For too long couches have been given a bad name.  Couch potato.  “You’re sleeping on the couch tonight, mister.”  480-Pound Woman Dies After Six Years On Couch.

Can’t a sofa catch a break?

Allow me to reprieve this everyday household item from the abyss of the unappreciated.  Because the average couch is making waves worldwide, having now become an opportunity for economic development here in Savannah and in communities around the globe.

The phenomenon is called “couchsurfing.”  Anyone who went to a large state university like I did is familiar with the concept.  In essence, it is an extended stay by someone (familiar or not) who sleeps on the couch.  At worst it is associated with vagrancy or drunken youth.   At best it is redefining travel and lodging the world over.

From the wreckage of the couchsurfing of old emerged the CouchSurfing Project, a free, Internet-based, international hospitality service that, evidently, is currently the world’s largest hospitality exchange network. Launched in 2004, the site now boasts more than 827,000 members in 229 countries and territories. And it may well rank as the most visited hospitality service on the Internet, averaging more than 30 million daily page views in July 2008.

The Project began like most brilliant ideas do: by benign circumstance.  Traveler Casey Fenton bought a cheap ticket to fly from Boston to Iceland but was without means to stay at a hotel or a hostel.  So he emailed over 1000 University of Iceland students asking for a place to stay during his tour.  Upon returning from a successfully affordable trip abroad, Fenton envisioned the Couchsurfing Project.

But Fenton and team wanted to take the notion beyond simply connecting folks with an affordable place to lay their heads.  They wanted to start a revolution (damn hippies).  And so it follows that the mission of CP is to internationally network people and places, create educational exchanges, raise collective consciousness, spread tolerance and facilitate cultural understanding.

“As a community we strive to do our individual and collective parts to create a better world, and we believe that the surfing of couches is a means to accomplish this goal. CouchSurfing is not about the furniture, not just about finding free accommodations around the world; it’s about making connections worldwide. We make the world a better place by opening our homes, our hearts, and our lives. We open our minds and welcome the knowledge that cultural exchange makes available. We create deep and meaningful connections that cross oceans, continents and cultures. CouchSurfing wants to change not only the way we travel, but how we relate to the world!”

Here’s how it works: interested couch-owners and couch-surfers fill out profiles on the website (much like MySpace, Facebook or online dating sites).  Once they’re in the system they can search for places to stay in their destination communities.  To ensure the legitimacy and safety of the exchange, owners and surfers alike can comment and rate their experience (much like with eBay transactions).  Some couch owners are surfers themselves and networks of exchanges have emerged wherein, for example, folks that frequently travel to New York know they always have a place to stay and those who they shack with can likewise visit Savannah whenever they need to.

Some 119,000 couches are available for travelers in the U.S. alone.  Georgia has 301 Couchsurfing Project members, with an staggering percentage (more than 1/3) being from Savannah.  Members are all ages and from all backgrounds: paramedics, writers, college students, pilots, foreign language teachers, massage therapists, IT directors, G.I.s, even the manager at Vinnie Van Go-Gos.  All seem to share a love for traveling, cultural exchanges and meeting new people.

But looking beyond those members’ living rooms, the Couchsurfing Project is an amazing way of introducing people to our fantastic, quirky community, either through direct visits or through the stories and sentiments of Savannah travelers visiting far away homes.  People who come here not only infuse Savannah with money while visiting, but they may well come back.  They may tell their friends about it.  Heck, they may even move here.  I personally know someone who couchsurfed in Savannah (staying at the home of the former president of my neighborhood association) and loved it so much that she and her sweet dog relocated here!  She is now the proud owner of a swanky pad downtown and happily joining in the Savannah community and economy.

So check out the Couchsurfing Project and see if it’s right for you (either as a couch owner or a traveler).  You’ll be contributing to Gaia, opening doors for yourself and others and maybe, just maybe, building our community.

Popularity: 6% [?]