Rural CouchSurfing

Welcome to Rural CouchSurfing

The following is in draft for to allow general discussion prior to submitting a Rural CouchSurfing Proposal to the Leadership Team.

Rural Couchsurfing

An Overview

Defining rural:

Rural areas (also referred to as "the country", countryside) are settled places outside towns and cities. Such areas are distinct from more intensively settled urban and suburban areas, and also from unsettled lands such as outback, American Old West, or wilderness. Inhabitants live in villages, hamlets, on farms and in other isolated houses.

See the discussion about it here: Rural Couchsurfing Group

The purpose behind Rural Couchsurfing is probably the best way to explain the basic idea: Rural Couchsurfing is intended to allow 2 things; travelers to experience rural areas that they would never otherwise have access to and to allow rural communities to experience culture exchange they otherwise wouldn’t.

Background

People living outside the city live a very different lifestyle to their urban neighbours. They live more privately and as such tend to be less accessible to the passing traveler. Most traveling experiences outside of cities require the traveler to overnight in impersonal accommodations due to the lack of access to locals.

It needs to be understood that a rural couchsurfing experience is very much unlike an urban one in as much as the farmer is living and working on the land and it is unfair to expect him to be able to give his free time to passing travelers. They do not have the disconnect in their lives that people in cities do, in the sense that there is always work to be done on their properties.

What is the difference between a rural and urban couchsurfing experience?

The principal difference is the location.

Note that there can be some other differences:

• No or few internet access

• Difficulty to reach the place

• Difference of activities to do around

• In some cases, help needed or expected(1)

(1)In conventional couchsurfing (urban), the guest is not necessarily expected to do any work. There may or may not be a provision of cooking a meal, helping with chores or bringing a present etc. But with rural couchsurfing it MIGHT be expected (mostly in farms or alternative communities) that guests do contribute to the either the hosts activities (farming) or help around on the property (odds and ends, weeding, gardening etc) due to the fact that the rural experience will come a bed and food provided simply because the properties are well removed the local towns (and hence grocery stores) and the host might give you a ride to bring you there and back.

This may be outside the set guidelines of CS missions and values point 3: “We have made a commitment that CouchSurfing will always be free to join and free to use.” It is our interpretation of this statement that giving your time to your host in exchange for room and board does not violate this because there is no exchange of money. We considerate that the most important exchange won’t be the material exchange (food/time) but the human and cultural exchange.

In any case, the host has to explain CLEARLY what will be expected from the guest and what will be given in order to avoid any bad surprise and frustration.

What is the difference between WWOOF/Helpx and Rural Couchsurfing?

Many people ask why bother developing and implimenting Rural CS when there are already networks in place that cover the same people and area. Why re-invent the wheel? Well the basic difference is that with couchsurfing hosts want to meet the surfer, where as WWOOF hosts want WOOFERs to work for them first, and meet them second (maybe).

Obviously people who want both, can be part of more than one organization. In fact we encourage people who sometimes just want some company and to share their way of life but sometimes require serious help to be part of both and accept people from different organizations depending on their schedule.

In WWOOF: we host people because we need help for our garden or farm and in the same time we can provide them some food and accomodation and share our lifes and cultures...

In Couchsurfing: we host some people because we want to help them to travel in new places, we want to share our lifes and cultures, and in the same time as we don't have much time and money, as we are in a remoted place and we feed them, we might ask them for some extra help during their stay.

See discussion of this in the following thread: 1

Expectation of Host

A rural host can expect from his guest exactly the same things as in a urban area:

• Respect of his place

• Understanding and respect of his way of life

• Sharing time, experiences, conversation, and some daily tasks (dishes, cooking…)

• A great experience in general

A rural host can sometimes expect

• A little more help in the garden or the house

• A little sharing of the “work” tasks (for example when food or transport are provided)(1)

(1)All this has to be clearly settled on the profile of the host and clearly explained before the guests arrive. The most important thing is COMMUNICATION! :-)

Expectation of Surfer

A rural couchsurfer at the very least is expecting to discover what is to live in a rural environment in the country they are traveling through.

