Websites that connect hosts with travelers

June 12, 2005|Ethan Gilsdorf, Globe Correspondent

Following are a few websites that connect hosts with travelers. Participation is free and rules are informal. Note that overnight stays are not always required. Sometimes people meet simply to share insider tips on a destination.

The Couch Surfing Project

www.couchsurfing.com

Probably the most sophisticated of the bunch. Maps show locations of the fellow surfers who can vouch for the user and countries visited. Three levels of security, plus trackable locations of each person who logs onto the site.

Globalfeeloaders

GlobalFreeloaders.com

Slightly less user-friendly, but with a huge database of more than 15,000 members.

SERVAS

www.servas.org

A more structured network. Potential SERVAS travelers are interviewed, and when approved, they receive a letter of introduction that serves as a kind of passport. Hosts are asked to provide an evening meal and at least two nights' accommodation.

The Hospitality Club

www.hospitalityclub.org

With 53,000 members, touted as the ''world's largest hospitality exchange network." Guests are required to give full names and passport numbers.

Travelhoo

www.travelhoo.com

According to the website, one of the oldest nonprofit online hospitality exchange clubs, operating since 1997.

BootsnAll

www.bootsnall.com

Not a ''couch surfing" network, but a useful site to help independent travelers connect with each other on message boards and free online travel guides.