As anyone considering couchsurfing, you just need to take precautions. The best thing about CS is that they help you with that! YOU get to choose the person you may want to couchsurf with. If someone’s profile doesn’t sit right with you, DON’T CONTACT THEM. Past couchsurfers can leave references for people that they have hosted and surfed with so you can read how other people’s experiences with someone were before you contact them as well. There’s a verification and vouching system in place for users to give you a better sense of a person’s trustworthiness.

My best advice to people who are thinking about couchsurfing is to follow your gut. If you read someone’s profile and introductory email and they sound like someone you’d like to meet, then go for it! If you get some sixth sense that something’s amiss, pass on it.

I agree with Andi. Couchsurfing is one of the greatest things invented!

There is a lot of press for Couchsurfing, and not all are very positive. Some articles just highlight the fact that it’s a way of staying for free. Couchsurfing is SO MUCH more than that, and you have captured its essence perfectly!

Happy travels and I hope that our couchsuring world may collide one day!

Good to hear you’re checking out the site. Tripping’s still in beta, so they’re really glad to get input from users. You can even sign up to be a “Lab Rat,” which means you get sneak-peeks of what’s coming down the pipeline as far as new features, and you get to communicate directly with the team to share your ideas. Here is the link if you’re interested: https://www.tripping.com/about/contactus.