Couch Surfing

[edh]

I was told about this website from someone in my class. How it works is you have people from all over the world posting information and allowing you to sleep on their couch/bed/air matress/etc. You look for people in the area you want to visit, and if they have room, you can stay at their place for free. The guy I know did it and said it worked great, and the person hosting it was very nice. This would be a great way for people wanting to make trips and visit amusement parks. I haven't done it, but I signed up. I may try it one day.

 

And by doing this, you do not actually have to let people stay in your home. You can chose to do whatever you want.

 

http://www.couchsurfing.org/home.html

[the ghost]

This seems kind of sketchy. I want to look up some major info before someone stays at my house or vice versa.

[edh]

They have tons of reviews from people, and you can verify that they live at the place before staying with them.

[QuakerOaties]

I did it in Spain and had some really, really great experiences with it. The website seems sketchy at first but members can verify their identities and addresses, and feedback (positive or negative) can never be removed from a persons profile. Additionally, none of your messages are entirely private so that if you go missing, they can determine who you were planning on staying with. I would do it again in an instant.

[SharkTums]

It seems like a nice idea and would probably be great in a perfect world. I'm sure like Quaker said that 99% of the people are fine and great, but it only takes one murder/rape/robbery to ruin it all for everyone.

 

Call me a skeptic, but I just don't trust in people enough to do this.

 

I totally see this as a possibility for younger more trusting people though!

[dandaman]

Call me a skeptic, but I just don't trust in people enough to do this.

 

My thought exactly. My initial view toward this was cynicism; it just doesn't seem like everyone participating in this would be a law-abiding citizen.

[Carnage]

Personally, I'd rather spend the money for a private hotel room. But I'm too introverted to ever consider something like this.

 

But, as long as you're careful I don't see it being too crazy an idea. Probably no worse then staying at hostels.

[Angry_Gumball]

Couch Surfing in the bay area...not a smart idea. There's so many areas around here that are just that ghetto including my city which only seems to get worse by the day. Maybe there should be TPR Couch Surfing

[thrillrideseeker]

I am not sure that I would feel safe staying in a strangers house. I would prefer to know the people really well before I decided to stay the night at their house. This just seems almost unsafe.

~Matthew

[chemical_echo]

My friends had just told me about this right before I came on here.

 

I'm not sure if I would be up for sleeping on a stranger's couch since I'm usually a pretty shy guy. It would be weird to sleep in and have their family doing their daily routine around me or something.

 

Now, maybe I'd consider setting up a tent in someone's backyard as an alternative if it was a safe neighborhood.

 

I just plan on staying at hostels or getting one of those micro hotel rooms (pretty much just a bed, maybe a TV) I've been hearing a lot about lately when traveling.

[edh]

Well thats why you look for someone your age. Its usually college students who do it and live by themselves. I saw one place in Manhattan that was up in a huge skyscraper that looked extremely nice. It beat out staying in some crummy hotel in a bad part of town.