Liface Triglot Senior Member United States youtube.com/user/Lif Joined 5858 days ago 150 posts - 237 votes Speaks: English*, German, Spanish Studies: Dutch, French
| Message 1 of 10 10 July 2010 at 10:19pm | IP Logged |
Hi all,
I noticed no one had made a Couchsurfing thread yet. Couchsurfing is a not-for-profit organization where members offer places to stay for weary travelers around the world!
http://www.couchsurfing.org
From Wikipedia:
Quote:
After free registration, members have the option of providing very detailed information and pictures of themselves and of the sleeping accommodation they offer, if any. More information provided by a member, and other members, improves the chances that someone will find the member trustworthy enough to be their host or guest. Security is often measured in the reference established by networking. Volunteers may verify names and addresses. Members looking for accommodation can search for hosts using several parameters such as age, location, gender and activity level. Homestays are entirely consensual between the host and guest, and the duration, nature, and terms of the guest's stay are generally worked out in advance to the convenience of both parties. No monetary exchange takes place except for compensation of incurred expenses (e.g. food). After using the service, members can leave a noticeable reference about their host or guest. |
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Free accomodation all around the world? This seems too good to be true, but it actually works. It's a great example of social capital and how the "pay it forward" theory can make a better place. It's also a great way to learn languages. I figured I would make a HTLAL group on the site to help co-ordinate between each other to offer up places to stay for those trying to learn languages. So without further ado:
Click here to join the HTLAL couchsurfing group!
Edited by Liface on 12 July 2010 at 4:42am
8 persons have voted this message useful
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Liface Triglot Senior Member United States youtube.com/user/Lif Joined 5858 days ago 150 posts - 237 votes Speaks: English*, German, Spanish Studies: Dutch, French
| Message 2 of 10 07 August 2010 at 10:27pm | IP Logged |
We're getting bigger! 4 members so far.
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GauchoBoaCepa Triglot Senior Member Brazil Joined 5419 days ago 172 posts - 199 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, English, Spanish
| Message 3 of 10 16 August 2010 at 5:08am | IP Logged |
Wish I could be in my hometown in order to take part of this group...until five years ago I lived alone in my parents' flat....when the World Social Forum took place in Porto Alegre, I used to host foreign participants...they only pay a little amount of money so that they help me with buying food at the supermarket...I had three guests who didn't disturb me at any moment at that time.
The other nice advantage is practising another language full time during their stay.
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Arekkusu Hexaglot Senior Member Canada bit.ly/qc_10_lec Joined 5381 days ago 3971 posts - 7747 votes Speaks: English, French*, GermanC1, Spanish, Japanese, Esperanto Studies: Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Estonian
| Message 4 of 10 20 March 2011 at 2:11am | IP Logged |
Have the members actually had guests from the forums?
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Liface Triglot Senior Member United States youtube.com/user/Lif Joined 5858 days ago 150 posts - 237 votes Speaks: English*, German, Spanish Studies: Dutch, French
| Message 5 of 10 20 March 2011 at 5:28am | IP Logged |
Arekkusu wrote:
Have the members actually had guests from the forums? |
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I wish I could. Unfortunately, my couch isn't available for surfing at the moment. But I'll definitely be looking some of you up if I find myself in any of your countries.
We're now up to 8 members!
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Ari Heptaglot Senior Member Norway Joined 6582 days ago 2314 posts - 5695 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, Cantonese Studies: Czech, Latin, German
| Message 6 of 10 06 April 2011 at 10:37am | IP Logged |
I am totally signing up for this later, when I get my new apartment. I don't expect many visitors as I'm now back in the middle of Sweden, but if anyone is coming by, I'll welcome you with open arms!
Also question: What's the "expected stay"? Do people just stay for a night or two or are week-long stays also common? I like long vacations but I realize that staying with a couch surfer for a month might be a bit much.
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microsnout TAC 2010 Winner Senior Member Canada microsnout.wordpress Joined 5471 days ago 277 posts - 553 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French
| Message 7 of 10 06 April 2011 at 2:20pm | IP Logged |
Ari wrote:
Also question: What's the "expected stay"? Do people just stay for a night or two or are week-long
stays also common? I like long vacations but I realize that staying with a couch surfer for a month might be a bit
much. |
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A night or two is the normal stay yes but can be extended by mutual consent. A week is rare but possible especially
with someone you have stayed with previously. I have hosted just one person (on my boat) - he requested just one
night but I invited him to stay two extra days. As a surfer I have stayed with someone just once (in Quebec City) for
just one night. Long vacations are possible by surfing a series of couches - my guest (a student from Germany)
spent 2 months touring the US and Canada this way.
Edited by microsnout on 06 April 2011 at 2:31pm
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Arekkusu Hexaglot Senior Member Canada bit.ly/qc_10_lec Joined 5381 days ago 3971 posts - 7747 votes Speaks: English, French*, GermanC1, Spanish, Japanese, Esperanto Studies: Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Estonian
| Message 8 of 10 06 April 2011 at 4:24pm | IP Logged |
A friend of mine has had 3 guests, each staying about 2 to 4 days.
Incidentally, Ari, he's studying Swedish and was considering couchsurfing in Sweden...
Microsnout, couchsurfing on a boat is the most interesting couchsurfing experience I've heard!
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