Deibert discovered the Couch Surfing Project last year when she was planning a trip to Europe. “My dad sent me an article with travel tips. At the very bottom was a tiny note about couch surfing,” Deibert said. That little note led her to a couple in Vienna who welcomed her into their home. After a month of emailing back and forth, Deibert felt comfortable planning a stay.
“They were a nice couple in their late 30s, they had a dog – they just seemed safe.” She explained how she gained so much more from this experience than merely saving the cost of a hotel room. “They picked me up at the train station, they made me a full breakfast, they even took me to an out-of-the-way restaurant off the beaten path – the kind of place you would never find on your own.” Her experience was so positive that she felt inspired to offer up her own couch to travelers once she returned to Eureka.
“People’s experiences vary,” Page said, explaining that her work hours haven’t allowed her to spend extended time with her visitors. “I didn’t feed anybody, we usually sit up and talk for a while, have a beer.” She noted that folks who couch surf have the opportunity to get insider tips on the places they are visiting. “We can tell them where the cool beaches are around here, all the good spots to go to. They would never find this stuff out if they just came here and stayed in a hotel.” Sometimes a simple lodging agreement turns into the start of a friendship. “I have friends who have taken them to dinner. They go out on the town.”
Page feels that the Couch Surfing Project provides a valuable service to young people who want to travel and explore but don’t have a lot of money. “Around here there are no hostels, so you’re stuck paying a minimum of $50 a night for a hotel,” she said, noting that although camping is an option, during much of the year it is cold and wet around here. “Cities are easy to visit, but not remote places,” Page said. “Couch surfing gives people an opportunity to visit more rural areas.”
Just like Deibert, Page found that visiting couch surfers give back to their hosts in different unique ways. “Our first couch surfer was really into film and he had DVDs of a short film he had made. We watched it together while he played the soundtrack on the guitar. Then when he left, he gave us the DVD to thank us.”
The Couch Surfing Project was started in 2002 by Casey Fenton of New Hampshire. The idea first occurred to him when he was planning a trip to Iceland. When he saw the exorbitant price of hotels in that locale, he managed to obtain email addresses for 1,500 students at the University of Iceland, and he proceeded to send a mass e-mail asking for a couch to stay on. He received an overwhelming response, and Fenton got to pick and choose from the couches offered to him. Once there, he realized how enriched his trip was from the opportunity to get to know Icelanders his age and be guided to all the “in” places to hang out. Thus, the seeds for the Couch Surfing Project were sown.
Deibert and others have found that their membership in couch surfing has connected them with new friends both here and abroad, even when they are not hosting or traveling. “I have an e-mail buddy in Nepal now,” Diebert said. Her Nepalese friend found her on the Couch Surfing Project web site and e-mailed her “just to connect – he wasn’t actually traveling.” She explained that he wanted to practice English and get to know people in the U.S. “I got an e-mail from some people who wanted to meet and connect with other couch surfers at a pizza joint.” Page said. The e-mail feature also reveals that a local network of college-aged Humboldt County couch surfers regularly get together for couch surfing parties.So, in addition to fostering cultural connections, these hospitality sites can act as networking tools.
A similar organization, Hospitality Club based in Europe, was created in 2000 by 22-year-old Veit Kühne in eastern Germany. He realized the world was ready for a “free, safe, volunteer-based hospitality exchange network that would take full advantage of the Internet.” Based on Servas, Hospitality Club is completely run by volunteers and was also created with the idea of bringing people together and fostering international friendships. Tilman Bauer, a 23-year-old Club member and volunteer from Finland currently on exchange in Montreal, has found that Hospitality Club makes a profound difference in his experience of travel. “You can contact a member and ask him or her for free accommodations, for a cup of coffee, or for a tour around the city. This way, you learn much more about the local culture of that place than if you would stay in a hotel and run from sight to sight only to pose for a photo in front of it,” he said. “Moreover, it is a lot of fun to meet friendly people all over the world.”
Editor: Elizabeth Hilbig Managing Editor:Amar Georgeson Copy Editor: Christian Shields Layout Editor: Jessica Painter Web Editor: Chris Hoff
Humboldt State University- Arcata, CA 95521