Ben Preiss
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Using a FaceBook-like model and a concept that goes beyond “your couch is my couch,” the Couch Surfing Project, at couchsurfing.com, encourages members, both guests and hosts, to use their couch time to develop a friendship and share a cultural experiences. It’s like a house-swap, but on a smaller scale—during your stay in the city, you get to sleep on a stranger’s couch. In exchange, they’ll sleep on yours when they come to your town. The phenomenon is catching on, with over 300,000 members already from over 31,000 places.  The group’s philosophy is also its method, which might be summed up this way: I will offer you my couch free, along with the company of my friends and a tour of my favorite spots in my city. In return, you will give of yourself, and not just slink into my home at 3 a.m. after you’ve done your own tour of my city. In this way, we will be friends, if only for a day or two.
“It’s a lifestyle and a commitment,” Mr. Medel said. He and his fellow New York hosts meet at least one night a week at a bar in Union Square, new surfers in tow. They throw birthday parties for one another and mount what they call invasions of other cities, as 30 or so New York surfers did last summer in Boston, strewing themselves on the couches of 30 or so Bostonians for three days.
(nytimes)References: couchsurfing, nytimes Filed In: |
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| Lois Sealey on Sep 21, 07 0 Trends 1 Comments |
| Couch surfing is indeed a great new trend and this seems a particularly fun way to travel and meet new people when you're young. Once past your prime (and when you have a home of your own), hopefully you will also think about home swapping. Home exchange is not really a new trend but it has seemed that way as more people have discovered it recently (some through the not particularly good movie, 'The Holiday'). Hope you will visit my blog if you're interested in finding out more about home exchange: http://homeexchangetravel.blogs.com |
Lois Sealey on Sep 21, 07 0 Trends 1 Comments
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