How CouchSurfing is Changing Travel
features
Riding the Upholstered Waves
{
How CouchSurfing is Changing Travel
}
By Ashley Van Eysinga Photography by Kevin Wong
Liz is a retiree
. She loves her cat, and travels with her daughter...and she is a CouchSurfer. Liz and her daughter didn’t book any hotels or hostels on their last vacation in France: they stayed with strangers on couches. Much like other social networking websites, CouchSurfing is an online community, comprised of adventurous individuals looking to meet people and go new places. There are two different types of members on CouchSurfing: Hosts and Surfers. Hosts offer up their homes and couches free of charge to surfers. Surfers search the site for a suitable host in their destination city and arrange to lodge on the host’s couch. A surfer does not have to host and a host does not have to surf. Liz was a surfer in France, but for the last six years she has been a host in the Danforth area. She gets requests every day from travellers looking for a place to stay and accommodates them, hoping to show the best of what the Danforth has to offer. “Most people that CouchSurf here, I recommend that they walk because of Greektown. Almost all of them do on their first night.” CouchSurfing offers a different experience than staying in a hotel. Hosts don’t just offer a free place to stay: they give surfers an insider look at the city, to restaurants, to sights, and to activities that would never appear in a guidebook. Liz believes that the Danforth offers something different from downtown Toronto.
32 OTD / onthedanforth.ca
OTD / onthedanforth.ca 33
ON featurefeatures
Tips for Hosts •
•
•
Keys: While it is appreciated, it is not required for you to give your surfer a key to your home. If you choose to not give them a key, be sure to make yourself available to let them in and out of your home. Conduct: Have clear rules for how you would like your surfers to act in your home. It can be as simple as keeping the place clean, or keeping the noise level down in the morning. Guides: If you don’t have time to show your surfer around the city, make sure to have a list of suggestions for them, like maps and the easiest city public transit routes.
“You get more of a taste of Toronto. The good and the bad, mostly the good, but it is not as whitewashed and squeaky clean. And the cultural mix is quite a shock to some people. I think that is interesting to people.”
{
“You don’t get this vibe when you stay somewhere like a hostel.”
}
It is this cultural mix in the neighbourhood that makes her guests feel welcome. As one French traveller told Liz: “Everybody’s got an accent here.”
Tips for Surfers • •
•
Buddy System: If you are going to be travelling with someone else, get them to sign up on the website as well. Souvenirs: It’s a good idea to show up with a thank-you gift, like a bottle of wine or something from your hometown/country. You could also offer to take your host out for a drink or dinner. Manners: Remember that you are a guest staying for free, so be courteous and gracious. Be sure to spend some time with your host.
34 OTD / onthedanforth.ca
CouchSurfing is not about a free place to stay: it is a cultural exchange. Good hosts and surfers are people who will spend time with one another, getting to know each other and their respective countries. “It brings the world so much together. You can’t be afraid of someone when they are in your own house, laughing and giggling. It is just so much fun.” Staying in Liz’s living room is Sarah Hermann, a young woman from Germany who is travelling around Canada. Sarah is exploring the Danforth with Liz’s help. She has been travelling for a while and what she likes about CouchSurfing is the feeling of home: “Just to sit there and relax. Especially in bad weather, or winter, you cannot be outside all day. And if you are travelling for a long time you cannot do something all day, you really need a place to relax.”
