Cross-posted from NonSense – a PhD-To-PhD Newsletter
Image Courtesy: PaperMag.com
Have you ever wanted to have a local travel guide everywhere in the world? CouchSurfing is something I ran into a couple of years ago and have fallen in love with ever since: it’s an online community of travel-lovers.
Officially, “CouchSurfing is a worldwide network for making connections between travellers and the local communities they visit“. Unofficially, it’s more like a belief-system, a way of life and a passion that has overcome more than a million people in 230 countries!
When you sign up, you define ways in which you would be willing to help travellers to your city – offering your couch to sleep on (or extra bed, floor space); meeting for a cup of coffee or a drink or simply suggesting places to visit in your city. You may join local CS groups of different places to interact with other CS’ers, attend regular meetings etc. After you “host” or “surf” with someone, you leave a reference about your experience for the benefit of other CouchSurfers.
Image Courtesy: CouchSurfing.org
Even though Delft is not particularly high on the tourist-agenda, over the past two years, I have hosted 10-12 people from different countries – USA, Mexico, India, Slovenia, Germany, Spain – and have met numerous other wonderful people through CS meetings. I surfed a couch in Ahmedabad, India when this guy I met at a local CS Meeting let me crash at his place after knowing me for less than a couple of hours! Overall, a wonderful experience…so, the next time you’re planning a trip, give CouchSurfing a thought… it’s definitely worth it. And if you do, don’t forget to let me know how it went. Read more about CouchSurfing:
- CS Home Page – About CouchSurfing
- The Phoenix Story – How CS crashed and was recovered solely by volunteers
- My CS profile – Links to my CS friends and references
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