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Posted June 30, 2014

Student Summer Tips: Go Couchsurfing!

When you are planning your summer – taking a well-earned break from your MA or PhD studies – the options can seem overwhelming. Then, when you’ve worked out what you want to do with the summer months, some things can seem out of reach or impractical, whether through cost or location. Couchsurfing might be the answer. The idea of offering a spare bed (or, yes, even the couch) to someone for free came about little more than a decade ago, but now there are couchsurfers and hosts all around the world. There are several benefits to making couchsurfing a part of your summer plans.

It's Cheap Let’s face it, when you’re looking at organising a summer holiday, as a postgraduate student, cost will be a key factor when making your plans. Hotels can be costly, and while hostels may be cheaper, they can be noisy. Couchsurfing provides a cost-efficient alternative. As a visitor you get a free bed for the night, while as a host you get to meet new people without having to travel.

Postgrad Conferences Couchsurfing could also help your studies, by keeping travel costs down if you want to attend an academic conference . With travel grants fiercely competitive, couchsurfing could provide a means of attending your conference even if you don’t get any funds. And given that the conference will likely be something to do with your area of research, the network you’ve built up during your studies could yield hosts from within your discipline. If a conference is taking place in your home town, consider offer a place to sleep to a fellow student – you’ll help them attend, get to meet someone with complimentary academic interests, and have someone to discuss the outcomes of the conference with.

Likeminded People Whether you are visiting a host, or playing host yourself, going couchsurfing is a brilliant way to meet like-minded people. If you put an advertisement on a couchsurfing message board you can specify what interests you have and things you like doing, so people with similar ideas can find you. The network you have built up during your postgraduate studies will also help. These days, research efforts and contact between academics spans the globe, so tap into your contacts. If you host someone and get on with them, then you will always have a contact willing to put you up when you want to travel.

Local Knowledge One of the benefits of choosing to stay in someone’s house rather than a hotel or hostel is the unique local knowledge that that person has to share. Couchsurfing is a great way of getting beyond what the guidebooks and travel programs show, and experiencing the city as if you lived there. Couchsurfing hosts are almost always willing to share their knowledge of where to eat, drink, see art, chill out or go out, and the chances are they will come along for the ride too.

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