A couchsurfer in a rural area can expect:

• A place to stay (bed, couch, place on the floor, place for a tent…)

• Understanding and respect of his way of life

• Sharing time, experiences, conversation, and some daily tasks (dishes, cooking…)

• A great experience in general

Additional things that can be expected:

• Discovering a bit of the daily life if on a farm or an alternative community for example.

• Participating a little to the daily tasks (and then maybe learn and experience new things)(1)

(1)The guest has to make sure that he/she understands what is going to happen during the stay and that he/she is going to be able to give the little help that might be expected.

Marketing

Following the revamp of ambassadorial code of ethics and duties it is envisaged that there will be a more proactive approach to the development of CS and especially CS outside of cities where ambassadors will now need to include in their realm of responsibility those adjacent regional members. It is through this new relationship that the regional members will be enthused with the prospect of participating in making the world smaller one cultural exchange at a time by their own enthusiasms and experiences trickling into their own small rural communities.

With the opportunity of access to regional radio stations and the distribution of handouts by more proactive CS members who are either travelling or through members who are also members of like organisations (WWOOF, Helpx) it is envisaged that inroads into rural areas could be made within a matter of months.

Technical requirements

We need to allow the addition of “rural couch” into the database so that rural couches can selected in the same way that Exotic Couches and CS Zones (awaiting launch).

In addition to having a "Rural Couch" page similar to that of "Exotic Couches" currently found under the Couchsearch Tab - we envision that one would be able to search for Rural Couches under the advanced search function.

Icon

An icon would need to be created that would appear at the top of ones profile beside where the "Traveling Band and Musician" icon appears.

Ideas for an Icon

Guidelines Required

With the guidelines being written it would be intended that they are on a wiki page along with other relevant information.

-guidelines for rural couchsurfers -guidelines for rural couchsurfing hosts - clear definition of expectations of couchsurfers -guidelines for rural couchsurfing profiles - guidelines for rural references

Administration

It is understandable that there would be a need to manage the rural couches and to hold the hand of process in its infancy. Initially it is envisaged that a specific group be formed comprised of a country ambassador and interested city ambassadors to initiate the marketing the concept to both the hosts and surfers. Over time, should the project prove viable a more formalised and specifically documented administration could be put in place.

The Team

_The team would be composed of 2 or 3 project leaders (as most of CS volunteer teams) and would have a certain number of volunteers (5? 10? 20?), depending on how much work needs to be done.

_It would be very important to have a wide variety of languages spoken in the team, to have a clear and effective communication with the members.

Recommendations

The LT consider the proposal on rural couchsurfing and the additions that will be required to the data set to enable the rural couchsurfing function to proceed.

It is anticipated that a trial be put in place that will market, oversee and fine tune the process before presenting the concept of rural couchsurfing to the rest of the international CS community.

2. "Advertising" of Rural Couchsurfing

Rural CouchSurfing admins may wish to be able to advise local CSers and travelers of the existence and location of Rural profiles.

As noted above, Rural CouchSurfing admins would be encouraged to place a link to their own Rural Couch Wikis with a link to their local Country page (and maybe the Country group page). Group posts and emails could also be used, in the same way that CS members are advised of meetings.

In addition, this could fit in with a broader goal of constructing "Rural CS routes", particularly in places like Australia where there are only a certain number of routes travellers can (or are likely to be able to) between certain places - eg two main routes between Sydney and Melbourne. CS ambassadors and Rural CouchSurfing Admins along these routes could be encouraged to collaborate to let travellers know of the other Rural Couches they will come across as they travel.

Another option would be to allow Rural CouchSurfing admins to broadcast the Rural Couch presence. There are a number of ways of doing this, the easier ones include joining a service like:

http://loopt.com/ http://twitter.com/ http://loopnote.com/ http://plazes.com/ http://www.groovr.com/

Interested CS members may wish to sign up for such broadcast services.

