What it is:

CouchSurfing.com helps you make connections worldwide. You can use the network to meet people and then go and surf other members' couches! When you surf a couch, you are a guest at someone's house. They will provide you with some sort of accommodation, a penthouse apartment or maybe a back yard to pitch your tent in. Stays can be as short as a cup of coffee, a night or two, or even a few months or more. When you offer your couch, you have complete control of who visits. The possibilities are endless and completely up to you.

Here's a brief example of how this system could be used:

1.You become a member of CouchSurfing.com.
2.You decide you want to spend two weeks in Central America somewhere.
3.You log on to CouchSurfing.com and do a search for other members within 200 km/miles of Puntarenas, Costa Rica.
4.You see a list of other Couch Surfers within 200 km/miles. You contact interesting prospects and explain the sort of travel/stay you're looking for.
5.You get several offers for places to stay. You decide that you want to spend one week in Limón, Costa Rica and another surfing in a small town in Panama.
6.You confirm with your hosts, make your travel plans, and then get on the plane and go.
7.Your new friends meet you at the airport and introduce you to their family and friends.
8.You stay a week, learning all about the local culture, and possibly a new language too.
9.As a good example of a good Surfer, you do as much as you can to give back to your hosts. This includes doing simple things like, for example, the dishes or stacking some wood. Maybe you have a special skill you're willing to share?
10.When it is time to move on, you say goodbye to your friends and take a bus to that small town in Panama.
11.When you arrive at your host's house, Jose offers you a big glass of lemonade and a surfboard to use while you're staying with him.
12.The next morning he shows you to some of the best surfing around.
13.You spend the week in the sun, talking with Jose about politics, the weather, surfing, and a whole host of other things.
14.By the time you leave on the bus for the airport, you feel that you've gotten a good taste for the slow paced local life. You consider coming back some day soon to buy a little place on the beach where you can forget about the prior rat race and just bask in the sun... just you, your board, and a crappy pair of sandals.
15.You go back to where it was that you came from, with new memories and new stories to tell your grandkids. Hopefully Jose will come and visit you in your country sometime soon. Perhaps there are things you can teach him about your culture...

Best Feature:
The site publishes the stats of it's community. For example, with a network of over 78,000 people, there are over 200 countries and 13,000 cities represented.

Rating :: 9/10

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