Couch Surfing

Dec 29, 2011

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Couch Surfing

I suspect that many of you will already be aware of the website CouchSurfing.org or can at least guess at the principle.

It’s a network of people all over the world who are willing to offer cups of tea, showers and/or couches on which to crash. It operates entirely without the use of money – which suits me well. You can sign up to either offer a couch/coffee or just to find willing hosts for wherever you are visiting.

It’s obviously a very useful resource for backpacking, cycle touring and the like, but also a good way to find locals in some of the more obscure reaches of the world. I used it, for example, to find someone that could help me with an expedition to Khabarovsk in the Russian Far East after Google failed to throw up any results.

I’ve no affiliation with CouchSurfing and I am sure there are other similar networks – please do add them in the comments below – but I thought it was something about which it was worth spreading the word.

Comments

4 responses to “Couch Surfing”

Tom Allen

December 29, 2011

Nice one for bringing it to light. I’ve Couchsurfed with close to a hundred people now. It’s a great point of entry into urban society, if you travel in order to make friends and meet people – cities can otherwise be rather anonymous places. Several times I’ve begun with a single CS host and stayed in a city for several weeks by being passed between mutual friends thereafter. Like you, I’ve also found members in the most far-flung places of all (often foreigners themselves, often involved in volunteering in the place in question, and often very well embedded in that society).

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Nadine

January 2, 2012

I love the idea of CS and it was very useful for my cycle trip around Spain – not only did I make good friends all over the place, but got more personal insights into the culture, becoming part of their families (sharing their traditions). It’s a good way of getting to know a country on a deeper level, when only passing through.

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Anna

February 15, 2012

For me, CS is mostly usefull to meet like-minded people than find a nights stay somewhere. But I think the beauty of it is that anyone can use it for his or her own needs, from findng a “partner” to finding a bicycle to buy and always under the hippyis umbrella of an online travel-lovin community.

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Kevin Post

March 3, 2012

I’ve hosted hundreds of people via CS and Hospitality club but I like CS significantly more for too many reasons I can name in this comment. Everywhere I have ever traveled (with few very remote exceptions) I have been able to find a place to sleep and share experiences with my hosts. I have met some of my greatest friends through the site and indirectly met my wife through Couchsurfing. If you couldn’t already tell t’s an incredible tool.

I do want to add that there needs to be more of a balance to Couchsurfing. Too many people write articles on their blogs regarding the benefits of traveling with Couchsurfing but forget to mention how amazing it is to host travelers as well. Many people sign up expecting to receive free accommodation without giving back to the community. I highly recommend that before people take off for there adventures that they take the time to host. Just a thought. For example, I am learning Turkish and although I’m not in Turkey I can still host Turks in order to meet great people and practice my target language. While I’m stuck at home working two jobs it’s a great way to feel as if I am traveling in my own town.

Thanks for the article Tim.

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