by Jan De Vries

Created on: February 18, 2008   Last Updated: February 19, 2008

When you're backpacking, you often find yourself confronted with 2 problems: outdated guidebooks and where do I stay my first night. Since a while I've been using a site that not only solved these 2 problems, but also got me in touch with local people that are willing to help you out with all your questions: www.couchsurfing.com.

Like most brilliant ideas, the concept is really simple. You're looking for a place to stay, and the people on this site have a bed available. And that's basically it. Obviously there's a bit more to it, but this really is the general idea.

Let's start with the lay-out. Nothing special here, very functional and easy on the eye. Everybody who ever used the Internet will have no problem figuring out what every tab does, and will be able to register in no-time. In this registration, you can tell as much or as little about you as you want. It makes sense to be original and not too vague about yourself, since the people you'll be talking to will check out your profile first. Once you're registered, you're ready to go.

Next stop is the search. You've chosen your destination, but want to save a bit of money. On couchsurfing, you can look for people that have a bed available according to different criteria: sex, age, distance to your original destination, language and so on. You then get a list of available couchsurfers (or CS'ers as they like to call themselves) and again, you can choose whether they're listed alphabetically or by their last login date. On the profile you can also see what it is they have to offer: a bed or simply their knowledge about a certain place.

Once you've chosen a person, you send them an email. Again, it pays off to be very clear in your intentions: how long do you want to stay (most of the times 3 nights is the absolute maximum), will you find your way independently or would you rather have this person to guide you around, what are you looking for (are you rather a museum person or more of a party animal) and things like that. The more info the other person has, the easier it is to make arrangements. After exchanging a few mails, you agree on meeting them, either at a landmark at your destination or at the CS'ers place. And this is the aspect some people don't like about CS.

No matter how sincere a person seems to be in mails and/or calls, you never know their actual intentions. And yes, this is the point where the system could be vulnerable. There's always people who want to abuse something good, whether it's on the

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