[dvtrn]

I’ve never used couchsurfing. Can you elaborate a few more details for outsiders like myself who perhaps can’t read between the lines you’re drawing on the topic?

It doesn’t seem that far disconnected from reality to posit that COVID has had some affect on this?

[Mediterraneo10]

CS inititally grew through communities like hitchhikers, bicycle travelers, Rainbow Gathering hippies and other alternative demographics. For people driven by wanderlust and keen for a sense of community with other sympathetic people, government-enforced COVID travel restrictions may compel them to stay put for a while, but the virus itself won't put them off traveling and hosting for long. No one wants to give up on an entire lifestyle and peer group, and they are used to budgeting on the basis of spending relatively little on accommodation when they are on the road.

Plus, hitchhikers and cycle-tourers are used to thinking about statistics, because their travel habits involve some measure of risk, and so, as horrific as some anecdotal accounts of COVID are, they are unlikely to fear the virus so much.

[qu83rt]

The person above claimed that hosts would be reluctant because visitors might have COVID, not that the travellers would be more reluctant.

[Mediterraneo10]

A certain amount of people invested in the community will still be willing to host simply because they crave the social contact with other members. But besides that, a lot of passionate travelers are keen to host on CS because contributing in this way makes it more likely that they themselves will be able to save money on accommodation and meet interesting people when they travel. So, COVID won’t dissuade everyone from hosting.

[dvtrn]

Is this your own opinion or, other than meticulously picking through couchsurfer forum posts, how does one gather the sentiment of such a large community of hosts?

[peterburkimsher]

CS started because someone messaged a load of university students so he could stay on their dorm room floor. I discovered it with a dumpster-diving friend in UCSB in 2009.

It stays legal by involving no money. (Airbnb's subletting issues do not affect CS). Hosts let people stay in their house: whether a couch, sleeping bag, or spare room. Guests message hosts in advance, asking whether they can stay. Reply rates vary. It stays safe by a reference system. My girlfriend, parents, and everybody on the Internet knows exactly where I was sleeping each night.

CS built a large community through word-of-mouth, and was non-profit until 2011. Then the admins decided to make it a B Corporation, and promised not to charge. BeWelcome was founded at that time.

I stayed, and I'm glad I did, because I joined weekly meetups in Amsterdam, Kaohsiung, Taipei, Tainan, and Auckland, and made many great friends that way.

If this were about COVID, a temporary fundraiser to help the admins get through this tough time is reasonable. A monthly fee is not. I can't do subscriptions. My visa will expire in 6 months, and then I'll need to leave - no more income, no more bank account, different SIM card. A friend who knows some people in HQ said that this had been planned for a while. Doing it now, while all the meetups are temporarily suspended, is cruel and foolish. Not consulting the membership is also unacceptable.

I wish that internal reform will be possible, and the admins will change their mind. However, I worry that it may not happen, and that's why I think we should start exporting our data and creating new profiles on BeWelcome.

[Mediterraneo10]

BeWelcome was founded well before CS went corporate. And BW was founded by people upset at the direction Hospitality Club (an earlier community) had taken. Sure, BW absorbed some CS refugees in 2011, but many BW members were anxious about CS trends having too much influence on their own site.