The idea of relying on the kindness of strangers and sharing a love of travel is what draws a lot of people to sites like this. Ranked as the number one couch-surfing network by the Times Online (UK edition), The Couch Surfing Project now has 1,469,958 couch-surfers in over 230 countries and territories in the world. Word of mouth about positive experiences also help communities like this grow, and there have been 3,801,717 postitive experiences using the Couch Surfing Project’s website (that’s 99.886% positive).
A secondary reason for the growth of couch-surfing is hard economic times, this is especially true in the US, which is the number one country that is surfed.
A significant distinction between the Couch Surfing Project and other hospitality networks are the kinships that form among couchsurfing.com’s users. The website, which initially aimed to connect travelers with locals, now serves as a social networking website where users get more than a free place to stay—they encounter “cultural exchange, friendship, and learning experiences” (Part of the Couch Surfing Project’s Mission Statement).
Many cities, like San Francisco, have developed groups based on interests and hobbies within their locations that join together for social engagements that accommodate both locals and travelers—San Francisco is the tenth most popular city couch-surfed in the world. Every San Francisco couchsurfers is invited to meet up with others on a regular basis—at least once a week— for drinks, coffee, and games, and are also invited to other outings like potluck picnics, attending city parades/events together, etc. The San Francisco branch of couch-surfers are all invited to attend any couch-surfing event in the city, and those who have participated in the gatherings have become a close community.
The SF Underground, the weekly Wednesday night gatherings, change location every week, but often occur in a bar or coffee shop. The events are crowded with both travelers and regulars who live in or around the city. “It’s hard for me to meet people because I’m older than most of the people I go to college with and I feel like they don’t get me sometimes, but when I started going to the Underground I met hella people who were my age, and way more like-minded,” says Brooke Bates, 28, who has been a resident of San Francisco for seven years. Brooke, who got the travel bug after she started working in a downtown hostel, joined couch-surfers to host at first, but now she plans on connecting with people during her upcoming trip to London for Christmas.
The SF Underground is a general couch-surfing group, but there are also many enthusiast groups within the city, like the SF Foodies group, which is one of the largest of these in the city—more than one-hundred and fifty members. Emmanuel Lemor, a thirty-eight year old San Francisco resident, is one of the group’s moderators and says that the group was started for “anyone who loves food!” Lemor, who is originally from France, joined the couch-surfing network in 2007, and started the SF Foodies group in May of 2007. The group is currently doing a San Francisco A-Z restaurant series, and is on N for Nicaraguan.
While many cities have different groups, the San Francisco couch-surfing community has developed a kinship with other locals. While the focus and base of couch-surfing includes foreigners, it has taken a turn in the direction of also deeply connecting these locals. “I’m no athlete, or no freshman, but I don’t have to be to find the real chill people in the city,” says Brooke Bates.
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