Lifestyle

COUCHSURFING

NEW CRAZE FOR INTERNATIONAL SOFA CRASHING

A new craze sweeping the globe is “CouchSurfing”.

The name says it all really; you travel around different countries, staying on peoples’ sofas along the way, but the official mission statement of this non-profit organisation is: “to internationally network people and places, create educational exchanges, raise collective consciousness, spread tolerance, and facilitate cultural understanding.”

Like many of the increasingly popular social networking sites found all over the Internet, you are encouraged to create a profile and link yourself up with any online friends you might already have, then join ‘discussion groups’ and engage in ‘chat’. This all seems pretty straightforward, and rather innocent, but when it comes to actually picking the people who you want to stay with, the process appears more and more dubious. In the FAQs section of the site, when asked ‘Is CouchSurfing safe?’ the precautionary measures implemented by the organisation leave much to be desired. Although not just anyone can be ‘vouched for’; newcomers can only be validated by an already vouched for CouchSurfing.com member; essentially, it is a circle of trust, and we all know that we can never be 100% sure that the people we encounter on the Internet are actually who they claim to be.

After further investigation it seems that CouchSurfing is very much like a bizarre cult, as it states: “We make a better world by opening our homes, our hearts, and our lives”! Despite this somewhat off-putting realisation, I decided to join up anyway, to attain whether or not my first impressions were accurate. The registration process is basic, asking for the sort of information you might expect, such as a username and password, where you live, email, and what your ‘couch availability’ is. Even before you receive a confirmation email, you can use the (at first slightly intimidating) search engine to browse other ‘CouchSurfers’ profiles for suitable candidates to meet up or stay with. Undeniably, and somewhat shamefully, I was soon hooked on searching for interesting people in far off places around the world, and even more worryingly, seriously contemplating jetting off to kip on their couch!

What I found most fascinating was the fact that you could populate a map with other surfers online at that moment, and pointers would start popping up all over the place, which you simply click on to see their full profile. Although I was initially extremely sceptical about the whole concept of staying in random people’s homes, the idea behind it is actually rather attractive, and I can easily see why it has become so popular. However, I would urge potential surfers to remain diligent when signing up to such a scheme, as the appeal of being able to visit a wide range of amazing places on the cheap may begin to cloud your judgement.

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