I can't really speak to everyone's paranoia, but I can say that my girlfriend and I stayed with two different people via hospitalityclub.org in Paris, and it was amazing! They took us out and we met their friends and saw a much better part of the city than we would have, had we stayed in hotels the entire time. We still keep in touch every once in a while and we'll probably say hi the next time we are in Paris, even if we don't need a place to stay.
After we got back, we hosted a few different people - a few from Germany and a few from France and also had a great time. It was actually very fun showing someone around the city and rediscovering all of the fun things that are in your own backyard. I'm not sure I'd go to another country without some kind of emergency money or something, but I'd say everyone I met was very nice and smart. People aren't a-holes everywhere else, as much as in the U.S. Or rather, the concept of hospitality is much different.
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I can't really speak to everyone's paranoia, but I can say that my girlfriend and I stayed with two different people via hospitalityclub.org in Paris, and it was amazing! They took us out and we met their friends and saw a much better part of the city than we would have, had we stayed in hotels the entire time. We still keep in touch every once in a while and we'll probably say hi the next time we are in Paris, even if we don't need a place to stay. After we got back, we hosted a few different people - a few from Germany and a few from France and also had a great time. It was actually very fun showing someone around the city and rediscovering all of the fun things that are in your own backyard. I'm not sure I'd go to another country without some kind of emergency money or something, but I'd say everyone I met was very nice and smart. People aren't a-holes everywhere else, as much as in the U.S. Or rather, the concept of hospitality is much different.