[mikeatlas]

New members with no prior references may find it hard to get a couchsurfing host immediately, especially on short notice.

Simply becoming a member of the site doesn't guarantee a place to stay...so here are some helpful guides to get started in the CS community and culture.

http://www.couchsurfing.com/mission.html

http://wiki.couchsurfing.com/en/Searching_and_requesting_a_c...

http://wiki.couchsurfing.com/en/How_to_write_a_CouchRequest

http://wiki.couchsurfing.com/en/Cheat_Sheet

(I'm heavily involved on CS)

[cstejerean]

Thanks. I've been a member of CS for a while although I've never actually looked for a host. I was more interested in offering others a place to stay if they happen to be in my area. I've been considering looking on CS but decided against it since I really wanted to try and meet members of this site more than I cared about finding a place to stay.