Doc Savage

You'll have to find that out for yourself, Stretch.

lexande

Yes I have couchsurfed. No you are not expected to have sex. There's a long thread on it here: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/budge...-you-used.html

mike2200

With the couch???

EmailKid

And while the thread is fairly old I am merging new one with the existing one.

EmailKid
Budget Travel moderator

SansSerif

Traveled through Brazil, Argentina, and Denmark couchsurfing. Experiences ranged from just ok (my fault since I was sick in Buenos Aires) to pretty awesome (Florianopolis and Brazil). I tried to mix couchsurfing up with hostels so I got a good mix of meeting locals/foreigners.

ryandelmundo

I'm a bit fan of Couchsurfing. You don't have to stay with people to enjoy it. Many towns have a Couchsurfing bulletin board that plans events.

I find the events to be more fun than trying to stay at people's houses, but ymmv.

fiujin

i have couchsurfed 50 + times in about 30 countries, hosted 100+ times too, since i became member about 6 years ago.

I liked it a lot, still like it but a lot less.
It used to be only 'real heavy travellers and globetrotters ' that found out about it. now every single non experienced european teenager, that has briefly heard about it in whatever random magazine or tv programe that has paid attention to it isn the last years, makes a profile and starts sending ...... requests without knowing what it all is about to save few bucks on his yearly holiday with his gf to whatever ultra typical destination (Barcelona, London, etc).

So .. its getting harder to find couches, you get less 'good requests from real interesting people too, but the idea is still great, and once in a while it still leads to great experience and I often travel the world going around to visit some of my ex guests.

Ikaz

Although I have not used the site that much I have had a few interesting experiences and one negative one. The host accepted my request, then stopped answering my emails shortly before I arrived so I had to book a last minute accommodation, as I therefore didn't have any plans for visiting the town and it made the whole trip a lot less interesting that it could have been.

I will continue using it, I find it great to meet people that can guide you around a new place and show you some more unusual things. And it can be nice in the other way when I have time to spend with my guests and make their trip that much more memorable.

RoyalFlush

Gary Leff's BoardingArea blog has a link to this Business Insider piece:

http://www.businessinsider.com/couch...up-app-2013-12

Couchsurfing’s Sex Secret: It’s The Greatest Hook-Up App Ever Devised

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/couch...#ixzz2musxMEId

Baldpacker

I met a girl at a CouchSurfing event I organized in Dubai. I'm a Canadian now living in Yemen and she's a Spaniard now living in Australia and we've managed to meet up and travel through Spain, Switzerland, Ethiopia, Croatia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Albania, and Greece over the last 2.5 years.

I haven't stayed with anyone by using the site before (seems like a hassle to arrange), but I have hosted a few people and attended a bunch of events.

When I was in Bahrain I posted a message and a Saudi guy with a flight departing around the same time as mine offered to pick me up and drive me to the airport.

It's a great site and a great way to meet people for sure.

maskedmesothorium

I've couchsurfed a few times. I've never hooked up or even felt that was an option. Then again, I've never stayed with a member of the opposite sex :P

Yes, I've heard other guys talking about it at couchsurfing get-togethers and I see guy's profiles regularly who say they will only host girls. I always thought they were sleazy but I guess I give them credit for being honest about their intentions.

Lumeria

I've used CS several times and am a fan. Someone told me about Couchsurfing when I ended up without lodging at a conference and it saved my bacon. I later did have one bad experience with someone agreeing to host and then flaking, but otherwise my hosts have been great. There are a number of good travel hosting groups, Servas - of which I've also been a member - among them. I like CS because it's particularly easygoing and flexible. As others have said, it's not only about lodging but also about meeting people. And as with any group, use your judgment about the hosts or guests you want to interact with.

Kozi

I use CS. I travel often, and most important for me is to know the culture and people of the country concerned. I'm not interested commercial tourism. Thanks to the "couchsurfing" I met a lot of friends around the world. for example:from Japan, Peru and Europe. I would recommend the use of CS. If the contact with host is good and he or she has good reviews is there is nothing to fear.

tng11

I had an awesome experience using CS.

I did it with a buddy when we took a side trip to Petra while we studied in Jerusalem. We got to see a side of Petra we would have never seen, staying with villagers and in an actual cave somewhere in the mountains.

Yes I didn't get to shower for 4 days, nor did I get to use a real toilet for 4 days.

Did it beat any hotel/first class flight experience I've had? YES.

Lumeria

It truly varies according to the individual. I just finished surfing with a grad student who was so busy we hardly saw each other. Indeed, rather than my staying with her for the planned two days and then switching to other lodgings, she said, "I'm basically MIA so you might as well stay through next week." She also put her only key under the mat for me. Given that I had considerably more free time, I took her key to a nearby shop and had a couple duplicates made for her. I also was able to be around (and keep the cats in) when the workers came by to install new windows, and I bought a few groceries to keep her alive at school. :-) We only had a couple of chances to chat at length, but it was a great visit and we hope to be able to meet again at some point.

OTOH my (admittedly mild) worst CS experience was when all I truly needed was a floor upon which to sleep but the host who'd accepted my request pulled out, saying that she hadn't yet been able to get an actual couch and wouldn't be able to offer me what she felt were CS-worthy accommodations, so instead of the floor I'd expected and would have been happy with, I ended up with no place to stay at all.

Some people offer a roof, others a bedroom. Some can show you around town without being able to offer even minimal lodgings; others may have the space but not the time. It's mix and match. Also, both guests and hosts vary in how much they're comfortable hanging out together. There is an expectation that guests won't use the host merely as a free substitute for a hotel, but ultimately it's all up to guest and host.