Staff in the Wild is a Couchsurfing program that seeks to connect the staff at HQ with the community at large. We’re hosting travelers, organizing events and will be out surfing around the globe. Request a staff member in your city!
Name: Kate and Nate Totten
Role: Operations Manager
Hosting travelers from… La Rochelle/Poitiers, France
Couchsurfing makes me… more thoughtful and understanding
Why do you host?
We host because we love opening our home up to the world. We are pretty settled with our careers, a home, and two dogs, so hosting us allows to see the world from the comfort of our couch! This time we hosted Anne-Laure and Geoffrey from France. They are a wonderful couple who brought great conversation, laughter, and delightful food into our home. I recommend that everyone checks out their awesome website Travel and Roll to follow their world travels.
Anne-Laure and Geoffrey spent 10 days traveling California in this van. It even has a kitchen in the trunk!
What unforgettable moments did you share with your Couchsurfers?
We had a fantastic picnic at Lake Merritt in Oakland with my coworker Martina and some other friends. We feasted on fresh bread, cheeses, sweets, and more. It was so relaxing to sit in the sun with lovely people and talk about our travel adventures.
But I’d have to say my favorite moment was just sitting around my dinner table with my husband and our surfers. Discussing our lives, our passions, our hopes for the future, and telling both the stories of how we fell in love. “Share your life” has to be my favorite Couchsurfing value!
Check out all these happy Couchsurfers. You can’t see it in this photo, but we had quite the spread of delicious food from the Lake Merritt Farmers’ Market.
How do you say goodbye?
Saying goodbye to them was bittersweet. We had such a great connection, so it was sad to see them go. I definitely had tears in my eyes. But it was also so exciting to think about all their upcoming travels and adventures. Being open and caring is the best way to be a good host, so I’m just going to keep striving for that.
What made them such awesome guests?
These two have got their Couchsurfing manners down pat! They are so considerate, helpful, and wonderful. They brought us food, made us dinner and desserts, and always were willing to help out.
I couldn’t have asked for better surfers!