Is Couchsurfing bad for locals?
Is Couchsurfing bad for local travel? Well, this is a new conundrum. Sort of. Couchsurfing has, of course, always had it's critics. And so it should. There is no 'perfect' way to travel. Everything has...
View ArticleWhy Couchsurfing is great for language learners
I’m sure I’ve said this before, but I really can’t emphasis this point enough: Couchsurfing.com is fantastic for language learners. And not just for hosts/guests. It can be a godsend in your home town...
View ArticleTravel networking: getting over the fear
Some people hate the idea of offline travel networking. I’m talking about anything – from Couchsurfing to an open-house dinner – which involve stepping out of a comfort zone and finding yourself in the...
View ArticleWhy travelling ‘for free’ doesn’t work
Mark Boyle, the freeconomy guy who I’ve written about before, has popped up in the Guardian today talking about how to travel for free. There are no real revelations in his recommendations –...
View ArticleStaying with locals: the update
Here’s an update stay with the locals schemes that I wrote for yesterday’s Guardian travel section. The aim of the piece was to look at what was new in the field and how the site’s are developing. It...
View ArticleTop 50 travel websites
The Independent published their list of 50 Best Travel Websites last week. At the time, I was off exploring Misiones, northern Argentina, so this is a belated catch-up. As some readers have pointed out...
View ArticleMutiny aboard the good ship Couchsurfing
Big news came last week in the announcement that Couchsurfing.com had decided to abandon its non-profitmaking roots and accept £4.7m of venture capital. I wrote about it for the Guardian here:...
View ArticleCouchsurfing with the Icelandic President?
Inspired by Iceland Invitations from Inspired By Iceland on Vimeo. Icelanders are opening their homes to visitors, as part of a new tourism campaign — and leading the way is the country’s president....
View ArticleGoing Local is ‘hot’
Elle Magazine has named GoingLocalTravel.com as number three on its 'hot list' of ten websites that explore new trends in tourism, namely looking at ways travellers can stay in the homes of locals and...
View ArticlePeople to People: the pre-internet Couchsurfing
Over the last couple of months, I turned detective. I long had the idea to re-visit Jim Haynes’s fantastic People-to-People series from the early 1990s and, finally, this summer I was in Europe with...
View Article