Of course there are some safety concerns when using this service, but most CouchSurfers will tell you it is not an issue. Liz has only had one bad experience in her time with CouchSurfing, but it was a clash of personalities and not a safety matter. Naturally, precautions should be taken, but the idea of strangers staying in her home doesn’t faze Liz in the least. She screens requests carefully and has a few guidelines as to who she will let stay with her. Liz says she gets a lot of requests because of her age; young women travelling alone feel safer staying with an older woman. One would think the demographics of CouchSurfing would be skewed younger, towards the twenty- or thirtysomethings, but according to their website ages range from eighteen to eighty-nine. The average age of surfers is twentyeight with over 3000 members ages sixty and older. I CouchSurfed my way around Europe when I was twentyone years old. My first experience was in Rome, where my host made me an authentic Italian meal, and I was hooked. After that, CouchSurfing was my first choice for accommodations. Each host gave me a true idea of what living in that city would be like – far more than a tourist experience. I still keep in contact with some hosts, trying to convince them to visit me in Toronto so that I can repay their kindness and show them what my city has to offer. So why should people CouchSurf? Michael, another host from the Danforth area, sums it up nicely: “Well, why do people travel? I travel because I want to experience what it’s like to actually live in another part of the world. CouchSurfing accelerates those experiences enormously by giving you immediate access to share at least one person’s experience of what it is like to live in the place you are visiting. You don’t get this vibe when you stay somewhere like a hostel.” ˚ Still not convinced? Log on to http://www.couchsurfing.com.
Safety Tip 1) Take notice of their profile. Is it filled out properly? What are their interests? Is it positive and consistent with the ideals of CouchSurfing? Make sure to fill out your profile honestly, too. 2) Check references. Members have no control over the references left on their profiles, so if someone leaves a negative reference it will be on display. 3) Use common sense. If something doesn’t feel right, don’t be afraid to be rude. You can just leave, or ask them to leave. Always have a backup list of nearby hostels and emergency numbers. Read more safety guidelines on the website: http://www.couchsurfing.org/safety.html
CouchSurfing by the Numbers According to the CouchSurfing website, there are over 2.4 million CouchSurfers worldwide, who come from 245 different countries and speak 334 different languages. Top Cities for CouchSurfers 1) Paris, France 2) London, England 3) Berlin, Germany 4) Istanbul, Turkey 5) Montreal, Quebec 18) Toronto, Ontario 34) Vancouver, British Columbia In Toronto there are over 11,800 surfers registered on the site. Last July saw 100,124 new members registered worldwide.
OTD / onthedanforth.ca 35
Riding the Upholstered Waves
{
How CouchSurfing is Changing Travel
}
By Ashley Van Eysinga Photography by Kevin Wong
Liz is a retiree
. She loves her cat, and travels with her daughter...and she is a CouchSurfer. Liz and her daughter didn’t book any hotels or hostels on their last vacation in France: they stayed with strangers on couches. Much like other social networking websites, CouchSurfing is an online community, comprised of adventurous individuals looking to meet people and go new places. There are two different types of members on CouchSurfing: Hosts and Surfers. Hosts offer up their homes and couches free of charge to surfers. Surfers search the site for a suitable host in their destination city and arrange to lodge on the host’s couch. A surfer does not have to host and a host does not have to surf. Liz was a surfer in France, but for the last six years she has been a host in the Danforth area. She gets requests every day from travellers looking for a place to stay and accommodates them, hoping to show the best of what the Danforth has to offer. “Most people that CouchSurf here, I recommend that they walk because of Greektown. Almost all of them do on their first night.” CouchSurfing offers a different experience than staying in a hotel. Hosts don’t just offer a free place to stay: they give surfers an insider look at the city, to restaurants, to sights, and to activities that would never appear in a guidebook. Liz believes that the Danforth offers something different from downtown Toronto.
32 OTD / onthedanforth.ca
OTD / onthedanforth.ca 33
ON featurefeatures
Tips for Hosts •
•
•
Keys: While it is appreciated, it is not required for you to give your surfer a key to your home. If you choose to not give them a key, be sure to make yourself available to let them in and out of your home. Conduct: Have clear rules for how you would like your surfers to act in your home. It can be as simple as keeping the place clean, or keeping the noise level down in the morning. Guides: If you don’t have time to show your surfer around the city, make sure to have a list of suggestions for them, like maps and the easiest city public transit routes.
“You get more of a taste of Toronto. The good and the bad, mostly the good, but it is not as whitewashed and squeaky clean. And the cultural mix is quite a shock to some people. I think that is interesting to people.”
