Set free

For the past 3 days I have been hosting couch surfers Winfried and his girlfriend Chris from Cologne. They were wonderful guests, so enthusiastic, interested and respectful of my space. Winfried had contacted me in April to confirm the date. I knew he was anxious to come because of his subsequent e-mails and he had chosen me specifically because I was "interesting". I think that was because I was about their age (most couch surfers are 25 or under), gay, artistic and had traveled to Germany in my younger, more capable years.

Unfortunately, I was not as enthusiastic about their visit. I had already hosted friends and couch surfers 80% of April and May and almost 60% to that point of June to that point, and while all my guests in that period were wonderful, the overall loss of time, space and privacy was draining.

Winfried is very personable and full of questions, locking eyes over the rim of his spectacles while quizzing me on a variety of topics. Chris only spoke half a dozen words in English, equal to my knowledge of German, and was usually quiet as a mouse. After taking me to dinner on the first night I left them on their own the second day. They walked the new seawall by the convention centre and Coal Harbour before renting bicycles for a couple hours. The weather was cloudy but they enjoyed themselves.

Yesterday I took a vacation day so I could guide them around in a rented car. Winfried is not the most organized or best planned person and had not thought carefully about the logistics of how and when to rent cars while on Vancouver Island and traveling around BC next week before they leave on their Alaskan cruise. I had Googled and bookmarked a general website for car rentals in Vancouver Wednesday night but by Friday morning he had still not booked one, so most of Friday morning was spent doing that.

I took them first east to the Second Narrows Bridge and across to Deep Cove. From there I guided them to Lynn Canyon to see the suspension bridge, up through the highest streets against the mountains to get some hazy views of city and down to a pub in Horseshoe Bay for lunch. We visited Whytecliffe Park and took Marine Dr to the Lions Gate Bridge and then through Stanley Park's scenic drive on our way home to my place. I could have taken further, out to UBC and Spanish Banks, but they had seen enough and rush hour traffic was slowing us down.

The weather was excellent really, and I am sure they enjoyed themselves, but I spent much of the day waiting for them at the rented car while they climbed around terrain I would have had difficulty with: 10 minutes at Deep Cove, half an hour at Lynn Canyon, 10 minutes at the Cleveland Dam at Capilaino Lake, 20 minutes at Horseshoe Bay after lunch and nearly an hour at Whytecliffe Park. By the end of the day I had had enough. It seemed that Winfried had had enough too, as he often failed to comprehend simple navigation instructions I fed him. I am sure it was intellectually tiring to translate all day for Chris his questions to me and my responses and comments.

This morning was confused and disorganized as they tried to pack everything in the bags they had brought with them, but they did it and got away just on time to return the car and meet up with their next couch surfer who has a trailer near the ferry terminal in Tsawwassen. I headed off immediately to Joe's Diner for breakfast and a coffee. I could feel my stress and impatience melting away as I sat there.

I have no commitments for the rest of the month or for July, except that Mike from Fernie will be coming for 3 days from the 10th to the 12th. I want to focus on reviewing and editing the last pages of my novel I have written so far. I had set my 'availability' on the couch surfing website to "maybe" and have declined at least half a dozen requests to stay with me in the past week. This coming month will be for me, to honour and nurture myself ahead of any others for a change.