Travellers are confronted by various choices, worries and expenses, particularly concerning accommodations. Locating comfortable, affordable, secure and rewarding places to stay can weigh heavy on anyone's mind. While traditional forms of lodging, such as hotels, have many merits; when it comes to budget travel and cultural immersion, they seem to be lacking.
If only there were some sort of alternative.
Enter CouchSurfing (CS) – What is it?
CouchSurfing is an international non-profit organization, which has been operating online since 2004. The basic premise of CouchSurfing is that you can travel the world (there are CS hosts on every continent) and stay with local people, for free. In return, you have the option – but not the requirement – of hosting others at your own home, or at least meeting them for coffee or a drink. CouchSurfing allows for genuine connection between people of different cultures, without a financial barrier getting in the way.
What CouchSurfing Isn't
CouchSurfing is not a dating site or a method for taking advantage of others. Relationships do occur in CS, but they are not the focus of the site, and treating both surfers and hosts with respect is part of the CS philosophy. Doing things like helping to buy food, offering to cook meals, cleaning up after a meal, and cleaning up any mess you make are not required – but are recommended.
CouchSurfing's Added Value
CouchSurfing is more than just a way to travel on a budget – it is fun! CS allows you to meet and interact with people in their daily lives and to totally immerse yourself in their culture. As a surfer, you generally have access to all the amenities you would find in a hotel, with the addition of home-cooked meals, a virtual tour guide, opportunities for daytime sights the guide books don't mention and night-time fun with some of the coolest people you'll ever meet. Positive experiences are the norm with CS; As of January 23, 2011, couch surfers have had 6,569,375 positive experiences with other members, which represents 99.901% of all CS experiences (www.couchsurfing.org/mission_stats.html).
What You Need to 'Surf Couches' Successfully
- An open mind and respect for other people, cultures, traditions and lifestyles
- A relatively flexible travel schedule
- A willingness to have fun
- A desire and ability to teach, learn, share, or listen
- Yourself and/or your friends – Hosts accept anywhere from one to seven people, or more
How do I Get Started with CouchSurfing?
Getting started with CS is pretty simple. Go to the CS website and create a profile, similar to how you would create a profile on Facebook. Upload a picture of yourself and your couch or guest bed, fill out your profile with some information about yourself to help people understand 'you,' and you're ready to go. In addition, you can ask around to see if any of your friends are on CouchSurfing, which could allow you to add them as friends on the site and make people more likely to stay with you, and you can join a CS common interest or local area group to meet other CSers.
After you've created your profile, if you want to host people, wait for them to send you a request or look for people needing a host on CS group message boards. If, on the other hand, you want to start surfing (travelling), use the 'CouchSearch' feature to find places to stay. The 'CouchSearch' feature has many options, which allows you to limit your search to people who are involved in the organization, people with wheelchair accessible homes, smoking or non-smoking hosts and more.
If you find a host who looks interesting to you, click on 'Send a Couch Request to [host's name],' and write a request which demonstrates you've read over their profile and want to stay with them. Do the same to other hosts if you wish, being sure to actually read their profiles and have good reasons to want to stay with them, and wait for their replies.
Is CouchSurfing Safe?
While travelling around, staying with strangers may initially appear to be fraught with danger, CouchSurfing is actually incredibly safe, thanks in large part to the various safety features the organization employs.
These features include:
- Identity Verification – all CS members have the option of proving they live where they say they live, and are who they say they are, by completing a verification process. A member's level of verification is indicated on their profile.
- Friends and References – Hosts and surfers can have CS friends and references, which demonstrates their potential level of trustworthiness and how much fun they are to stay or surf with. References are divided into positive/neutral/negative categories. Just remember, if a member doesn't have any friends or references, it doesn't mean they're bad – everyone has to start somewhere.
- Vouching – Vouching is a process which confirms a member is highly trustworthy and conforms to their own claims. A member can only be vouched for by another member, who is also their friend, and who has been vouched for three times by other vouched members.
- Ambassadors – CS Ambassadors are members who are deeply involved in the organization itself on a voluntary basis. They have hosted and surfed many times, have lots of experience, and have to go through a thorough application process to get their position. Ambassadors can also help you out in a jam and are a very safe bet as a host if you are new to or nervous about Couchsurfing.
So What are You Waiting for?
Although it may sound intimidating to put yourself or selves out there and stay with strangers, believe me, it's well worth it. As an experienced CouchSurfer of five years, I have never regretted trying it out, and never looked back. I can't recommend it highly enough. Check it out, and start surfing!
Sources: CouchSurfing.org
Nicholas Warren - Nicholas Warren is a professional Librarian, a lifelong learner and a fan of the written word. His interests include, but are not limited ...
