Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Couchsurfing 2.0

Yippee! It's back. So there, I'm hopping over right this moment.

Sunday, July 02, 2006

Save Couch Surfing

Somewhere last week, CouchSurfing died. Its demise was a blow to us all, its faithful members who have built a 90,000 strong and rapidly growing online community of travellers, whose vision of world travel is unanimous - to travel to the far ends of Earth and experience a place like the locals do, understand other cultures and people, witness and appreciate the great beauty of diversity.

How better to do that than to surf a couch - stay with a local who has a spare bed, spare couch, or simply some spare moments to share stories of his/her hometown with a fellow traveller from abroad.


I have always liked to be a part of the community I travel to. I believe in embracing foreign lands through its people, not just the sights. Which is why staying in hostels has had such great appeal for me. Meet people, live with people from all walks and talks of life in a truly local setting. Some hostels are set in the best country houses with sprawling lawns or the beach in the backyard. Awesome experience.

So when I discovered CouchSurfing last year, that sense of adventure shot up a few notches. It took my breath away. WOW! What would it be like to go stay for a couple of days with real locals? Somewhat like farmstays minus the commercialism of it. The couch hosts will be real families, real people whose profiles are posted on the site, with whom we could have communicated and made fast friends before we decide to borrow their couches. It is a concept I am keen on trying but alas, now it's gone.

But wait. Casey won't let it go down so easily. The dream he had built CouchSurfing on is too strong. Plus the dreams of close to 90,000 registered Couch surfers. The physical site is now down and will probably be undergoing some really difficult times in the immediate future, but the community is still there. We are just waiting for a rebirth, like a departed phoenix re-emerging from its ashes. http://savecouchsurfing.com/