Why I do it

I’ve been involved with CouchSurfing.com for several years now. The first two years were spent mostly as a traveler on the far side of the user end of the experience, which was awesome. This last year and half I’ve gotten very much more involved in the administration, ect, of the site (I currently serve as the Volunteer Coordinator and on the Leadership Team of this large, member-supported non-profit) and am more involved in the “politics” that apparently come with an active community of 325,000+ members. It’s not always as fun as it was in the first carefree years of it all and it’s easy to lose sight of why I’m busting my ass and putting up with so much shit for just enough of a salary to not only stay broke but go into debt (which I’ve somehow managed to have never done before now in my life).
But now and then I hear how things like this:
“CouchSurfing is quite possibly the coolest idea ever. i feel like we’ve lost a lot of our sense of community in the u.s. … or perhaps that’s just me? or perhaps we never had it? i’ve only been around for about 23 yrs, so i can’t really speak to that… but if we did have it, and if we did lose it…perhaps people like CouchSurfing can revive it? reestablish our trust in each other…help us feel more connected to all the people we pass on the street every day? and if it never existed, perhaps a network of people like this can create it? i dunno. it’s a thought.”
Somehow, even though all the B.S., hearing things like this makes me feel like it’s all worth the drama of being (too?) deep on the inside. If my aggravation means that hundreds of thousands (and growing every day!) of people can find more hope in the world and live/love their life at a higher plane, I must be doing something right.