Couchsurfing.org is a social website for travelers who want a unique, and not to mention cheap, traveling experience. The movement began ten years ago after founders Casey Fenton, Daniel Hoffer, Sebastian Le Tuan and Leonardo Bassani da Silveira found free lodging in Iceland through a friend of a friend. Their experience sparked an idea: what if people all over the world opened their homes to strangers traveling to their city? That spark quickly ignited, and Couchsurfing was born. Today, there are 7 million members in 100,000 cities around the globe.
Once you sign up for a free account you can begin hosting travelers and surfing on couches all over the world. Along with meeting people from other cultures, Couchsurfing is a great way to meet people in your own community. Most cities have a Couchsurfing group and weekly meet-ups to hang out and share experiences. Chattanooga’s own Couchsurfing community is an eclectic group of residents who share a desire for community and love of travel and adventure. They meet weekly at various spots around town, but their go-to spot is Crust Pizza on Broad Street. During warmer months the group also likes to get outdoors and go on hiking trips.
Chattanooga Couchsurfing ambassadors Alex and Sasha Redmond can list plenty of reasons to join the community of travelers. They’ve hosted around 100 surfers in the past three years, and have surfed a few times as well. They are also responsible for building community between Chattanooga members. “Some of our best friends we’ve found through Couchsurfing,” Alex says. “That’s a lot of fun … you’re not just looking for a place to stay when you travel, you’re looking for community.” Alex is a case manager at Forthood Center, and Sasha works as a nurse at Memorial Hospital. They found Couchsurfing three years ago through a blog, and have since made connections all over the world. Alex is a selfdescribed extrovert and loves any chance he gets to meet new people. Sasha, an introvert, originally struggled with the idea of hosting strangers in her home, but now loves meeting different kinds of people. “There are so many variations of people … Couchsurfing has really taught me that there are not so many bad people. Most of the world is good,” Sasha said.
There are currently just over 1,700 Couchsurfers registered in the Chattanooga area. Meet-ups garner anywhere from 10 to 30 attendants, with heavier crowds showing up for the hiking trips.
Present at a recent meetup was a backpacking raft guide, a teacher’s assistant, a nurse and a graduate student, among others. It was quite an eclectic bunch, and even though they came from completely different walks of life, they love to get together and share stories. It’s as if it was an unspoken no judgment zone. The backpacker, Dan, talked about meditating, drum circles and dumpster diving while Sarah, the teacher’s assistant, talked snow days, Tupelo Honey and living in Spain. There are no rules. Sarah moved to Chattanooga a few months ago and has yet to host travelers, but she started attending meet-ups in order to make friends in the city. Niki, a grad student, has yet to sign-up as a Couchsurfing member, but started attending meet-ups with her boyfriend, Maxx, who is a CouchSurfer. She’s now a regular in the diverse and open community.