Riccardo G. His photos show the good-humored Latin American native β dark, handsome, and fit β in exotic destinations around the world, from Cairo to Capri. Riccardo and other Couchsurfing users quoted 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 OKCupid and Tinder. 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. 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. Members can request a couch, host a traveler, or find new friends to meet up with locally. Riccardo agrees to host only female travelers and stipulates that they be younger than him. I want to have three days with somebody I can talk with. Not somebody just empty. Should I invite her? Big fail! He got a little closer on his second try, a girl from Slovakia with blonde hair his weakness and small, dark, squinty eyes.
She was in the process of moving to New York and needed a place to stay for four days while she looked for a permanent home.
