I'm looking to go back to traveling full-time soon and have plenty of experience traveling the world living in cheap AirBnbs with the monthly discount rate and frugal spending habits wherever I go.
However, upon announcing my next bout of full-time travel I had a couple dozen friends/family offer to let me crash at their place for free for 1.58 weeks each and I've been considering just couchsurfing going one one friend's place to the next. Each stay being in different cities/states/countries but most being in MCOLVHCOL cities in US/EU/AUS/JP) for a few months.
The problem is that I normally only just visit someone under non-full-time-travel conditions and I'm worried about how much even with frugal disclaimers couchsurfing trips might lean more into "oh well you're only in Seattle for a week or two, we have to go to <various restaurants, museums, concerts, etc.>" and that even with free housing I'm afraid how much it could add up between being an enjoyable guest and taking more frequent transportation than I would if I just booked a month or two at a time in AirBnbs and only walked around doing free stuff and making my own meals.
Has anyone done a lot of couchsurfing like this and can tell me how it went for you and what your expenses looked like?