More than simply linking those with a sofa up with potential guests, it is about uniting people worldwide and forming lasting relationships — of the non-romantic kind. Offering free accommodation, hosts also expect sofa stayers to pitch in. In-depth host profiles revealing things like pot friendliness and pet peeves are given. All of which can be verified by previous crashers’ testimonials. Since CouchSurfing started thanks to Casey Fenton and a couch crashing tour of Reykjavik, it has morphed into a networking community with CouchSurfing families, ambassadors, and occasional gatherings. Chi-town native Judy visited Barcelona in the winter and surfed some couch. She advises, “A lot of hosts get frustrated by cut and paste requests. They will be more likely to respond if they see you have a genuine interest in them, not just their couch.”
With holiday season kicking in big time this spring, it gives wanderlusters the opportunity to see a society’s innerworkings. Just don’t send a request to a Spanish host saying, ‘We’d like to stay with you to learn how to bailar like the natives’ — not cute.
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