Profiles

Allowing profiles to be constructed for Rural Couches would obviously fit in with the searchability described above. We believe that the current structure of the profiles is perfectly adequate for Rural Couches.

Few examples of Rural Couchsurfing hosts all over the world:

In France --> http://www.couchsurfing.com/profile.html?id=1KUH46K

In Ireland --> http://www.couchsurfing.com/profile.html?id=326LQ4P

In Australia --> http://www.couchsurfing.com/profile.html?id=2HBLTGF

In Morocco --> http://www.couchsurfing.com/profile.html?id=2XV320A

In Norway --> http://www.couchsurfing.com/profile.html?id=B5BEJP

In Portugal --> http://www.couchsurfing.com/people/freebird28

Getting the message out there

The question is: how do we make sure that CSers know about Rural Couches, both to encourage members to set up Rural Couches and so that other members know to go looking for them?

We suspect that there will need to be some sort of critical mass of Rural Couches available for people to search for and visit in order for the idea to catch on quickly. It would be nice to reach this early, so that most people find an interesting (to them) Rural Couch the first time they look.

We suggest the following two general prongs to our "marketing" strategy:

Permanent information in various places around the CS site.

The initial attack, which will need to be divided into (a) encouraging members to set up Rural Couches and (b) informing members who might want to go searching for them.

Rural couchsurfing – guidelines for hosts

The guidelines in a rural couchsurfing experience remain the same as in a urban couchsurfing experience.

Check the "How to be a good host" page

If you wish to ask your surfers for a little help at home:

1/ Inform

Make sure that you explain well to the surfer what you're expecting before the surfer comes, to avoid any bad surprise. And again, fill up your profile as much as you can so that the people can know what to expect even before contacting you.

2/ Don't ask too much

Don't ask your surfers too much, they might not be professional farmers and might mostly want to visit the area and rest. 2-3 hours of help a day should be enough.

3/ Adapt the task to the person

Remember that if a surfer comes to your place to help you it's also to discover a bit of your life, so please be kind and offer a wide range of activities, weeding for 3 hours a day might not be very exciting for a guest.

4/ Feed your guests

If they help you, then it seems logical that they get the meals in exchange.

5/ Help your surfers

Maybe you live in a remote place, and if you have the possibility, you could give your surfers a lift to your place and to the nearest public transport when they leave.

6/ Be patient

It's possible that your surfers will not know anything about rural areas: be patient, fully explain your way of life and your expectations and everything should be fine.

Rural couchsurfing – guidelines for guests

The guidelines in a rural couchsurfing experience remain the same as in a urban couchsurfing experience.

Check the "How to be a good guest" page

If a host is asking for few hours of help a day and if you wish to help:

1/ Be informed

Make sure that you know what will be expected from you to avoid any bed surprise. Don't be afraid to ask a potential host exactly what type of help is you will be doing. What you will experience will depend on it!

2/ Be ready to help

If you tell your host that you're going to help 3 hours a day, after one hour do not say that you don't want to help anymore and that you're going for a walk... Respect what has been agreed upon.

3/ Respect your limits

Never accept a task that you are not comfortable doing. Be sure to know what you're going to do in advance and that you'll be able to do it. If a host ask you for something that you can't handle, then refuse kindly and propose your help for something else.

4/ Don't believe that your help is paying a hotel service

• Working in the garden for 2 hours doesn't prevent you to help with cooking or washing dishes.

• Helping 3 hours a day for 5 days doesn't make you unable to clean the floor, set the table or give any extra help needed.

• In general, as in any couchsurfing experience, be ready to give a little hand for the daily tasks.

5/ Bring appropriate clothing

Example: If you know that you'll be helping in the garden, don't bring only your brand new skirt or your favourite pants. Adapt yourself to the situation.

6/ Be curious but respectful

Don't expect your hosts to entertain you with rural experience the whole day long. They might have to work and might not have always the time to explain you what they are doing. Be curious and willing to help and learn within the limit of the your hosts hospitality.