People really like couchsurfing but they don't necessarily think about hosting in return or before asking to be hosted.

With Japan 7 weeks away, I'm turning my energy to 2027, probably Colombia and Ecuador.

But we still haven't found a host in Tokyo.

It seems like verification has changed. I started the process in May out of curiosity and they mentioned having to send passport picture and a short selfie video, and the process could take a few days. No costs mentioned up to that point.

Now you have to pay a yearly 19€ fee upfront before you even start the process and it i said to take less than a minute. So they probably scaled back requirements and try to just make money out of it.

Now planning future trips, I have realized other that some other useful information have disappeared from search results, like reply rate and average time to reply, letting you to send requests to people who may never reply or, if you are at the last minute, will likely message back too late. It seems like a never ending list of lost features...

When opening the "APP" yesterday, I was instructed to download the new version. I browsed to check whether any of the changes many of us are hoping for had been implemented. Nope. I can see one of my friends' future travels even thought they told me face to face a few days ago they didn't want to share with anyone. I can't even decide to unsee this trip even if I wanted to.
Yes, Big Brother is watching and sharing private information.

So, has anyone noticed any changes in other sections the the "APP"?

This is kind of scary.

I'm on a short trip to a coastal city a few hours northwest of Cuenca, and it was a long bus trip. But now CS sez I've been "spotted" in two places that were just bus stations.

One I did spend maybe an hour in (getting lunch and changing buses, not to mention losing my wallet), but the other I got out of the bus for maybe two minutes to get my phone charger out of my bag.

I rarely open the CS app on my phone (I'm using my laptop now) so I don't feel happy about this.

I was reading a reference left by a 25 yo guest from Córdoba whom I hosted last week: he’s actually younger than the youngest of my own kids! He left a review, but one specific line really caught my attention:

- "He perfectly understands the spirit of the app. As a user of this app, I highly recommend him"

It made me chuckle, but it also triggered a bit of a philosophical realization.

To those of us who joined CS years ago, Couchsurfing was, and mentally still is, a community, a movement, or at least a website. But for the younger generation? It's simply an "APP".

It sits right there on their phone screens right next to Homebanking, Duolingo, Uber, and Waze!

I need language practice? Duolingo.

I need directions? Waze.

I need a couch? There's an APP for that.

I guess we "experienced" members (to put it politely!) will just have to adapt to this paradigm shift. The core spirit of hospitality and cultural exchange is still alive and well, even if we went from "logging into a global community site" to being "a great user on an app."

Shoba Narayan is the author. (what the hey is going on now?)

The actual milk lady is a dairy farmer in downtown Bangalore. The cows are not penned, they run loose as cows are known to do in India. There are ten or so, depending on traffic and the vicissitudes of the dairy business there. Cows can sometimes get murdered in traffic...

I was impressed by the expertise and sophistication of the whole family. They sell milk on demand, hot from the cow while you wait. Or if not sold immediately, to the co-op to be processed cooled, combined with other cows produce in bulk tank and delivered to you in plastic containers just like here in US.

Breeds are multiple but most are Holstein/Friesian and bred by AI. (artificial insemination) Just like here.

So I ask you- why is the industry business model set like that? Cows would seem to have better grazing opportunities in the countryside!