"Couchsurfing" Travel Takes Off On the Web

mikesd81 writes "The Associated Press writes about a growing network of people online who've gone a step beyond hotels, hostels and even apartment swapping in their travel planning: They sleep on each others' couches. A number of Web sites have sprung up to help pair travelers searching for a place to crash and hosts with a spare couch. Sites like hospitalityclub.org, couchsurfing.com, globalfreeloaders.com and place2stay.net are often free, serving only as middlemen and offering tips on how to find successful matches. The sites are largely the creations of 20-somethings bitten with wanderlust and the hope of helping to bring together people from different cultures. They often depend on volunteer administrators to help manage the Web operations."

Comments

First-hand experience

[cos(0)]

My only experience with Couchsurfing has been excellent.

I'm a Texan who recently went to the Ohio LinuxFest 2006 with three others. We've found a great male couple on Couchsurfing, exchanged some emails, and they seemed normal. We visited them, and they took us into their home for two nights as if we were their long-lost relatives. They were incredibly hospitable, made us a temporary code in their electronic entry lock, and were in general fantastic. And, they did not expect a dime from us.

After we returned to Texas, we bought them Woot Wine as a surprise thank-you gift, and they sent a grateful email after receiving it.

This kind of behavior from your fellow human beings really lifts the spirit and encourages similar kindness from oneself. Although I am certain there are some nuts on sites like this, it always is and always will be "caveat emptor". But if you find a good host, you will forever remember the experience.

This isn't new...

[Otter]

The Ski Freak Radical was doing this for ski bums well over a decade ago. I'm sure there have been all sorts of similar niche and less-niche sites serving a similar function. (Admittedly not Web 2.0, though...)

Common interests

[RareButSeriousSideEf]

After about 8 years of hosting an annual group of 12 - 16 randomly collected folks, I have to say that I haven't met a real asshole in the bunch. A bore or drone here and there, to be sure, but no real assholes to speak of. (Just noticing that Firefox 2.0 apparently has "asshole" in its spellchecker dictionary right out of the box... good deal.)

I think the mitigating factor here is that, although these are people from the internets, they're not from a general "find a place to stay" sort of site. These are folks who are willing to spend 24 hours straight watching B-movies (http://www.b-fest.com/), and who have interacted with other groupies long enough to achieve at least a virtual sense of familiarity. So, couch surfers? Sure. But strangers? Only in the physical sense.

Besides... IMO, if someone is willing to watch 24 hours of fare like Tiny Town, Plan 9 from Outer Space, Let my Puppets Come, Kingdom of the Spiders, Robot Monster and Orgy of the Dead just to rape and murder me afterwards, well dammit, they deserve it, and God bless `em. The moral of the story is that I can't vouch for people who're only known by their desire to couch surf at your house. I also can't vouch for people who share whatever quirky interests you happen to be into. But I can vouch for B-Movie fanatics... they tend to bring unexpected housewarming gifts & to leave your place cleaner than they found it. In crowds, they also tend to round up dramatically when a collective restaurant tab goes `round the table. They got my vote.