Couch Surfing

Found via the ever-informative Metafilter, CouchSurfing.com is a kind of specialized social software. It provides opportunities for the poor and the frugal to travel the world by riding generous people’s couches:

You can use the network to meet people and then go and surf other members couches! When you surf a couch, you are a guest at someone’s house. They will provide you with some sort of accommodation, a penthouse apartment, or maybe a back yard to pitch your tent in. Stays can be as short as a cup of coffee, a night or two, or even a few months or more.

I’m a snob when it comes to travel accommadation. I’ll hike through 30 miles of mud in Bolivia during the day, but I want a comfortable and safe bed to sleep in at night. Regardless, most people might think twice before letting this guy bunk down in their livingroom. “He was all right as a guest, but we couldn’t get the smell of sandalwood out of the couch for months.”

I jest. Sort of. On the other hand, it might be a good way to meet women. What this site really needs is a Woofie system like eBay has, so that you can tell the psychopaths from the mints-on-the-pillow folks. Mind you, those two groups aren’t necessarily mutually-exclusive.