CouchSurfing, an international hospital service, is gaining in popularity among youngsters in Ahmedabad, fast spreading as a trend.
Ours is truly a globalised world, not just economically, but also on a personal level. CouchSurfing, an international hospital service, is gaining in popularity among youngsters in Ahmedabad, fast spreading as a trend. Under the international initiative, travellers are provided with a couch and a place to surf as their basic necessities. DNA spoke to some of them to see how they felt about being part of such a ‘globalised world’.
Nitesh Jain, a freelance photographer and journalist, has been an active member of CouchSurfing since January, and recently hosted Zoe Mocker and Eric from New York. “The Indian members of CouchSurfing travel a lot during summers and the number of foreigners also increases during this season as it is perfect for visiting places like Leh and Ladakh,” he said.
CouchSurfing.com has around 500 members in Gujarat and more than 250 members in Ahmedabad. The site is basically for travellers who are on work trips and have some leisure time to explore the places, for which they take the help of the locals who would play their host, show them around, offer them food and sometimes even share their rooms. The purpose of this concept is a cross-cultural exchange of ideas.
According to Ashish Verma, this is the best season for travellers as they can easily visit different places because of the pleasant weather. “People from abroad want to get a feel of the heritage and culture of Ahmedabad. So, while hosting them and playing a city guide, I take them around to the Old City and Pols of Ahmedabad, the heritage walk and places like the SEWA café and ZEN café,” he said.
To entertain the travellers who were in Ahmedabad recently, Alex Hornstein, an engineer, organised a small meet at Law Garden. “To make their visit more fun, I arranged slack lining (a sport where one walks on a rope). Around 40 people, including the hosts and guests, were present at the venue and we had a ball of a time, after which we went for dinner to the SEWA café,” Alex said.
Being the city ambassador of CouchSurfing.com, Rahul Sanghvi enjoys meeting people from different walks of life.
“It is not just about being on a leisure trip; they also spread awareness on various topics. A guy from Germany who was travelling in solar-powered car spoke about global warming while another from England was on a tour on his bicycle. By talking to them, we realised that there is a lot to learn,” he said.
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