If you don't have a house to exchange, a couch will do. Simply post details of your couch on www.couchsurfing.com and you can host international travellers desperate for a home-cooked meal and a free roof over their heads.
In exchange you'll have access to 500,000 couches in 226 countries and territories next time you go travelling.
Couch surfing relies on a personal vouching system. You set up a profile online (much like an online dating profile) and - after a few visitors - you start to develop a network of people who'll vouch for you as a dependable host. Hosts also vouch for travellers.
Consumer writer Luke Harrison registered his flat's couch on couchsurfing.com and received an email a day later from American backpacker Dan Sulak. Dan was good-humoured and considerate and even cooked the flat dinner one night.
Luke's flat intends to host other surfers as it's a good way to meet interesting people and they hope to surf foreign couches themselves in the future.
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