Whether you are a frequent traveller, a family, a hardworking professional or a student with limited resources, the idea of travelling the world and meeting new people is absolutely exciting and reinvigorating. One of the starkest realities of travels to any new city or a country is stepping into an unchartered territory. New place, new faces, new culture and one can’t help but feel out of their element at first. How would you feel if you had an opportunity to network and meet people before you get to a city and guess what…stay with them for free?

Last year when I was attending a University in Islamabad, Pakistan for my postgraduate studies, I had an amazing professor who was young, free spirited and had travelled the world. While residing in Turkey for a Doctorate Degree, he got to explore not only Turkey but also almost whole of Europe! Going through his Facebook page and seeing a myriad of amazing travel pictures, I couldn’t help but ask him that being a student in a foreign country, how could he manage and afford so many amazing travels. In response to my inquiry he directed me to a totally unique idea of travelling that is not only a genius accord for anyone who loves to travel, but is an amazing networking system which is fool proof, safe and absolutely free.

This website is called www.couchsurfing.com. The concept of this website is as catchy and intriguing as its name! This site is an amazing new sensation of people around the world who share a deep love for travels, culture, meeting new people and also want to do it in the least expensive way possible. Not only this site facilitates making connections for travels, you can also join a community of couch surfers and meet new people for activities right in your area. So in order to be a couch surfer, you go to their website, sign up with your Facebook profile or an email, create your own profile on their site and list yourself as a host or a guest or both. Either way, you get to interact with other profiles and upon being approved by those people as a guest or a host; you can visit their home and stay with them for free. The whole concept revolves around bridging the gap between people while making travel fun and exciting. I would recommend starting as a host for it has great incentives. The review of the website shows that people who are great hosts become the most frequent guests. So the concept works in a totally safe and admirable way. Once you start out as a host, you get requests from people to come stay with you in your city. Its totally up to you whether you accept them or refuse them and its easy because the website has a system of ratings that rates every user as a guest or a host with real time reviews from people who have met them. By reading such reviews you can have a better idea of the people who are trying to stay with you and that way you can decide. Once you host a few people and they rate your hospitality and (mental sanity), you can start requesting to be a guest yourself virtually anywhere around the world.

I thought this idea was a travelling genius. The website also offers a feature where for a small fee you can get yourself verified by the site, giving you an advantage for it will add to your chances of being a guest or a frequently approved host. There are stories that are shared by avid travellers on the site and the world is a virtual possibility of travels, amazing places and great people. One cannot only save money but can make connections and friendships, which can last a life time. And who doesn’t want to visit a new city or a country without feeling like a tourist ready to be taken advantage by expensive hotels and overpriced tourist hotspots. What I find very interesting about this site is that you get to meet real local people who know their city well and can help you explore it in a way that no hotel concierge can. And if one gets an opportunity to make lasting friendships, well that’s an added bonus too. So be adventurous and have an open mind. Explore places and above all be free spirited. Its always great to try new ideas but above all, be safe !!! Happy and Safe Travels!!!