Surfing Bristol
Posted in Portraits, Travel, by Tuomas Sarparanta on April 27th, 2012 by Tuomas – Be the first to commentCouchsurfing 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.
