{"id":3211,"date":"2008-07-23T11:38:17","date_gmt":"2008-07-23T17:38:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress-367309-1145705.cloudwaysapps.com\/?p=3211"},"modified":"2008-07-23T11:38:17","modified_gmt":"2008-07-23T17:38:17","slug":"a-sustainable-way-to-travel-couchsurfingcom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/a-sustainable-way-to-travel-couchsurfingcom\/","title":{"rendered":"A Sustainable Way to Travel: CouchSurfing.com"},"content":{"rendered":"

CouchSurfing saved my life<\/span>.<\/span><\/h3>\n

\"\"Well, possibly. \u00a0No one yet knows what role quality sleep plays in one’s life, or whether one could die from sleep deprivation.<\/p>\n

But if it weren’t for the Couchsurfing.com<\/a> network, I would be–more or less–homeless.<\/p>\n

Since I gleefully waved goodbye to my soggy, moldy tent<\/a> in mid-July, I’ve been faced with the dilemma of… well, now where do I sleep? \u00a0For a week or so, I was wearing out my welcome at my friend’s houses and at my boyfriend’s place (whose sleep schedule is around 5 hours off of mine). \u00a0Realizing that this was causing inordinate stress, both on me and on the parties involved, I knew I had to find a semi-permanent solution.<\/p>\n

With no cash and no lease, where would I stay? \u00a0Enter: Couchsurfing.\"\"<\/p>\n

When I first heard about CouchSurfing, I had the same instant, emotional reaction I had when I heard about Free Ride<\/a>: the oh,\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>this is way too cool to be true!<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0feeling. \u00a0Of course, as with the other projects that I have blissfully filled my life with, it was<\/em> true… and so cool I felt compelled to participate.<\/p>\n

CouchSurfing<\/a> is a website that connects travellers who need shelter for a brief stay, with hosts who wish to welcome them. \u00a0It is rare that someone will CouchSurf within their own city–yet that was exactly my situation after my grimy tent became more like a prison sentence than a home. \u00a0On the first night of staying at my current host’s home, I was offered a key to the apartment<\/em> and asked if I minded staying there alone<\/em> while they went on vacation for two days. \u00a0I was dumbstruck. \u00a0The instant trust, good will, and sense of welcoming was unlike anything I could have expected. \u00a0This is my personal story of how and why CouchSurfing is a brilliant, vital element of sustainable travel.<\/p>\n

The short version of CouchSurfing.com’s mission<\/a> is: “Participate in Creating a Better World, One Couch at a Time.” \u00a0This is why CouchSurfing.com has risen heads above other competing internet sites for traveller networking–their mission focuses on the role of intercultural exchange and the impact of world-wide mutual aid and tolerance. \u00a0People who gravitate towards these messages of universal humanity and intercultural education gravitate towards CouchSurfing.<\/p>\n

If you’ve never heard of CouchSurfing before, your first reaction may be to think “it sounds so unsafe!” \u00a0But CouchSurfing.com has excelled in innovating security measures to protect the parties involved. \u00a0In order to grow your “level of trust” on the CouchSurfing network, people who have met you or know you face-to-face must “vouch” for you. \u00a0You must also “verify” yourself by confirming your address, credit card information, etc. \u00a0These confirming mechanisms provide safety and mutual trust for all involved–the system is operated so that no one could benefit from exploiting one another. \u00a0All participants are accountable and credited for their actions, whether negative or positive!<\/p>\n

Now imagine… travelling to any city in the world for a life-changing vacation… yet not having to pay a\"\"\u00a0dime for housing. \u00a0Say goodbye to hotels and the “tourist traps”… and say hello to an authentic interaction with the people and place you are visiting. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Sust Enable strives to present sustainable ideas that are accessible to nearly everyone (ie, ones that do not cost money.) \u00a0CouchSurfing is as free as the birds. \u00a0In fact, I can almost gurantee you will gain<\/em>\u00a0something from your CouchSurfing experience. \u00a0The only thing you may lose… is a sense of cynicism about humanity.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After all, isn’t a welcoming home and an affirmation of the goodness of humankind… priceless<\/em>?<\/p>\n

photo credit: (1) Thief12 under a Creative Commons 2.5 license; (2) the happy crew at CouchSurfing.com; and (3) Tadeu Pereira under a Creative Commons 2.0 license\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CouchSurfing saved my life. Well, possibly. \u00a0No one yet knows what role quality sleep plays in one’s life, or whether one could die from sleep deprivation. 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