| Couch surfing lets travelers rest easy |
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| Wednesday, 18 July 2007 | ||
Need a place to crash ..... in France? Want to find a local guide to the sights of Morocco? Online hospitality organizations may be your ticket to a free night's rest and an introduction to your travel destination. Or if you'd rather stay put, you can always pull out your futon to host a guest in your hometown. A few of the most popular organizations are CouchSurfing International, The Hospitality Club and GlobalFreeloaders.com. In 2000, Casey Fenton, now 29, was inspired to create CouchSurfing while planning a trip to Iceland. Fenton, originally from New Hampshire, had a cheap plane ticket but no place to stay until he started spamming students at the University of Iceland with a request for lodging. The responses were overwhelming, and he soon realized he'd hit upon a new option for low-priced travel. In 2003, he and a few friends launched a primitive site that has blossomed into a community with more than 236,000 couch-surfers from 218 countries. More than 150 of those surfers call San Antonio home. Stella Mask, a 32-year-old who lives in Olmos Park, has hosted travelers from England, France and elsewhere through CouchSurfing. And even though her latest house guest, a young man from Switzerland, opted to bed down on the floor rather than her less-than-luxurious red couch, the cultural exchange continues. This summer, Mask will visit France before heading to Morocco for a CouchSurfing adventure with a local family. βIt's almost like foreign exchange without the exchange and without school,β said Mask, who enjoys swapping ideas and experiences with people from other countries. Though couch-surfing is technically free, surfers expect to repay their hosts through non-monetary means. Mask plans to pay for her stay by regaling her hosts with travel tales. Surfers also have been known to clean up guest quarters before they leave or prepare a meal in thanks. And, of course, couch-surfing would not operate without an unspoken invitation in return. The sites also facilitate armchair travel. Hosting has become an easy way to vacation vicariously when members don't have the time or money to hit the road. Marc Toppel, a 24-year-old intern architect with Lake/Flato Architects, said one of the biggest perks to hosting a couch-surfer is showing off the city to newcomers. βI believe San Antonio is a really cool town, and I want to show it to as many people as possible,β Toppel said. Jennifer Lloyd | 210SA |
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