Lin Honglin (middle) is with a couple, the host of Lin's couchsurfering in Linjiang, western China's Yunnan Province.[Photo: nddaily.com]

We may all have enough courage to travel alone or ask for directions from a stranger. But do you have enough guts to stay over in in the home of someone you have never met and open your heart to share stories with them? That is exactly what a "Couchsurfer" would do.

"Couchsurfers" refers to travelers who stay for free in someone's house to save on the cost of accommodation. Hosts thus get to meet people from all over the world without leaving home. "Surfers," or travelers, are also able to participate in the local life of the places they visit.

The idea was originally conceived in 1999 by Casey Fenton from Boston, Massachusetts, while he was planning a trip to Iceland.

Rather than staying at a hostel, Fenton randomly e-mailed 1,500 students from the University of Iceland asking if he could stay at someone's house. Fenton ultimately received more than 50 offers of accommodation and many to be his private tour guide as well. On the return flight to Boston, he began to develop the idea that people not only enjoy free accommodation but also get more connected with the place they plan to travel.

Lin Honglin, from Taiwan, who is an experienced couchsurfer, spends at least 4 months on the trip every year and makes his living as a yoga teacher during the rest of the time. He said the initial reason for him becoming a couchsurfer was the free accommodation. In the event, couchsurfing has given him much more.