Million Man March
Everybody’s gone surfin’
couchsurfing
It’s a Million Man March! One million people all unified with a common goal is great, unless it is the glorious Red Army coming over your back fence because you expressed an unwelcome idea. But this isn’t that; it is something else.
There are now one million signed up members of the global CouchSurfing network. So what? The Hussy met CouchSurfing ‘ambassador’ Tristan Lefranc to find out what it’s all about…
The Hussy: So how does couch surfing work?
Tristan Lefranc: You create a profile about yourself, and then if you’re going to, say, Paris, for a fortnight, you post a notice asking if anybody will host you. Usually you get dozens of offers. Some might say they can only take you for a night, others for a week, others can’t put you up but offer to meet for a coffee and show you around.
TH: And in return you have to put up other people in your house?
TL: It’s up to you. Some people enjoy that travel vibe of meeting new people, so they’re happy to let guests in all the time. At the other extreme are people who just use it as free hotel service and never invite others.
TH: What if you end up in some psycho’s livingroom, or them in yours?
TL: There’s a feedback system, like with eBay. Every time you couch surf, both parties leave comments on the site. Before you invite anyone, you can browse their history, and chat online. You only invite (or stay with) people you like the sound of. I’ve done this over a hundred times, met some wild people, but never had anything worse than a guy with bad BO. And you can always leave/ask someone to leave. The vast majority of experiences are very positive and friendly.
TH: Isn’t it risky for girls travelling alone?
TL: If anything it’s a safer way to travel. Your movements are effectively tracked, and if you don’t turn up somewhere your family can check with the site and see what time you were supposed to arrive, who you had arranged to meet and so on.
TH: Is it mostly limited to the US and Europe?
TL: It’s global. There are 1,000,000 CouchSurfers across 232 countries. I’ve surfed around the world, met interesting people, made some great friends and seen places that I simply couldn’t have without a local. My hosts have ranged from 18 to 87 years old, from all backgrounds. The one thing they have in common is a level of trust and openness.
