He describes himself as "amazing, outgoing, funny, smart" and says his interests include friends, eating, drinking, the gym and puppies. His photos show the good-humored Latin American native - dark, handsome, and fit - in exotic destinations around the world, from Cairo to Capri.
Nowhere does the profile state explicitly that if you are an attractive female traveler, you might skip the couch entirely and wind up in Riccardo's bed, but it's a good possibility. In eight months using the service, Riccardo, who is 32 and works for an ad agency, has let eight visitors crash at his apartment, of whom he's hooked up with five, for a 62 percent "success rate. Riccardo and other Couchsurfing users quotes in this article asked to be identified by pseudonyms. On the business front, the crowdsourced hospitality site has been experiencing a rough patch lately.
Although the company has initiated a doubling down on mobile, the experience of users like Riccardo might suggest another path to profitability. Never mind iCupid and Tindr. The almost decade-old Couchsurfing, which is available in , cities across the globe, is becoming the go-to hookup app for a certain class of young world travelers. CouchSurfing's Community Guidelines explicitly warn against contacting other members for dating , noting, "we will consider this harassment" - albeit without stipulating what the penalties are for violating this rule.
Perhaps, but use of the site to find sexual partners a practice known in some bro-friendly circles as "cooch surfing" is nonetheless quite routine. I'm like, 'You know, whatever, we went out, had sex They didn't go all the way.
Months later Riccardo got a phone call from the same girl, asking if she could stay at his place in New York City. This time, they made it official. Couchsurfing was born after a budget-conscious traveler named Casey Fenton sent out a mass request for accommodations in Iceland and received 50 invitations from students with a free spare futon. Fenton soon realized people all over the world might not mind sharing their extra space gratis while making new friends in the process.
