What is CouchSurfing?
CouchSurfing.org is a website but it works more as a community. Imagine you have friends everywhere in the world. Friends you can trust, friends you can count on, friends who have friends but also friends who are going to save you money.
You want to travel somewhere, but can't afford to pay an expensive hotel? On CouchSurfing you will find someone that hosts you whether it is on a sofa, on the floor or in a private room.
You are travelling somewhere but you are alone and don't know anyone around? On CouchSurfing you will find people with whom to go sight-seing, city touring, pub crawling, dance-floor rocking, coffee drinking, etc.
You are travelling somewhere where there is no couchsurfer? Well, you are unlucky, as you will see in the next section.
Who is on CouchSurfing?
Basically, more than 3,000,000 people from over 250 countries. More than 83,000 cities represented and 350 unique languages spoken by users. The average Couchsurfing user is 28 years old and there is a 53% probability that he is a male character. With 50% of the users from Europe, 25% from North America, the top city is Paris, France with 57,000 users ready to share their couch, bed or knowledge of the city with you. Those figures are from October 2011, for more up-to-date statistics, visit the CouchSurfing statistics page.
Why would I start CouchSurfing?
There are many reasons to Couchsurf. The first reason that people see is often money, you can't afford a hotel so you crash someones couch and it makes a trip cheaper, or sometimes just makes it possible. The second reason would be to make friends, meet people. People with different culture, different languages, but the same will to get in touch and learn from each other. After a few Couchsurfing experiences, what people usually give as a reason is to meet locals. Once you get used to going to places and hanging around with local people, you become allergic to touristic places and attractions. You also pay much less for food and drinks when you are away of the crowded touristic areas. In the end, all these reasons combine in one: CouchSurfing makes it possible for everyone to get in touch with different cultures and to learn a lot from life.
Here is a short video to help you understand how CouchSurfers see the project.
Is it safe to CouchSurf with unknown people?
Yes, it is safe. There might be some bad experience out there to balance the 6,000,000 positive user experiences, but most them could have been avoided with common sense and basic precautions. The first one would be, don't trust someone on CouchSurfing that you would not trust in real life.
Having said this, CouchSurfing has a very well done reference system e.g. you host me, everything goes fine, you will post a positive reference on my profile saying that according to your experience I am a trustworthy person. When someone has 20 or 30 positive references you can assume it is a person you can trust, and more than that you can get an idea of who he is by reading the references.
The vouches are also a great way to know if someone is trustworthy. Vouches are given by key users of the CouchSurfing world to attests that someone has understood the whole concept of CouchSurfing and is a positively incredible CouchSurfer. Once you get 3 vouches you are granted privilege to vouch for people.
The Couchsurfing Wiki gives recommendations on how to behave in ackward circumstances or if you are a pretty girl travelling by yourself. It also gives great informations about a lot of cities.
Conclusion
Yes, CouchSurfing can be a revolution in one's life. Yes, you may make some of the best friends you ever made, or even find love thanks to CouchSurfing. Yes, you will have to adapt yourself to different cultures and lifestyles, which you probably wouldn't have done by booking a room in a superb hotel with a swimming pool. Yes, this site is cool. And yes, we can be friends if you want, here is my profile.
