Organizations like Priceline, Travelocity and Orbitz claim to give customers the best deals on travel, but a new phenomenon is occurring.
Across the U.S. and across the world, travelers are realizing they can now go even further for their dollar.
The reason? CouchSurfing.
"I was on my way to Missouri, but I wasn't much interested in going straight there," said Wilson Sims, junior in English.
Sims became a CouchSurfer last summer and found himself staying with a family of eight outside of Germantown, Tenn.
Stop thinking about how to combine living room furniture and the Pacific Ocean.
CouchSurfing is a large hospitality exchange network used by the entire the world.
According to the Times Online, "Hospitality networks -- communities set up to enable travelers to share the home of a foreign host -- are nothing new."
Members of an online community share their homes, namely their couches, with one another all around the world.
Created in 2003, CouchSurfing.org hosts 1,489,386 CouchSurfers worldwide, and represents more than 66,000 cities.
Membership through CouchSurfing.org is free, and members are encouraged to upload information about themselves and the accommodations that they offer. In turn, members are offered accommodations by other CouchSurfers on their next journey.
The idea of sleeping on a stranger's couch far away from home may not be attractive to everyone, but according to CouchSurfing.org, "It's a way to make connections between travelers and the local communities they visit."
Ross Ellen lives in Wellington, New Zealand, and has been offering his couch and a cup of coffee to fellow travelers since 2006.
"I'll even show them around the city, the good restaurants, if I'm not teaching," Ellen said.
Ellen's a snowboarder who enjoys receiving guests from all over the world.
He teaches music out of his studio apartment.
Ellen has been "vouched for," which means he is a faithful member of the CouchSurfing community.
Vouching is a way for members to declare trust in other members and a way to build further community between travelers in different parts of the world.
"They were genuinely interested in who I was and were anxious to know what it was like going to school in Alabama," Sims said. "I even played RockBand with their children."
Sims explained being a CouchSurfer isn't primarily about just showing up on someone's doorstep, but instead a way to know and experience other people in places that lots of people go to, but only a few spend the winter in.
Not everyone is convinced about it though.
"I don't think I'll ever try it," said Jim Plaster, senior in fine arts. "I don't really like the idea of people I don't know in my home."
According to the Web site, CouchSurfing is always consensual between host and guest, and most of the time arrangements are made well in advance. With such a wide variety of members, travelers are sure to find the perfect couch.
The idea came in 2000 from Casey Fenton, a computer programmer.
According to Sanjay Stojanovic, writer for Helium, a travel forum, the idea came to Fenton when he found a cheap flight from Boston to Iceland.
Upon the realization that he had the money to go to Iceland, but not to stay, Casey randomly e-mailed more than 1,500 students from the University of Iceland, asking for a couch. Casey received more than 50 offers of accommodation.
The Web site launched in late 2003 and became public in 2004.
In addition to helping travelers locate free accommodations, CouchSurfing.com also provides guide services and travel-related advice. The site has travel forums for members to organize activities like camping trips or sporting events.
CouchSurfing gives travelers the opportunity to become familiar with more than just the landmarks of their destination.
It points those who want to really see the world to the most important landmark of any place, its people.
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