I’m Antoine, french ex-hydraulic engineer. I’m traveling around Europe right now, using Couchers (but also Bewelcome and Trustroots) a lot. Well, the answer rate is quite low, so I have to send a lot of stay requests. But in the end it works pretty much. It’s nice that so many people are involved in making this possible!
Cheers

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Hi everyone
This is Ferit, living in İzmir, Turkey. I am working as finance executive at a worldwide company.And yes,I am good at finance😉
İt’s great be here​:v:t2::raising_hand_man:t2:

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Hi Vagabonder
Which site?

I’ll message you. :wink:

Hello. My name is Damian. I’m a student from Poland. This site is my first coachsurfing experience. Currently my main goal is to meet new wonderful people, find travel buddies, exchange experiences and surf, tho I’m pretty sure in future I’ll love to host wonderful souls. I’m studying law, working in sales. In this year I just started my journey with traveling and trully - I love it. I’m living in Poland - Łódź. If you’d like to get a tour guide just contact me in advance and I’ll find a day for you for sure, you’re also invited for a cup of tea or cacao.

Best luck for all of you!

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George from Florida here. I love antiquing around the state and occasionally find it hard to find a place to stay. Easy going guy here. I am retired and a senior, so I hope that doesn’t put anyone off.

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