The world gets smaller & cheaper; Couch surfing network allows friendly budget travel.Byline: Ioannis Papadopoulos COLUMN: MODERN LIVING Bridget Millman dreams of creating a better world, one couch A couch, loveseat, sofa, settee, lounge, davenport or chesterfield are items of furniture for the comfortable seating of more than one person. Compare the joiner's settle, with its separate seat cushions. at a time. As a member of the Couch Surfing surfing, sport of gliding toward the shore on a breaking wave. Surfers originally used long, cumbersome wooden boards but now ride lightweight synthetic boards that allow a greater degree of maneuverability. Project, an international hospitality exchange network, the Clark University Clark University, at Worcester, Mass.; coeducational; chartered 1887, opened as a graduate school 1889. It was the second graduate school to be formed in the United States. Its undergraduate college (est. 1902) was integrated with the university in 1920. senior spreads tolerance and cultural understanding while living an adventure: traveling around the world and spending the nights for free on strangers' couches. "It makes it possible to go to places that I wouldn't ever have thought. You see things beyond what's in the guidebooks," Ms. Millman said. "People are opening up for you their homes and their lives." The Couch Surfing Project is a global community of people who consider themselves citizens of the world. They have online profiles at couchsurfing.com, similar to other social networking sites A Web site that provides a virtual community for people interested in a particular subject or just to "hang out" together. Members create their own online "profile" with biographical data, pictures, likes, dislikes and any other information they choose to post. such as Facebook or MySpace. When someone wants to spend two weeks in Europe or any other place in the world, he or she logs on to the Web site and searches for available couches in an area, instead of looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. hostels or hotel rooms. Members of the project offer their couches free to travelers, along with a city tour. You don't have to be a host to participate. More than 450,000 people from 225 countries participate in the project, offering couches from Massachusetts to Antarctica and from the Vatican to Turkmenistan. The United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. , France and Germany are the countries with the highest number of couch surfers, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the organization's Web site. Paris, London and Montreal are the top three cities The Three Cities is a collective description of the three fortified cities of Cospicua, Vittoriosa, and Senglea on the Island of Malta, which are enclosed by the massive line of fortification created by the Knights of St John, the Cottonera Lines. with couch surfers and Europe is the No. 1 destination of the travelers. According to the Web site, 44 couch surfers live in Worcester. Ms. Millman has couch-surfed 15 times the last two years. She has been to Germany, Serbia, Bosnia, Turkey, Switzerland, Hungary and Bulgaria. Her first trip using the Web site was to Frankfurt, Germany, in 2006. "I was nervous. I didn't know what to expect," she said. But after a long weekend in Frankfurt, she said, she left with the greatest memories. Her host was a 26-year-old air traffic controller who took salsa lessons. "We went salsa dancing together," Ms. Millman said. "I felt so privileged to meet someone and see his country through his own eyes." The Couch Surfing Project was born seven years ago when Casey Fenton Casey Fenton (born March 2, 1978) is a computer programmer, political consultant, and founder of the popular hospitality service CouchSurfing. External Links
Daniel Hoffer, 30, who has been working with online communities and the Internet since 1990, is one of the four founders of couchsurfing.com. He said the true spirit of couch surfing isn't about the furniture - it isn't just about finding free accommodations around the world. "The process of couch surfing increases people's exposure to each other and drives intercultural in·ter·cul·tur·al adj. Of, relating to, involving, or representing different cultures: an intercultural marriage; intercultural exchange in the arts. understanding," he said. Like Mr. Hoffer, Ms. Millman said that couch surfing is an opportunity to become part of a planetary plan·e·tar·y adj. 1. Of, relating to, or resembling the physical or orbital characteristics of a planet or the planets. 