What Exactly Is CouchSurfing About
Sunday, June 5th, 2011Couchsurfing as a verb has come to mean how many young people live now in some of the larger urban areas, without an actual home they will stay on the couches and spare bedrooms of friends and friends of friends for a few days as an informal guest. In the late 90s some people capitalized on this phenomenon by creating websites to help form networks of Couchsurfers allowing you to visit towns without hotels and so on.
To start Couchsurfing is now a matter of signing up and registering, although obviously some fairly in-depth checks are needed to make sure that the couch or spare room you are offering is safe and habitable, and that your guests will likewise be nice and decent people.
It is worth pointing out that although the websites do all they can to keep out bad elements, it is still important to do some research yourself and take all of the standard safety precautions before travelling like telling people where you are going.
Beginning in North America Couchsurfing has been quick to catch on around Europe, South America and Australia. Website owners are very careful to avoid not only unsuitable hosts and guests, but also commercial organizations looking to profit from it. Websites keep their integrity using a detailed and intuitive feedback system to exclude the bad and allow in the good like a filter.
Beginning as a few small websites run by friends, the systems’ success has been nothing short of meteoric with thousands of amazing stories happening all over the world every day through this truly amazing and incredibly contemporary phenomenon. The world sits and watches in awe.
It is hard to believe that less than 100 years ago most people did not even have telephones in their house and never would have dreamed of their great grandchildren doing something as radical as Couchsurfing on the internet for fun.
Learn how to couchsurf and other travel accommodation options on the Indie Travel Podcast and http://indietravelpodcast.com.