Going Local Travel

Mark Boyle, the freeconomy guy who I’ve written about before, has popped up in the Guardian today talking about how to travel for free. There are no real revelations in his recommendations – Couchsurfing, LiftShare and WWOOFing all get namechecked -  but I’m happy to hear that he is going to be writing more regularly [...]

Some people hate the idea of offline travel networking. I’m talking about anything – from Couchsurfing to an open-house dinner – which involve stepping out of a comfort zone and finding yourself in the company of strangers. Here are some tips for getting over the fear and making it work for you: Worried about awkward [...]

I’m sure I’ve said this before, but I really can’t emphasis this point enough: Couchsurfing.com is fantastic for language learners. And not just for hosts/guests. It can be a godsend in your home town too and it needn’t involve a single couch. I have raved about Couchsurfing’s Buenos Aires forum before (see: Top three ways [...]

I’ve just finished reading Wanderlust: a social history of travel by Laura Byrne Paquet. It’s a great read for anyone interested in how the travel industry got to where it is today, moving from the original aristocratic European ‘grand tours’ to Thomas Cook’s first package holidays and onward to today’s ‘green travel’ and the potential [...]

Is Couchsurfing bad for local travel? Well, this is a new conundrum. Sort of. Couchsurfing has, of course, always had it’s critics. And so it should. There is no ‘perfect’ way to travel. Everything has pros and cons. And I’ve always been keen to tackle those belonging to couchsurfing. A very interesting blog over at the new Local Travel Movement site caught my eye today. Writer Ethan Gelber has picked up on some comments suggesting that couchsurfing sites do not fit in with the ‘local travel’ idea.

  Is Couchsurfing now mainstream? 1.5m users is huge number for something supposed to be ‘alternative’. But it depends on what circles you mix in. A couple of years ago, I found myself often having to start from scratch explaining the concept to other travellers in hostels. Couchsurfing was by no means new then, but [...]

Word is they’re short on traditional accommodation options for the South Africa World Cup. I wrote a piece today for the Guardian about alternative options, including using sites such as iStopover, Couchsurfing and home exchanging. While researching, I logged onto the South Africa group on Couchsurfing.com to get the current lowdown. Predictably, there are a lot [...]

If you stay in a hostel, your contact is predominantly with other travellers; if you’re in hotel, the receptionist may do a sterling job professing interest in your daily sightseeing, but this rarely goes beyond ten minutes. So how do you break the cycle?

If you’re still not convinced by the idea of sleeping in someone else’s home as a couchsurfer, there is one last alternative. Why not try their back garden instead? All you need is a tent and roughly 15 euros to find off-beaten-track camp spots on private land via Singlespotcamping.com. Give it a try and the [...]

Couchsurfing.com has just broken the millionth member barrier. Or has it? If you count the people who register under one profile (couples, housemates etc), they got there a while ago. There are also those who also argue that there are far less than a million who participate actively. Bah, whatever. The millionth profile at least [...]