The Motions

Couchsurfing is a huge multicultural community, created in San Francisco in 2003 for more friendlier and trustful world. By using the network, which covers more than 87,000 cities, registered users can request a couch for themselves to sleep during traveling, or mutually welcome travellers to their homes.

These photographs are about people I met and atmospheres I experienced when I ’surfed’ in Bristol, which is just half an hour away from my home in the UK. Exploring cities near to one’s home for few days is refreshing and important for fully understanding the country the one is living in.

During five weekends I was hosted by reliable and curious people, who were more than happy to show me around, share their food and one host even lent me a key to her house. All of them and other couchsurfers I met had a certain open-minded attitude towards me as a stranger, which I think to be the most important value of Couchsurfing. Willingness to participate to hosts’ activities was enough to gain their trust, and it provided a chance to get familiar with Bristol through locals’ daily lives and stories.

The whole series can be found from here.

My host was at work when I arrived but luckily another couchsurfer was there to let me in.

On the road for a night out. Natalie and Lizzie are hosting people in their home because they simply just want to meet all kinds of people from all around the world.

Besides their open-mindedness, some hosts had a certain do-it-yourself mentality like Mike and Jessica, who are growing some of their salads and vegetables at the backyard.

Couchsurfing.org has more than 4 million users, and someone is always arriving or leaving.

Anne (left), another German couchsurfer, planning the evening with her host Bryony and Bryony's friend Myléne.

Couchsurfing is all about of making small observations and learning new things from other people. When eating curry, Lizzie and her flatmates are using hangers to dangle naan breads for getting more space to the table.

My host Bryony met her friend Myléne in Paris during her couchsurfing journey, and they became flatmates later on.

Waiting is an ongoing process in our lives, and sometimes we have to wait for months before expected things can happen. That creates different kind of feelings from impatience to calmness. Commom phrase “carpe diem” says that one should live in the moment, but it can be difficult and boring when the highly waited near future is almost taking place.

People can feel quite similar feelings regardless to their age, cultural background or things that they are waiting for. But after all everyone still have to find their own ways to deal with those emotions and to be more patient.

After eight months Liina is relieved that her pregnancy is almost over, thankfully everything has gone fine.

In Finland every young men have to perform six to twelve months in the military service or twelve months in the non-military service. Ville was convicted to an open prison for six months because he refused to go neither of them due to his life principles.

Nina thinks that Helsinki is more lively and relaxed when snow is disappeared and temperature is far above zero.

Safi left his home in Afghanistan because of the country's troubled situation, and now he is waiting for a residence permit to Finland which takes six to twelve months.

While waiting Safi is studying Finnish and English in order to educate himself in the future.