I always thought that the main attraction of couch surfing was the fact that you got a free place to sleep. Sure, meeting locals is a nice side effect, but for

I always thought that the main attraction of couch surfing was the fact that you got a free place to sleep. Sure, meeting locals is a nice side effect, but for many people the fact that it is free is the thing that enables travelling in the first place. We've hosted a bunch of people, and it's usually young people with little income (often students). And Couch Surfing works great for that: The website matches up people who look for a free place to stay with people who like sharing their place. And despite all the politics, couch surfing still works great for that!