Subscribe to my RSS feed Subscribe via e-mail Follow me on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook

CouchSurfing – A Brilliant Social Network for Travelers

Four years ago, if you were visiting another country and hoped to stay in someone’s home for a more authentic cultural experience, you either needed to be in an exchange program, visiting family/friends, or extremely outgoing and personable (and being attractive wouldn’t hurt). As a result, independent travelers routinely stuck to their guidebook recommendations for hostels, pensions, and other assorted cheap lodgings. Travelers were more likely to experience a new city with other travelers from the tourist viewpoint, while interactions with locals were all too easily limited to those in the service industry.

And then CouchSurfing was launched in January 2004, and everything changed. The CouchSurfing Project is a social network unlike any other. Imagine a network of 227,000 people around the world (currently representing 218 countries) willing to open up and share their homes with fellow travelers for free. Now imagine no more, as this network is a reality, and ready for you to join today.

The Philosophy

The grandiose mission of CouchSurfing is to “participate in creating a better world, one couch at a time.” While free accommodations in exotic locales entice new surfers, the relationships and friendships which form as a result are where the true value lies. CouchSurfing capitalizes on people’s almost universal pride in their own culture. Hosting allows people to be tour guides in their own backyard. Eventually the host travels, and has the opportunity to benefit from others in the same way.

Independent travelers often see the best in people, a prerequisite if you are going to open your home to a stranger. And while giving a complete stranger the key (literally) to your kingdom may sound outrageous, to couchsurfers, it represents a bohemian ideal alive and well in our modern world.

Signing Up

Getting started with CouchSurfing is as simple as taking ten minutes to fill out a profile similar to those found on networking and dating sites, except for one unique question, “Do you have a couch available?” The term “couch” is used liberally, as some people have entire spare bedrooms available, while others can only offer a humble space on the floor (your author included). Besides yes and no responses, you also have the option to indicate you’re available for coffee or a drink. If you’re curious about CouchSurfing, though not ready to commit as a host, this option may net visitors (local or foreign) with whom you can meet up casually. Once the basic questions about yourself are answered, write a mission statement, map out your past and future travel destinations, upload a few photos, and you’re done!

The key feature of the web site is the CouchSearch, with which you search for people willing to host you. The interface is easy to use, and allows for progressively narrowing down the geographic area of interest. As to be expected, larger metropolitan areas such as Paris and New York City have a higher density of couches available than more rural locations. Luckily, it’s the big cities where you will save the most money when it comes to accommodations. Once you find someone of interest, you can e-mail them through the web site to begin a dialog.

Web Site Features

Aside from searching for your next place to stay, the CouchSurfing web site has a plethora of information to educate you on the scope and inner workings of the project. The Info page is filled with information about the founders, organization (including an org chart), FAQ, and project statistics. The United States has the highest number of surfers (26%, or 58,387) in a single country, while by region, Europe weighs in at a hefty 45% of the world’s surfers (102,548).

The Community page highlights the large number of people involved in running the project, from translators to tech geeks. Message boards and chat rooms help to facilitate online interaction, while volunteering to become an ambassador or signing up for a work (to advance the project) collective allow for real world meetings to further build the social network.

The Donate page touches on the non-profit nature of the organization (100% donation supported). As you explore the site, you will quickly notice it is completely free of advertising, a factor which greatly improves the user experience.

Regarding safety, the network is self-monitoring. Surfers and hosts have the ability to leave positive or negative references on one and others’ profiles. The more positive references a person accumulates, the more likely others will want to stay with him/her, or allow him/her to stay with them. There is a vouching process which allows more experienced and certifiably trusted users to vouch for less experienced surfers. Lastly, there is an optional 3-tier name and address verification process.

Final Words

Take a break from the hostel scene, and stay with the locals. You may find it hard to travel any other way!

Tomorrow I will share my first experience hosting a couchsurfer.

_______

Looking to travel in Europe?  Check out great Barcelona hotels while you’re in Spain, or awesome hotels in Rome when you visit the Colosseum.  Don’t forget that if you need a place to stay in Amsterdam there are affordable Amsterdam hotels available.

Article Series - CouchSurfing

  1. CouchSurfing – A Brilliant Social Network for Travelers
  2. Hosting My First Couchsurfer
  3. Reflecting Upon My Couchsurfing Experiences
Related Posts with Thumbnails

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

This post was written by:

Dave - who has written 960 posts on Go Backpacking.

Dave Lee (Editor-in-Chief) blogged his way around the world from 2007-2009. When not writing, he can be found salsa dancing, and lamenting his untimely departure from Medellin. Follow him on Twitter @rtwdave

Contact the author

  • Stu
    we call it dossing. people would show up at your house and sleep on the couch for a month. we had 15+ people in our house at one time in London it was mad. everyone in the house not dossing would get royally pissed when 15 people are hogging the bathroom and not one of em is paying rent! the dossing quickly comes to an end when one person screws it for everyone, this person usually drinks someone elses beer from the fridge or eats all the haagen daas in the freezer or throws up on the couch.

    ps, it isnt couch surfing but my friend has 'extreme vert couch diving' for a laugh (its quite old). http://users.bigpond.net.au/spoony/
  • Great write-up, Dave. It reminds me that I signed up with CS a while ago and never completely filled out my profile/mission statement.

