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Couchsurfing Hangouts — Meet nearby travelers and locals, no planning required
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As a veteran couchsurfer (approaching 10 years on the platform!), I'm excited to see the app being developed and new models tested. But I'm not sure about this feature - it sounds a lot like @partywithalocal, which helps you meet people while traveling (to party). But I wouldn't make the time to meet with just 'any' stranger - I'd have to have a lot of faith that the community is really awesome. Party With A Local has invested tremendous time and energy into creating a community where I feel confident I'll be meeting someone cool. Sadly Couchsurfing has lost a lot of that early magic and the last few times I've gone to meetups it's seemed to be mostly scammers or guys trying to hit on girls.
Hey Gillian! Always a privilege to meet a veteran.
Thanks for these thoughts, I can definitely appreciate a more skeptical take here.
Before you meet up with someone or a group of people, you're able to view their photos, profile (self-reported information), and references (information from others who have hosted that person, stayed with them, or met them). You can also see any mutual friends. Generally, that should help guide your intuitions about whether or not you'd be comfortable chatting, or meeting up with a person / group of people. If you have any ideas on more we could do here, I'd love to hear them!
As for Party With a Local, I think our core differentiator comes down to scale and diversity of activities. The Couchsurfing community is a larger one--you'll find Couchsurfers in more places, doing more things. So far, people are using Hangouts for anything from "sharing a meal" (most popular) to "finding a surf buddy" and just about everything in between.
There's some more updates coming soon, which I think will help bring back some of that early magic. I hope we can earn you back! :) Nonetheless, would be great to have you by the office sometime if you're up for it.
Thanks for hunting us, Jack! Incredibly excited about this.
People primarily use Couchsurfing to stay with a local when they're traveling, or to host travelers coming to their town.
But we heard from members that they wanted an easier, more spontaneous way to meet up with one another (think: you're traveling with family and already have accommodations sorted, but still want to spend a day meeting locals).
Hangouts does just that. See who's nearby, what they're up to, and make plans to meet-up.
A few ways you might use Hangouts:
1) To find a local to have a meal with during a way-too-long layover in Frankfurt.
2) To find a more competent Pokémon Go partner than your roommate
3) To invite a few travelers in town to join you & friends for a hike, movie, or beach day
Here if you have any questions - fire away! You can also reach me personally - alli.shea@couchsurfing.com.
Wow this looks awesome, I'd love to use this! Does it work all over the world?
@bethany_stachenfeld Hey Bethany! Yup, works worldwide 🌍 :)
At the moment, the most popular city for Hangouts is actually Istanbul, with London and Berlin vying for second.
This will be a great way to find some new friends when I'm backpacking in the fall without tapping into the hostel scene, thanks for the release!
@christopher_norton Sure thing, Chris! Can't wait to hear about your trip, and who you meet on Hangouts.
Pretty cool way to find friends while you're traveling. And the app looks really nice! 💯
I use the couchsurfing app all the time. It is how I made the large network (of English speaking) people that I have since moving abroad. I go to their weekly meetups, picnics, and other events as well meet people through the hangout when I'm bored. I've stayed with two hosts and meet up with other travelers and locals when I'm traveling as well as meet on a separate trip with one of those travelers. Recommend to anyone who wants to expand their horizons, meet interesting people, and become a global citizen.
Pros:Great app, for meeting interesting people who have great perspectives on life and lots of experiences to share from their trips.
Cons:There are a decent amount of people who try to us CS as a dating app, which is not it's purpose and can sometimes be annoying.
Dyspatch