As CouchSurfers don’t tire of saying, this is no Orkut. This website enables you to get out of the virtual space and brings you face to face with real people, quirks and all. “CouchSurfing is where you go to meet new people offline. You do not just keep in contact with people you already know,” adds Manson.
For people who decide to play host, the experience is as rewarding as when they give in to the tug of wanderlust. Says Arijit Ganguly, a 26-year-old Delhiite, “In 2006, I played host to an Italian. The FIFA World Cup was on and together we watched Italy win. She went to the local store, bought supplies and cooked a meal of pasta and wine for us. She shared her happiness with me,” says Ganguly. That’s what probably sets apart the CouchSurfing experience from routine travel. It brings you closer to people and gives you a chance to share their lives, their happiness—and in Dipayan Sen’s case—even their life-altering journeys.

A few years ago, a young man from France, Renaud Rannou, contacted Sen through the site. “He said that he had been born in India but his mother had abandoned him. A Christian charity had taken him in and later a French couple adopted him. He wanted to come back and visit that charity again,” says Sen. It was a daunting task. Sen and Rannou trawled through the records of all charities in Mumbai. After days, they finally found a small shelter in Dadar, where Rannou had started his journey.

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