We try to pick out the rare fantastic websites - every week a new website put on show. This week: How to crash and save some cash.
L
et's say you wanted to travel the US a little. Who wouldn't wanna do that, right? Thanks to the weak dollar, you can get pretty sweet deals on transcontinental flights. So let's do it. Right know. But hey ... wait a sec ... who's gonna pay all the expensive hotel suites?
I guess he found himself a good deal!
Well, our weekly webtip now presents the easiest solution to this brain-racking problem. Couchsurfing.com is one of the coolest communities that is up and running on the net. "Oh no!" (I can literally hear the annoyed voiced of some of our dear readers.) "Notanother community that is doing nothing else but wasting my precious time!" However, the idea of couch surfing is quite impressive and surely worth a try.
What if you visited a foreign country and already had some waiting there for you? What if you came to a new city and some would be there to show you around? And last but definitely not least, what if you didn't know where to crush for the night and didn't have enough money to check in at the next motel?
Couchsurfing.com provides all the answers - kind of at least.
Not very comfortabel!
1. You meet people online, usual business in our modern world; however, this time these people offer couches, mattresses or other more or less comfy places to stay at. This could end up in a just one night sleep over, a short vacation or in lifelong friendships.
2. The members of this community do not only provide places to stay at, some of them just want to meet new people from all over the world and therefore offer their help. They'll show you around, help you find the unknown sights of the city or discover the most popular bars because they know the city and the places tourists usually won't see.
3. It's all for FREE! You don't pay anything to sign up. You don't pay anything to contact hosts. You don't need to offer a couch, although it would be extremely appreciated. Hosts are not allowed to demand money for the place they provide. The last point, however, is quite extendable, i.e. hosts are thankful for little gifts (e.g. some nice stuff from your home country), treats (how about you pay the drink at the bar your host shows you?) or just a little help when cleaning the dirty dishes from the meal you prepared together.
Some walls would've been nice with that.
After all, Couchsurfing.com is a widely spread network that serves the needs of our generation. It's a brilliant idea. It's fun to meet people from all over the world. It meets a student's budget, i.e. it's free. What else could you ask for apart from a blanket to cuddle with when crashing at your first couch?
Just a last word about security: The network functions like a ring or, to mention a better known example of the same system, "Ebay". After your trip, you rate your host as well as his/her couch and thereby serve as a voucher of how good the couchsurfing member did his/her "job". Works with Ebay, doesn't it?
Achtung: Bevor du kommentierst, erinnere dich bitte noch einmal an deine gute Erziehung. Hab keine Angst, wenn dein Beitrag sinnentleert ist. Das kommt vor. Aber sei kreativ!
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Sei der erste, der zu diesem Artikel seine Meinung sagt!
Da der Microsoft Internet Explorer nicht den weltweiten Web-Standards entspricht, wird WOOLING.NET im Internet Explorer bis Version 6 noch fehlerhaft dargestellt. Alle Fehler konnten wir noch nicht beheben. Das betrifft vor allem Textausrichtung, Linien und Abstände. Um WOOLING.NET in voller Schönheit genießen zu können, legen wir euch ans Herz, den Internet Explorer zu aktualisieren oder am besten gleich kostenlos zu 
