BootsnAll Travel Community

good? bad? insane? i'm signed up to the site but have never actually used it. i think it could be quite useful on my rtw trip, but seems like people aren't that responsive.

I know the topic has been discussed before.See if the old threads help answer your questions.

http://boards.bootsnall.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/20909165...00673416#55300673416

http://boards.bootsnall.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/20909165...00713416#57600713416

We've hosted a couple of people, but have never visited others - it's been very nice for us. Mostly we've used another similar site (warmshowers.org) which is the same idea, but for bicycle tourists. Warmshowers has been better for us because most of the couch surfers tend to be young college kids in apartments and it's difficult for a family of four with fully-loaded bikes to squeeze in there.

We are members of hospitality club it's a similar idea but doesn't cost anything to register. We are now almost at the end of our 12 month round the world trip and have stayed with a number of families and met others for a meal and a drink. We have had some great experiences from this and we do think meeting the people of a country is so important. The last family we stayed with was in China, spent 3 nights and had a great time.Our host spend two days showing us around. You meet different types of people some want to spend time with you and others just provide the accommodation. Try it.
Best of luck
Jean

I'm the CS City Ambassador for Wellington, so you could say that I've used CS quite a lot and am heavily involved in the community.

I couchsurfed a bit in the US and all over New Zealand. I've hosted quite a bit here, and have organised several meetings. On the whole, my experience has been very positive.

I'm also a member of Hospitality Club, but don't use it that much. I find the interface to be rather poor and difficult to use. CS is also free, unless you choose to get verified which is I think only $25 USD.

The more you put into Couchsurfing, the more you'll get out of it. If you're not getting any responses, it's likely that you've not put much into your profile or into the message you sent to request a couch. Be sure to read the profile of the person you're requesting a couch from, and try to get an idea of who they are and tailor your message to them. I realize that it takes more effort, but people will appreciate that and be more likely to host you.

Have fun out there!

Ryan

I live and die by Couch surfing.... i recommend it!

I think couchsurfing is a great way to get a "local's eye view" of the place you are visiting.

I have stayed with three different folks and had three very different experiences.

One in Wellington, NZ - word Ratguy - since you're the ambassador, you probably know George...It was a great stay.

One was in Oslo, Norway. My hostess really gave me a lot of good pointers on how to fully enjoy her country and cooked a traditional Norwegian dinner for me

One was in London - my host was spending the weekend with his girlfriend and left me the keys to his house...I can't believe that someone would trust a complete stranger that completely...must be a karmic thing or something.

Anyhow, couchsurfing is a community - it should be seen as much more than copping a free place to stay. You should be prepared to give back in some way.

The Guardian newspaper's Saturday Travel Section has been running a series of articles for some weeks now on this subject. They have someone (Vicky Baker) travelling through CA/SA using a variety of travel networking sites. She seems to be doing pretty well so far. Nice work if you can get it!

I couchsurfed at a couple of places in Asheville, NC. I have mixed feelings about the experience. Both hosts were fine. I'm just too much of an introvert to enjoy spending the night at a stranger's house. Heck, I even feel weird crashing with friends or family.

I've hosted 3 or 4 people through CS and it's been fine. All of them were very laid back and 1 was a fellow bootie.

I haven't tried it myself, but considering surfing some couches in Ireland in October.

I have not surfed on someone's couch myself, but hosted a couchsurfer and have about a dozen friends that do it pretty regularly, and I've only heard the best things.

As to why folks might not be that responsive to you, it could be any of a number of things.

As a female who lives with my husband, I'd rather have a solo female couchsurfer since I would not feel weird/unsafe if my husband wasn't home.

So, as a guy, you might want to rev up the "I'm so safe and normal" aspect of your couchsurf profile - get some female friends to give you a reference for example.

Or make sure you're verified as much as possible - if you haven't do the $25 donation which is really an "I'm a real person" verification.

And ask more guys if you can surf with them instead - they'd probably be more willing.

Good luck!