VERO BEACH — “It’s not a matter of money,” said Angie Love, midwife and experienced world traveler. “There are two dentists here, a lawyer and I’m a midwife, we make well enough money to stay in hotels. But, when you stay with someone, you get the local perspective and you see things that aren’t necessarily on the internet or in a guidebook.”
Love is one of a tight knit group of Vero Beach residents who participate in a kind of travel known as couch surfing. Created in 2004 and based out of San Francisco, Calif., CouchSurfing.com is a website that allows travelers to connect with other travelers and the locals wherever they may find themselves. With a simple email, new friends can meet up for coffee or a meal, share resources for a road trip or even find an extra room or couch to crash on.
“I signed up for couch surfing when I decided I wanted to move to Florida,” said Julie Fox, a dentist. Instead of simply packing up and moving, Fox wanted to get to know the city she was about to relocate to. “A roller derby girl showed me around the city and eventually we ended up at a hookah bar. While we were there, we met the mayor and he bought our hookah that night.”
Now that Fox finds herself busy at work and fairly stationary at least for now, she said she is hosting a lot more than she is surfing.
“Now, I live vicariously through the stories of the travelers who stay with me,” said Fox.
Caitlin Rissman and Patrick Hoy have been traveling together with their dog, Nanuq, and using the couch surfing website since 2006. According to graphic design student and couch surfer, Lupita Palacios, Rissman and Hoy are very well connected in the Vero Beach community.
“They know everyone!” Palacios said. Originally from Chiapas, Mexico, Palacios had very few connections when she first came to Vero Beach. Exploring the couch surfing site and attending a few events hosted by active members in the area, Palacios said she quickly developed a close group of friends she would have otherwise never known.
“We really haven’t had any bad experiences with couch surfing,” Rissman said, “even though some experiences are better than others, in the end, it’s always a case of someone being kind enough to open their home to a stranger.”
“Not to mention you meet all kinds of altruistic people,” said Love. She gave examples of surfers she met who were biking to end world hunger and a student traveling to study African American history in the south.
The simplest way to ensure a happy match between host and surfer is to research the other party’s profile. Rissman pointed out that the more reviews and friends a person has on his or her profile, the more experience they have. Other keys to look for is whether or not a person’s address has been verified or if a member has been vouched for by other members, a feature that takes time and several positive responses in order to achieve.
Often, hosts post pictures of the extra room or couch available for travelers. Love said her experience has been that people are very honest about living arrangements, pets, kids, and the overall atmosphere about their home. She feels this makes it particularly easy to choose who you may send a couch request to or which travelers you may accept a couch request from.
“Worst case scenario,” Love said, “if you feel uncomfortable, you can always leave.”
Though the concept of couch surfing may raise questions about safety, Rissman believes if travelers and hosts alike take the necessary precautions, there is nothing to worry about.
“My sister hosts couch surfers and she has five kids; she just does her research to make sure she and her kids stay safe.”
“It’s also important as a traveler to remember that it is good etiquette to bring your host a gift, offer to cook a meal, or take your host out for dinner. It’s a relationship that works both ways,” Love said.
Couch surfing is not just limited to the United States. In fact, according to www.couchsurfing.com there are over 6 million members in over 100,000 cities worldwide.
It may be controversial, but Love argues, you will never end up an honored guest at a celebratory feast on a Pueblo Reservation in Taos, N.M., like she did, by staying in a five star resort and keeping to oneself.
