Out of the 287 references people left me on Couchsurfing, I picked seven. They aren’t the nicest things said about me: they’re the ones that best tell what happened at the Jhony Hause, and what I took from each person.
6 min read·Jhonatan Matias·Published: November 2026
7people
5countries
287references read
1house
2019Puerto Natales
0made-up lines
Some people change your trip over one dinner. At the Jhony Hause, the house I opened to travellers in Puerto Natales, that happened almost every night.
Between 15 and 25 people a day passed through that house for months. Picking seven is unfair, so I set a rule: each one had to tell something different. What follows is what they wrote in my Couchsurfing references; I only add why I chose them. I use just their first name, the country on their profile and the date. Anything written in another language is translated, and I say so.
Tap each person to read what they wrote, or press Visit all seven.
🏠 Jhony Hause · Puerto Natales
Person
Tap a dot
Each dot marks the country on the person’s profile (on the capital, or on the region when they mention it; when two overlap, one is nudged slightly), not where they live today. The house is marked in central Puerto Natales, not at its exact address.
1
Traveller, then host
Fernanda · Canada · May and July 2019
The one who told me to leave
Fernanda arrived after peak season, and she wrote it: she didn’t get there “to live the full Jhonny hause experience, when 20–30 people stayed every day”. She stayed eight days. With me she hitchhiked and rode in a truck for the first time. And before leaving she wrote this:
Finish your chapter in Natales and go out and eat the world, you still owe yourself that, don’t wait for a push to jump, send it all to hell and jump, live, TRAVEEEL!!
Fernanda · May 2019 · translated from Spanish
Why I picked her: because two months later she was the one hosting me, in Santiago. Her second reference ends: “more roads, more trucker friends, more mate, more trips and kilometres, but fewer nights at petrol stations”.
2
Traveller
Koldo · Spain (Basque Country) · February 2019
Asked for four days, stayed almost a month
Koldo wrote his reference in Basque, on purpose. Translated, it says he asked to stay four days and stayed almost a month, and that in that time he set up a compost bin, helped paint doors, went out looking for vegetables to rescue, cooked, and shared the house with 20 other people. At the end, so I’d understand something, he added in Spanish:
Since I’m not thaaat much of a bastard, here’s a summary: you’re a legend, Jhonny!
Koldo · Spain · Feb 2019 · translated from Spanish
Two months later he told the story himself in a video from his trip: he arrived on a motorbike that had broken down again, and for the first four days I didn’t show up. “I honestly thought: they’re pulling my leg”, he says. And later: “all people did was make the house better” (translated from Spanish). Watch from minute 9:08 ↗
Why I picked him: because he’s the perfect example of what happened when someone stopped being a guest and started building the house. The compost was his.
3
Personal reference
Nati · Argentina · January 2019
The line that became a motto
Nati was there during the record season. Her reference opens by quoting another guest, and that line stuck around the house:
Man is born to die. The traveller, to come to the Jhony Haus.
Nati · Argentina · Jan 2019, quoting another traveller · translated
She says that with me she dared to try acroyoga, and that I let her “take over the kitchen a bit” so she could “start selling home-made bread”. And she signs off: “I’m leaving with a dad of the heart”.
Why I picked her: because she shows the house was also a place to start something. A borrowed kitchen can be someone’s first shop.
4
Traveller
Seda · Turkey · March 2019
Cooking for 20 for the first time
Seda wrote in English:
He creates an unusual atmosphere for travelers all around and he is like a glue to connect people. I cooked for 20 people for the first time in my life and it was amazing to share all different dinners with everybody.
Seda · Turkey · Mar 2019
She also mentions that I lent her my sleeping bag, and that I “learned acro yoga from one of the CSs” who came through the house.
Why I picked her: because she put into words something I couldn’t explain: my job in that house wasn’t cooking or cleaning, it was gluing people together.
5
Traveller
Luca · Spain · April 2019
The one who started the applause
Luca wrote that he planned to stay a few days in Puerto Natales and that, after meeting the house, he got “trapped” and stayed longer. And he left, in Spanish, the ritual that ended every dinner:
A round of applause for whoever made dinner, a round of applause for whoever is going to clean up, and a round of applause for the Jhony Hause!
Luca · Spain · Apr 2019 · translated from Spanish
For him the house was “the ultimate meaning of the couchsurfing spirit, making the world smaller and jointing worldwide cultures under the same roof”.
Why I picked him: because applauding whoever does the dishes says more about a shared house than any rule stuck on the fridge.
6
Personal reference
Martin · Argentina · April 2019
A turning point
Martin forgot to leave me a reference when he left, and wrote it later. What he wrote is one of the nicest things on my profile:
They say what surrounds us is a reflection of ourselves, and I have to say that staying at the Jhonyhause was a turning point in my trip.
Martin · Argentina · Apr 2019 · translated from Spanish
He says he shared the house “with more than 30 travellers from all over the globe”, that “different workshops were set up and there were big community meals”.
Why I picked him: because he uses the exact word. For many people the house wasn’t a stop, it was the moment the trip changed direction. For me too.
7
Traveller
Kirill · Uzbekistan · February 2019
More than a house, more than a host
Kirill is the only guest from Uzbekistan in my references. He wrote in English:
Jhony hause is one of the most attractive sights in the whole Patagonia, without any doubt. This house is more than a house, community is more than community and Jhony is more than a host.
Kirill · Uzbekistan · Feb 2019
He recommended me “as a host, as a guest, as a friend and yoga teacher”, and wished me luck with “your project and realizing future plans”.
Why I picked him: because he came from the other side of the map and put the house next to Torres del Paine. He exaggerates, of course. But I’ll take it.
The ones left out
It could have been another seven
Left out: Melissa, from Peru, who wrote her reference while still at the house, unsure whether it had been 5 or 6 days; Daniel, from Spain, who called me “a professional giver”; Laura and Dara, who learned to make pizza for 27; Dylan, from the US, who honestly warned that with 17 people you wouldn’t sleep well; and Eduardo, from Argentina, who promised his grandchildren would hear about the house. They’re all in the full story.
Your turn
Who changed a trip for you without knowing it?
Tell me in the questions below. And if you’re one of these seven and want your name taken off, write to me and I’ll remove it.
