Traveling with NO money is to be avoided, unless you're a refugee, like the million or so displaced from Syria, in which case it may well be worthwhile to take your chances.

@zhudan
ever done couch-surfing?
I did it a few times. It's a little bit like crashing on you buddies sofa after a tough night out.

Most couch-surfers, actually do couch-surfing not for budget reasons but because it is and adventure, you meet local people and you can share the things you actually can share.

Also it depends on the host as well.

I had good hosts and all the surfers, gave gifts, bought food, hell one even filled the hosts fridge, top to bottom, which moved the host because the surfer remembered the hosts favourite beer brand.

Are there jerks and freeloaders around but you can prevent yourself from them by using couch-surfing sites, where hosts and guests are rated.

Plus it's something for people who have an open mind, to these things. So, if you have a 500,000 Euro condo with designer furniture, maybe you should let CS'ers in. But if you are open minded and enjoy meeting strangers and give them a place to crash, why not?

Also, keep in mind that the most expensive part of travelling is the fares for tickets and hotels. And these are not realistic prices, nobody can tell me that a standard single bedroom stay, per night, in [outskirts]London....of 100-200 pounds [normal for a hotel in summer] is justified.

Thats a month`s rent in some European cities. Or a stay at a 5 star hotel in Asia.

Plus, CS it is actually the traditional way of travelling, in medieval times or even up to the 19th century, people crashed in guesthouses, or people's homes,- offering a wooden floor, for a small gift, or token of appreciation. Since guesthouses and hotels were for the wealthy.

I like Dudeson's last post. I think that, if you really don't want to make a bit of effort towards your guests (and nobody says you have to), then it's better not to take in couch surfers. And yeah, of course there will be a few who don't make an effort to be good guests either.

@Dudeson

I think in theory it sounds great and maybe some people have that type of temperament to handle it. I had a friend, I would say a good friend, from the US stay with us and to be honest the friendship almost ended over the stay. It did not and I am thankful. I thought it was a for 5 days or something and winds up being almost a month. He is couch surfer type to be sure. He did not want to spend any money while he was in China this time and wanted to check on possible jobs directly. He didn't want to share taxi money, he never bought us even a bowl of mi xian and did not want to even go in on the bill. He complained about the food my wife made, "that pork was a little tough". I felt like we had to keep him entertained all the time. he complained about the movies I selected. Wow. One night I just blew up. Things worked out and we are still friends but I will never do that type of thing again without boundaries and agreements in advance, and that is for a good friend. My wife has CSing Chinese friends I guess but no problem for some reason there. They seem to be old friends passing through. I never had an issue there.

zhudan, I'm sure there are similar stories to the one you've just told, but the problem here seems to be with your particular friend, not with couch surfing per se - no?
As for CSing Chinese friends, I think it's likely that, on average and in comparison to many nationalities, you would find a higher-than-average level of consideration among them - in such situations, Han-Chinese (at least) cultural attitudes are pretty good.

@Dudeson I used the couchsurfing website. The problem is almost everyone has 99-100% positive reviews because people are scared to give a negative review. This is because they know that if they do, the other person will get revenge by giving a negative review back, which then stains your record, even if you did nothing wrong. I know people who have couch-surfed, and they have told me that they do it purely to save money and are not interested in making friends etc. I wanted to believe that it was gonna be this cool hippie experience where I would make new friends and have fun, but it's just wasn't worth the (considerable) hassle. Some people just have no shame - Zhudan's friend is an extreme example of that (by the way if my friend treated me and my wife like that I would kick them out and never speak to them again). Friends are replaceable, assholes need to be treated as such.

@zhudan
I respect your patience, with that friend of yours.
If it would have been me, I dunno if I could have been so supportive for so long. Especially if he started complaining.

But alien is right, there are for sure some real CS d*cks, feeling entitled and such, but most, like your wives friend, respect a good host.

We had a few CS'ers at our house and they have been, all really nice. I have to say, though, they were friends-of-friends-of-friends-of-friends, maybe that makes a difference, as well.

www.gokunming.com/en/forums/thread/12074/couchsurfing

Hi Hugo
would like 2 discus corporate governance (and CS) with you next week.
RU Free?

I know a Chinese girl who couch surfed at some rich guy's place in Dubai and wound up marrying him.