{
“You don’t get this vibe when you stay somewhere like a hostel.”
}
It is this cultural mix in the neighbourhood that makes her guests feel welcome. As one French traveller told Liz: “Everybody’s got an accent here.”
Tips for Surfers • •
•
Buddy System: If you are going to be travelling with someone else, get them to sign up on the website as well. Souvenirs: It’s a good idea to show up with a thank-you gift, like a bottle of wine or something from your hometown/country. You could also offer to take your host out for a drink or dinner. Manners: Remember that you are a guest staying for free, so be courteous and gracious. Be sure to spend some time with your host.
34 OTD / onthedanforth.ca
CouchSurfing is not about a free place to stay: it is a cultural exchange. Good hosts and surfers are people who will spend time with one another, getting to know each other and their respective countries. “It brings the world so much together. You can’t be afraid of someone when they are in your own house, laughing and giggling. It is just so much fun.” Staying in Liz’s living room is Sarah Hermann, a young woman from Germany who is travelling around Canada. Sarah is exploring the Danforth with Liz’s help. She has been travelling for a while and what she likes about CouchSurfing is the feeling of home: “Just to sit there and relax. Especially in bad weather, or winter, you cannot be outside all day. And if you are travelling for a long time you cannot do something all day, you really need a place to relax.”
Of course there are some safety concerns when using this service, but most CouchSurfers will tell you it is not an issue. Liz has only had one bad experience in her time with CouchSurfing, but it was a clash of personalities and not a safety matter. Naturally, precautions should be taken, but the idea of strangers staying in her home doesn’t faze Liz in the least. She screens requests carefully and has a few guidelines as to who she will let stay with her. Liz says she gets a lot of requests because of her age; young women travelling alone feel safer staying with an older woman. One would think the demographics of CouchSurfing would be skewed younger, towards the twenty- or thirtysomethings, but according to their website ages range from eighteen to eighty-nine. The average age of surfers is twentyeight with over 3000 members ages sixty and older. I CouchSurfed my way around Europe when I was twentyone years old. My first experience was in Rome, where my host made me an authentic Italian meal, and I was hooked. After that, CouchSurfing was my first choice for accommodations. Each host gave me a true idea of what living in that city would be like – far more than a tourist experience. I still keep in contact with some hosts, trying to convince them to visit me in Toronto so that I can repay their kindness and show them what my city has to offer. So why should people CouchSurf? Michael, another host from the Danforth area, sums it up nicely: “Well, why do people travel? I travel because I want to experience what it’s like to actually live in another part of the world. CouchSurfing accelerates those experiences enormously by giving you immediate access to share at least one person’s experience of what it is like to live in the place you are visiting. You don’t get this vibe when you stay somewhere like a hostel.” ˚ Still not convinced? Log on to http://www.couchsurfing.com.
Safety Tip 1) Take notice of their profile. Is it filled out properly? What are their interests? Is it positive and consistent with the ideals of CouchSurfing? Make sure to fill out your profile honestly, too. 2) Check references. Members have no control over the references left on their profiles, so if someone leaves a negative reference it will be on display. 3) Use common sense. If something doesn’t feel right, don’t be afraid to be rude. You can just leave, or ask them to leave. Always have a backup list of nearby hostels and emergency numbers. Read more safety guidelines on the website: http://www.couchsurfing.org/safety.html
CouchSurfing by the Numbers According to the CouchSurfing website, there are over 2.4 million CouchSurfers worldwide, who come from 245 different countries and speak 334 different languages. Top Cities for CouchSurfers 1) Paris, France 2) London, England 3) Berlin, Germany 4) Istanbul, Turkey 5) Montreal, Quebec 18) Toronto, Ontario 34) Vancouver, British Columbia In Toronto there are over 11,800 surfers registered on the site. Last July saw 100,124 new members registered worldwide.
OTD / onthedanforth.ca 35