    I'm eager to hear what your first experience is like!
  • I'm interested in reading about your experience, too. I've thought about opening our house, but we live in the dreaded suburbs, and I doubt people would be interested! I wonder if there are any write ups on other people's experiences. I'm off to google...
  • Stacy - I think the fact that I live just outside DC, rather than within it, is why it took 6 months for me to host someone. I had 2 others interested during that time, however one person found another place, and I turned down another because it didn't feel right.
  • I heard about these services a while back, but then I forgot about it. It would definitely be a great way to save money in big cities, though as Stu pointed out it could easily get old for the hosts. It seems like a sort of "Couch Surfing Etiquette" would have to develop among the community. Do you know of any other websites offering this service? I wonder which have the most users, best interface, etc... Great post, thanks!
  • Rob - I haven't come across any similar sites, though I haven't looked either.
  • Karen Bryan
    Sounds like a great idea, not sure how it works in reality. I agree with Rob that some sort of ettiquette would probably be necessary. I'm not sure I'd like to have relative strangers in my home or stay in their home but of course it depends on the person.
  • I was looking for these services some time ago and couldnt find some keyword which would get me there from Google search. Is there more services like this?
  • I can't help with keywords, however these are the 4 players I've come across:

    hospitalityclub.org (apparently a big one with 200,000+ people)
    place2stay.net
    couchsurfing.com
    globalfreeloaders.com
  • Check http://www.opencouchsurfing.org for making CS more open.
  • Dunstan
    The SPIRIT OF COUCHSURFING has NOTHING to do with "saving money", but it is EVERYTHING to do with sharing TRUST and GOOD WILL.

    I was really suprised to read some of the comments posted here in response to a well written article. It is a common mistake for us to measure things by their financial value in the first instance. I don't go to work to "earn money" but to challenge myself, learn and grow. Sure I earn money but that is not my REASON for going to work! There are many things in life which are immesurable with a financial metric. They are often the most important things and genuine hospitality is one of them. It is not a commodity that you can buy, sell or even put a value on.

    CouchSurfing is not for everyone and that is as it should be. You should trust your first reaction. If you think "Wow, that sounds amazing!" then join and your expectations will likely be exceeded. If you are thinking "How strange. Why on Earth would anyone do that?" then you probably shouldn't bother.

    What will I remember in 10 years from now? Will I proudly tell my friends "how much money I saved"? Will I even know how many dollars it was? Probably not! Will I have some fantastic memories of CouchSurfing and still be in touch with some of my new CS friends? Yes, most certainly!

    Thanks for the provocation,

    Dunstan
  • Dunstan -

    Thanks for sharing. After hosting my second couchsurfer this week, I couldn't agree more with your thoughts. :smile:
  • first i thought that couchsurfing is a great idea. But when you look really deep into the disussion forms of couchsurfing you will find out a really big mass of trouble. About the "non profit organisation style", people who worked for no money for this project and are so pissed off right now - they build up there own solutions.

    i went over to www.belodged.com. there you really have clear information. They offer anything - like couchsurfing for free. But they do not try to set up a large and non operational mass of groups which is working for free for them (try to look in the discussion forms developer etc. - a lot frustrated members in couchsurfing). Ok - belodged.com will display some ads on the website. But thats ok - its free, professional and they try to follow the whishes from the members.

    just a note ...
  • Great work! I also have my own blog I just find it hard to write quality content like this.
    I guess I really don't have the time.
  • I just signed up a month ago. I had heard of it and was suspicious and then I met a surfer in a hostel ( staying in the hostel was stepping out of hotel comfort zone ! ). The CSer I met was totally normal - a writer and a foodie ( I think it's just good judgement to trust foodies more than other people ) . I signed up and am doing a stay in Sept. and will host soon too! I'm still wondering about telling friends and family because I know they might not "get it" why there is a stranger sleeping on the couch on his way home from burning man .... but oh well.
  • Yep, we CS'ers are definitely normal! Once you realize that, it's kind of an "ah-ha" moment and you get excited about the first times being a host or guest. I've done both, and I think hosting is more fun because you invite this traveler into your home and exchange all these cool tales and stories without having to go anywhere. It's like home field advantage!
  • I understand what John is saying about how couchsurfing has a cost, but I really feel that my $25 contribution is a small price to pay for such an extensive network ( and a highly functioning website behind it ). I just signed up , so I'm not sure if the $25 is a yearly thing or not, but I'm just seeing it goes.
  • The $25 is a one time thing - I paid it back in 2006 and it seems like such a small price to pay for 1) a worldwide network of amazing people willing to host/help you and 2) no advertising on the site (or sales tactics to get you to buy premium accounts, etc.)
blog comments powered by Disqus



Blog Sponsors








Download FREE Travel eBook
Sign up for GoBackpacking's twice-monthly newsletter and receive the FREE Dare Me! eBook
First Name:
Your Email:
(Privacy Policy: Your information will not be shared with any third party)


Bangkok Flights . . Cheap flights to Hong Kong


Cheap Flights . . Travel the World eBook


© 2010 Go Backpacking - Disclosure - Privacy Policy
Powered by Wordpress. Design by Woo Themes.