couch surfing
by heet
hi. the past quarter has been chaotic; we had been house hunting for 4 months to no avail, partly bcs we were going through a company shut-down - confusion - trying 4 things - new company begins & although revenue started on day 1, we couldn't access monies till day. also, we were caught in this trap of finding the 'ticks all items' house. a small revelation has been that almost nothing ever ticks all items.
you do the best you can with what you have.
i've surfed couches every now & then, but never for like 4 months straight; this time i went from being an amateur to a full-fledged professional. i occupied 8 unique beds (for a week min) in 5 diff. houses across 2 cities.
i've either forgotten, or purposely left something in each of these houses for one reason or the other –. i've ordered a shower gel 6 times in 4 months & a towel thrice. i've likely had 3 swiggy/instamart orders a day on average; made peace w/ living out of a suitcase
you will have no personal space.
your clothes will be mostly dirty/crumpled.
you'll be wondering where some of your things are.
you will get hit by your friends' elbow while you're 😴💤😴.
your 'food choices' will go for a toss.
you will have to express gratitude, irrespective of how you must feel.
your select few possessions will either rot in a storage room somewhere, or will have to fit in that 26x18 suitcase of yours.
you will feel you don't belong anywhere.
you will need to put up w/ a smile anyway.
if push comes to shove & you find yourself in the same spot as yours truly, here's..how you could be a better couch surfer
- make yourself scarce every once in a while [read: once every couple days]
- don't act entitled
- sincerely ask them to let you chip in for all costs excl. rent, mostly
- you have to respect the owner's pet peeves. it's hard to be mindful — but it's a non-negotiable
- give gifts - treats - pay bills that are ~ 25 to 30% the rent amount; nobody likes an ungrateful free loader
- wherever you're staying pay their house help/cook/guard bhaiya 500/1000 on day 1. they might treat you well
- don't ever leave a mess behind (in community areas) ~ your shoes, laptop etc, books, post meal stuff
- have shoe bags, sanitary kits, a good backpack & 1 suitcase that can fit stuff. (ideally i'd recommend to go leaner)
- whether you like to be clean or not – you de-facto mode HAS to be ultra-clean [i sucked balls, but eventually got better]
there's a thrill to doing all this – but wouldn't be possible w/o my friends who put up w/ me all through. ya'll know who you are - i'm incredibly grateful.