Couch surfing according to the Urban Dictionary has several possible meanings. The first involves a low cost form of lodging used primarily by college students or persons who have recently graduated from college and is where a person stays on couches of other folk while traveling rather than in a hotel. The second refers to people who are in between lodgings either because they are low on funds or can’t find roommates in a timely manner. Another involves homeless musicians but is essentially the same as the second one above. Then there is the sport of riding on a couch while it is being towed by a moving vehicle. http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=couch+surfing

Not to denigrate the other definitions but our information is going to be about an organization that promotes couch surfing as an inexpensive way to travel and not only see other areas but to meet new people and to find venues that are not normally trod by tourists and thus gain a whole new experience to treasure.

CouchSurfing is a network with international connections run by a non-profit organization that allows travelers to connect with the local population in more than 230 territories and countries. Their mission is to provide inspiring cross-cultural experiences with encounters that are engaging, illuminating and fun for the people involved. http://www.couchsurfing.org/about.html

CouchSurfing began in 2003 as a Beta site created by Casey Fenton, Dan Hoffer, Sebastion LeTuan and Leonardo Bassani de Silveira. The site officially opened to the public in January of 2004 and at the time had only 200 members but grew quickly to 120,000 people. In July of 2006 the site was relaunched and the project began to receive international media coverage and then grew to reach over 780,000 members. http://www.google.com/search?q=couchsurfing+history&hl=en&tbs=tl:1&tbo=u&ei=ktS7S_SLFIPS8AS5rfn8Bw&sa=X&oi=timeline_result&ct=title&resnum=11&ved=0CDUQ5wIwCg

As the networking sites for couch surfing have grown more and more popular older travelers are using the networks and enhancing their travel experiences with inexpensive ways to stay and meet people that they would not have known by staying at hotels. Although most people have grand experiences sometimes there are situations that just don’t make the grade. One traveler spoke of a person in japan who was suing the travelers as secretarial slaves. Anyone staying at her house would have to do six hours of secretarial work and in this particular instance she asked about the persons religious beliefs and then proceeded to ridicule them. As mentioned before however this is a rare occurrence and most sites have safety procedures like undeletable testimonials linked to a hosts profile so travelers can check a person’s ability to be a congenial host..