Take the couch

Site links travelers, hosts in spirit of community

August 22, 2007|Jeff Miranda, Globe Correspondent

SOMERVILLE -- On a recent Saturday morning, five twentysomethings huddle in a cozy living room to map out their day. Two are from Montreal. Another is from Chicago. The hosts, Jesse Fenton and Erin Benoit, have lived in the apartment for three years. The guests have had plans to visit for more than a month, but their only contact with their hosts has been through computer screens.

The five met through CouchSurfing.com, an online network of travelers, mostly in their 20s, who are tired of staying in hotels and hostels and who want to see the world with a free place to crash -- often on someone's couch. But what sets CouchSurfing.com apart from a bevy of similar free services such as hospitalityclub.org is its focus on its mission, which according to the group's website "is not just about free accommodations" but about human interaction.

"It makes the world a smaller place," says Benoit, 25, a medical technologist at Boston Medical Center. "Eventually, we'll have friends all over the world."

Hosts offer the use of their couches, bathrooms, kitchens, and spare beds. They sometimes provide meals and even the use of their cars. They give their guests tips about local attractions and often show them around. Still, CouchSurfers end up doing much exploring on their own, since most hosts have jobs and other commitments.

CouchSurfing.com tracks the number of registered users and how many cities are represented, but it also follows the connections and friendships that have been forged. According to its website, nearly 240,000 friendships have been created so far among more than 285,000 registered users. At the end of each stay, surfers and hosts are asked to evaluate their experiences. Jesse Fenton's brother Casey, a New Hampshire resident who founded CouchSurfing.com with three friends in 2004, said 98.8 percent of users have rated their experience a positive one.

CouchSurfing.com doesn't require its users to commit their couches. Upon registering, users have the option of simply saying they'd be available only to meet for cup of a coffee, assuming the traveler finds somewhere else to stay. But the point is the same: encouraging people to reach out to one another.

"I don't necessarily believe that CouchSurfing can put an end to world war," says Casey Fenton. "But as the world becomes more and more globalized, there are more opportunities for issues and misunderstanding. The more we network and the more we understand each other, the better chance we have of this world being a better place."