CouchSurfing.com: The Meeting Place for Social Travellers and Empty Couches

I learned of Couchsurfing.com through word of mouth, and the idea intrigued me. Maybe it was the dreamer in me; the rolling stone that would have once traded anything for a plane ticket and a free year to back pack across Europe. Or maybe it was the writer in me, always looking for some new interesting thing to tell others about. In any case... I immediately found the website (it wasn't hard) and went through the steps it takes to become a member of Couchsurfing.com.

If you need it explained in further detail, Couchsurfing.com is a global network designed to connect travellers with the local communities they may be travelling. The word couch is used both figuratively and literally with this website.

My first impression was: How safe can this be?!

According to the FAQ's on Couchsurfing.com, the safety is based mainly on the users common sense. Wether you are hosting your couch for a stranger, or you are crashing on a stranger's couch... it is at your own discretion how comfortable you may feel around this person. They refer to their own security process as a trust circle and I will share my first impression of how this security process works, from what I read in the description.

There are different levels of verification. Other members can vouch for you, and that will raise your level of verification. The highest level of verification (level three) is having your name and address confirmed as accurate. You don't need to be vouched for or verified to offer a couch, or to travel. However your level is displayed, and this brings us back to the member's own judgement when it comes to trust.

My mind was not quite put to ease by the safety, although I understand that the idea of 'couch surfing' relies solely on social trust and common sense when it comes to personal judgement. A website can only offer so much. I did start to wonder how difficult it would be to offer a level four verification... concerning a criminal record. (I am a highly paranoid person when it comes to rapists and murderers, and I couldn't help but wonder how many of these people would be thrilled to offer their home to foreign strangers...)

I was not swayed enough to continue signing up for a membership (which is free.) A few things I found interesting during this process follow.

1.) Under the 'gender' drop bar, you can not only choose the standard male or female, you can also register as a couple or group of people.

2.) Referring again to the 'voucher' concerning the trust circle, you are asked if you were referred by anybody.

3.)Obviously, you must be 18+ to become a member. (However, there is no verification that you aren't lying about your age.)

4.) There is (fortunately) a very strict message about this site not being a dating site. It was not displayed like a very long 'terms of agreement' message that you can easily ignore and check the box as read and agreed to. It was a very brief, blunt message you can't ignore. It made the point very clear that this is a social networking community. I can only hope that message does help to weed out the sexual predators.

5.)Your phone number is kept confidential, and yet it can be accessible through emails with another member if you are communicating about an available couch.. as long as you want it to be. It did strike me with more paranoia that the phone number was necessary for the "case of an emergency". (What might that type of emergency be? Am I just over paranoid?)

After completing this section, I was able to update or complete my profile. There are 4 steps you must do. The first is to upload photos. (Still cautious about who might be looking for a couch, I took the literal approach. and uploaded a photo of my big, comfy blue couch.)

Then you fill out a brief 'bio', called your current mission.

Next, you set your personal preferences. These all refer to your home page design and similar things having to do with your personal Couchsurfing.com page.

Finally, you fill out information about your couch. From availability (Yes/ no/ maybe/ coffee or a drink. etc.) to preferred gender and maximum number of couch surfers. You control what search criteria your couch will end up on.

You can also describe your couch. I did read a few other members pages and discovered that this use of the term 'couch' is mainly figurative. While others had described their lifestyles, their local community, and similar things... I had described my couch as big, blue, comfy, and with two reclining ends. (I haven't bother to change it.)

From here, I was automatically a member and able to search for other couches. You can choose your preference on level of verification, couch availabilty and maximum couch surfers allowed along with several other options. From there, there is a world map. You can search globally, or continent, or country, or state/region, down to city.

Despite having sounded so negative with the safety, I do want to include my full opinion is that Couchsurfing.com is ideal for anybody interested in travelling cross country.

You get to meet local people and explore local communities in a much more personal sense as opposed to just passing through. Instead of conversing with a passerby here and there, this is an ideal website for anybody who has a more personable, social goal in their travels. I would like to inform anybody interested in this website should be aware that your own common sense is truly the only reliable way of concluding another members trustowrthiness.

I did look into what I would have to do to become level 3 verified, and basically it would cost $25, and my name and address would be verified on the credit card bill. I had not expected a level three to be any more secure than that, as it did fit accurately with what I had read earlier.

In conclusion, Couchsurfing is a wonderful way for social travellers and empty couches to meet. It is also a great place to learn some valuable advice of safe travelling, so even if you aren't interested in offering your couch to a stranger... or vise versa... you can learn some valuable tips as well as read some wonderful stories about others experiences.