How did I get to know of it? Eons ago, I had read an article in Jetwings about Global Freeloaders (http://www.globalfreeloaders.com/) where people hosted others or were hosted in turn for free. I immediately signed up and started to receive requests from travellers. However I was sceptical and did not respond to any of them. Why? Because I did not believe in the concept and there were issues on trust!!
About 4 years ago, I was in the midst of planning a trip to Europe commencing in Amsterdam. It was the Easter weekend and I could not find any cheap accommodation. I did not want to postpone my trip nor did I want to skip Amsterdam, so I decided to send out a message on globalfreeloaders. I sent out a request to about 17 people in AMS and I received only 1 reply. It was from a lady called Sigrid who offered her home to me for the entire weekend. The only catch was that she was going to be away and I had to be at her place by a certain time to collect the key. If I was to reach later, she would leave the key with her friend. I could not believe the email! I thought there had to be more to it than met the eye! Why would someone give me their home whilst they were away? I was nervous. Was she for real? Was it a trick?
Anyway, I gathered all my courage and I showed up at her doorstep at the appointed hour. My heart was beating away quite rapidly. But she was so sweet and so was her partner. She offered me a cup of coffee and explained how everything worked in her apartment as well as where all the essentials were kept. When I asked her if she had done this before, she replied that she was hosting for the first time and the reason she responded to my request was because she was planning a trip to India later in the year. Me being Indian was the connection that triggered off her generosity. Anyway, she and her partner left shortly thereafter and I had the entire place to myself for the entire weekend. It was in a central location in AMS and I found it very convenient. I left the key under her doormat at the end of my weekend and from there proceeded to Hamburg.
This incident proved to me that people are genuinely kind, caring and trusting. Sigrid made the trip to India but did not travel to either Bombay or Goa where I could have returned the favour of hosting her. She wrote to me saying that I was always welcome as I left her house cleaner than before!
Well on the same trip, I wanted to go to Vienna for another weekend. Accommodation in Vienna is also extremely expensive. Now having had a positive experience with global freeloading, I thought of trying it out once again. So I sent out a message to potential hosts in Vienna. I got a response from a girl who was a couch surfer who had in turn received my message from a global freeloader who I had contacted. Once again, being Indian was the trigger. Evelyn loves hosting people from India and she is an active couch surfer and hosts someone or the other almost every day of the year. She was a great host and took me around the city and introduced me to her friends.
Since then I have returned the favour by hosting 3 people - 1 global freeloader Angela and 2 couch surfers Cheryl and Sascha.
Angela
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