2. a. home, where people share the same dreams and fears. "I think that too often in the world nationality nationality, in political theory, the quality of belonging to a nation, in the sense of a group united by various strong ties. Among the usual ties are membership in the same general community, common customs, culture, tradition, history, and language. or race is used as a label to separate people, to distinguish groups. But on an individual level it's very important to realize that humanity transcends those labels," she said. "People are the same. They have the same concerns. They do the same things every day. Getting an idea of their hopes and dreams is a valuable experience." Before going to Belgrade, Serbia, as a couch surfer, Ms. Millman said, she didn't study anything about the country's history. She said she wanted to explore the country through its people. "They were so genuine, so friendly," she said. Today she is using her experience to write her thesis about Bosnia and the Balkans. Erica Getto, a 21-year-old Clark University student, joined couchsurfing.com to help regain her trust in people. Ms. Getto said that people today feel more insecure in·se·cure adj. 1. Lacking emotional stability; not well-adjusted. 2. Lacking self-confidence; plagued by anxiety. in . "I blame the media. We are surrounded by negative things that are happening. Growing up like that it doesn't make me look somebody in the eye when I'm walking up the street. But we are sharing the same street, we live in the same community and we should trust each other," she said. In 2006, Ms. Getto spent a few days in New Orleans New Orleans (ôr`lēənz –lənz, ôrlēnz`), city (2006 pop. 187,525), coextensive with Orleans parish, SE La., between the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain, 107 mi (172 km) by water from the river mouth; founded , in a house with someone she had never met before. "She welcomed me. She took me out. We had a lot of fun," Ms. Getto said. "Couch surfing is cool because it increases trust in people." But for some couch surfers, trusting a stranger is not that easy. Safety remains their biggest concern. Corey Costa, 24, of Worcester, couch-surfed last October in Arkansas. "I was hesitant hes·i·tant adj. Inclined or tending to hesitate. hes  i·tant·ly adv. in the beginning. My friends thought I
would never come back. You never know who could be a rapist rap·ist n. One who commits rape. Noun 1. rapist - someone who forces another to have sexual intercourse raper aggressor, assailant, assaulter, attacker - someone who attacks these days," she said. While she was in Arkansas, one of her colleagues asked her to call her every day, just to be sure that she was safe. The organizers of the Couch Surfing Project offer several measures for the safety of the community. Travelers and hosts can check the background of a surfer through a network of references and friend links. They can develop a relationship before they meet by exchanging e-mails, using the Web site or through other social networks. Ms. Millman said these measures differentiate couch surfing from hitchhiking Hitchhiking (also known as lifting, thumbing, hitching, autostop or thumbing up a ride) is a means of transportation that is gained by asking people (usually strangers) for a ride in their automobile to travel a distance that may either be a short or long distance. . "In both you rely on the kindness of a stranger," she said, "but hitchhiking doesn't have safety mechanisms. I never stay with someone who hasn't been reviewed by a certain number of people." During the past four years of the project, Mr. Hoffer said, only one negative incident was reported, an identity theft in Boston. Still being cautious, Ms. Costa didn't surf alone in Arkansas. She went with a friend. A week ago she changed her online profile and now she is ready to host a traveler on her new brown couch in her house in Worcester. "I will probably ask them for their ID and they won't be allowed to be here when I'm not," she said. Ms. Millman agrees that not everyone can be trusted. "But it's a matter of not assuming that everyone can be a criminal," she said. "Sometimes it's nice to know that there is someone out there who has a place for you. You don't have to feel lost." Got Couch? International hospitality Number of couch surfers 475,451 Countries represented 226 Cities represented 38,398 Successful surf or host experiences to date 368,987 Languages represented 1,171 Top couch surfers, by region Europeans (49%) Top couch surfing country United States (24.5% of surfers) Top couch surfing city Paris (8,913 surfers) Couch surfers in Worcester 44 Most spoken language English (84%) Least spoken language Machu (1%) Average age of couch surfer 26 Predominate gender Male (52.1%) Source: CouchSurfing.com T&G staff ART: PHOTOS CUTLINE: (1) Clark University student Bridget Millman, a member of the Couch Surfing Project, is shown on her couch in Worcester. (2) Erica Getto, a Clark University student, says couch surfing "increases trust in people." PHOTOG pho·tog n. Informal A person who takes photographs, especially as a profession; a photographer. : (1) T&G Staff/CHRISTINE PETERSON (2) ED COLLIER |
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