
Couchsurfing in Argentina: Soccer Fever, Tango and Wild Patagonia
German travel writer Stephan Orth crosses Argentina relying on couchsurfing hosts, arriving as President Javier Milei's austerity program cuts subsidies, shrinks the public sector, and rolls back labor and environmental protections. In Buenos Aires he lands in the middle of Superclásico fever between Boca Juniors and River Plate, watching how soccer obsession coexists with rising prices and shuttered state jobs. In Rosario he sees the daily hustle of a city adjusting to the new economic reality, and in Patagonia he talks with locals and tourists in landscapes that draw millions of visitors even as the transformation reaches into the region's economy. Staying with strangers rather than in hotels, Orth gets unscripted access to how ordinary Argentinians talk about the changes in their kitchens and living rooms, producing a portrait of a country that is divided over Milei's shock therapy but still defiantly full of energy, tango, and football.