RICHLAND - Here's the true test to find out how adventurous you are. Would you let a stranger stay in your home? What about crashing at someones house you never met?

Sounds a little scary, but actually dozens of people in our region are doing it, and thousands worldwide. It's called "couch surfing"

"It's really a community of travelers and budget minded people," said Marie Cadwell.

"What better way to explore Costa Rica then couch surfing?" said Jeanie Inglis-Chowanietz.

Couch surfing is a way to travel on the cheap. No money, no reservations, all strangers.

Cadwell first heard of couch surfing while traveling in Utah.

"I went on a big road trip and hiking through Zion met two girls they said 'come stay with us I'm on couchsurfing.com. I'm Rainbow Mandy.' so we stayed with couch surfers," said Cadwell.

Cadwell is a homegrown gal from Richland but despite her roots here she's also a world traveler.

From China to Cambodia to Costa Rica, but she's not just the one crashing on someones couch. She also lets them stay the night for free, people she's never met.

"I get an email, look at their profile, I like to know they hold a job and whatever. And then they come stay on my airbed maybe go to dinner and they leave in the morning," said Cadwell.

I even set up my own profile on the site. I found lots of locals.
A winemaker in Prosser, a singer in Walla Walla, a med student in Richland and even an event planner in Kennewick.

Eventually the question comes up, how safe is it? The site gives you a lot of tips on keeping things on the up and up.

Some couch surfers told us they meet in a neutral spot beforehand.

They also say, really just do your homework. Look at profiles and references. It's all online, there's no direct emailing, it all goes through the website.

And all conversations are monitored to make sure no ones using the site for the wrong purposes.

"I was really leery at first. Once you get on the site you can't just sign up it takes several steps to get verified, said Inglis-Chowanietz.

In the end, it just comes down to trusting your instincts.

For more on couch surfing go to the "Newlinks" section.