Bodacious Boomer

Map of registered members of Couchsurfing.org

Do you surf? Better to ask- Do you know a surfer? Not surfing the web, not surfing the waves. A couch surfer. To be perfectly honest, until just a few years ago I really didn’t know what a couch surfer was. I remember the first time I really heard people talking about it was after the movie You, Me and Dupree, which came out in 2009.

When I was growing up the only people that stayed on someone else’s couch fell into one of two categories. First- they had a fight with their spouse and needed a spot just for one night or second- they were bums.

The Urban Dictionary has two definitions of couch surfing: a cheap form of lodging used mainly by college students or recent college grads where one stays on acquaintances couches rather than a hotel. Or, what someone does who can’t afford rent on their own or can’t find roommates quick enough does between places. Our son Brett AKA Beef, falls into the second category. Brett lives in Austin, TX where the University of Texas is located. Brett had an apartment for a year, then he shared a house with three roommates. When their lease was up June 1st, everybody went their separate ways. One guy went to his girlfriend’s place, one went to live with his boss, one was a bum who had never paid his rent anyway and then there’s Brett. He’ll be in his new place in a couple of weeks now I believe.

So, for about two months, Brett’s been a couch surfer. Apparently this is pretty common with this generation, at least in Austin. There’s no big social stigma involved as there would have been when we were his age. We were in Austin the day he was moving from the house this June. (Doug was a good dad and even helped put the place back in pristine condition.) Two big boxes of Brett’s stuff went into storage and he started hitting the couches.

I did a online search today and discovered there’s a huge network of people who couch surf that are neither displaced nor financially challenged. They actually fit into a third catagory. They just like to travel and enjoy meeting new people. The site I went to was couchsurfing.org. They have over 1,314,937 member registered on their site. (Registration is free.) There are 909,865 couches available in 231 countries. Of the registered members 2.7% or 28,000+ are between 50 and 60. Europe has the highest percentage of available couches. In the U.S., San Fransisco is the most popular destination.

According to Couchsurfing.org, 98% of their member’s experiences have been positive. I’ve read a lot of the testimonials on their site. If you go to it, you’ll see their are different levels of verification for the “surfers”. You can sign up to surf, host or both. A few years ago when I traveled I took everything I might possibly need on a trip. Now, I travel like a SEAL unit-fast and lean-or at least fast. (Actually, my bag is lean.) Who cares if I wear the same jewelry every day on a trip? (Being able to travel light is one of the necessities for successful surfing.) I did a search today for San Fransisco. Their were many options available to me. (Of course, the host would have to approve me also.)

When I told Doug about this posting he looked at me and asked, “Who would want to do that?” I looked at him and said “I would.” I love to meet new people and I’m loquacious. (I’ll talk to a stump.) My good friend Wanda Lamont AKA Billy and my niece Ginny both live in San Fransisco in tiny little apartments. I was planning to go for a visit sometime before Christmas. Now I’m planning to couch surf while I’m there. The money I’ll save on hotels will pay for my airfare. I would’ve done it in my 20′s or 30′s so why not now? Check out the Couchsurfing.org map. You can go almost anywhere.

Some members are set up to host couples, or even couples with kids. Also, there are many sub-groups you can join on the site-gay, vegetarians, musicians, just to name a few. It’s a long list. I know that this won’t appeal to everybody, that’s OK. Life’s all about making choices. However, I’m ready to do something new and this sounds like a good fit to me. So I’ll be grabbing my board and heading out -surf’s up!