Archive for the 'Hospitality Exchanges' Category
Personal Experiences and other Hospitality Exchange Resources
In this series:
- Introduction to Hospitality Exchanges
- Comparison of Online Hospitality Exchanges
- Pros and Cons of Hospitality Exchanges
- Why it pays to be a host in a Hospitality Exchange
- Personal Experiences and other Hospitality Exchange Resources
Personal Experiences with Hospitality Exchanges
- Dave from Gobackpacking.com describes his experiences as a host in the Couchsurfing.com network in his post Hosting my first CouchSurfer.
- Rhodri Marsden describes her personal experiences and the general workings of a hospitality network in her post Sofa Surfers.
Safety Tips
- The CouchSurfing.com provides a pretty comprehensive section about all the possible dangers associated with a hospitality exchange, and how to minimize the risks. Check out their articles here: Safety for Travelers, Safety for Hosts, Safety for Female Travelers
General Tips
- Dave of Gobackpacking.com, an experienced CouchSurfing host, gives some advice with Reflecting upon my CouchSurfing Experience.
- The CouchSurfing website gives general tips on How to be a Good Guest and 3 tips from Nomadic Noize (an experienced couchsurfer).
In the News
- As hospitality exchanges grow in popularity, two major news networks have already done stories on them. Check out one from FOX News: ‘Couchsurfing’ Travel Takes Off on Web, and another from ABC News: Around the World, One Couch at a Time.
Why it pays to be a host in a hospitality exchange
In this series:
- Introduction to Hospitality Exchanges
- Comparison of Online Hospitality Exchanges
- Pros and Cons of Hospitality Exchanges
- Why it pays to be a host in a Hospitality Exchange
- Personal Experiences and other Hospitality Exchange Resources
Okay, so the benefits of a hospitality exchange for travelers are obvious. You get to travel to exotic new locations where you will have someone waiting to show you around, give you tips and advice, and you won’t have to spend a dime on hotel bills.
But why would I want to be a host to travelers in my hometown? Afterall, I don’t want some stranger from another country snoring on my living room couch!
Well there are actually two big benefits to hosting travelers in your home through a hospitality exchange.
The first is the obvious cross-cultural exchange that you will share in by hosting a foreign traveler in your home. It should be an interesting and fulfilling experience, that at the very least will make interesting conversation at your next dinner party. However, if cultural exchange and personal fulfillment are not enough for you, the next reason is also quite a doozy!
The second, less obvious, and more selfish reason to host travelers in a hospitality exchange, is that it is a fantastic way to build a network of “travel buddies” around the world. Every guest that you host in your home, becomes a possible contact for the next time you are traveling through their country. If you host a young fellow from Sydney named Henry on your living room couch, odds are that when you email Henry a year later about your trip to Australia, he will offer to show you around Sydney and even let you stay in his home.
In this example you also have the advantage of already knowing Henry. You had already met in your home country, and know that you and Henry get along great together.
However, if you had never decided to host travelers in your home, you would never have met Henry. Instead you may have just made plans to visit Sydney, and setup a hospitality exchange with Emily, a women you have only spoken to through email. In this example you arrive in Sydney, and realize that you and Emily just don’t have any of the same interests. So, instead of going out and living it up with Henry, you end up spending 2 days listening to Emily droll on about her equestrian club.
Still, not everyone is comfortable with the idea of hosting a bunch of foreign travelers in their home. But if you give it a shot, you might just really enjoy it, as well as find it advantageous for future travels.
No commentsPros and Cons of Hospitality Exchanges
In this series:
Pros:
- Save on accomodations during travel
- Meet people from all around the world
- Get an “insider’s look” at a city
- Tips and advice from a local
- Make new friends
- Expand your network of “travel buddies”
Cons:
- As a guest in someone’s house you have less freedom to do what you want and come and go as you please.
- Requires advanced planning and coordination, less free to make last minute changes to itineraries.
- An awkward host/guest relationship can ruin a day in what would have been an interesting new place.
- Unfortunately, safety is always a concern when sharing accommodations with someone that you don’t know.
Comparison of Online Hospitality Exchanges
In this series:
In my searching I found 4 different hospitality networks that actually boast enough actual users to make them useful. Those 4 are couchsurfing.com, hospitalityclub.org, globalfreeloaders.com, and servas.org.
- members: 242,784
- safety: Couchsurfing has implemented two processes to facilitate safe exchanges among its members. First, is a system where users vouch for one another. You are only supposed to vouch for someone if you know them personally, and are sure that they are trusworthy. Additionally, only members that have already been vouched for 3 times, can vouch for other members. This makes it harder for users to just create a bunch of fake user names, and have them all vouch for each other. The second security measure is a system of verification where couchsurfing verifies a users physical address by sending them mail to that address, and verifying a users real name through a credit card check.
- registration: Simple registration form and profile page. Can be done online in 15 minutes. Verification is optional, but costs $25 and will take a couple of weeks to verify address.
- other: I like the couchsurfing interface more than the other sites. It is easy to navigate, and provides a lot more information about individual users. With their additional security features, and international structure, I think they are putting themselves in the best position to flourish as a community into the future.
- members: 304,932
- safety: Hospitality Club provides their hosts with their guests passport numbers which should be checked upon arrival to confirm identity. Interface includes a section where users can leave comments, recommendations, or complaints about other users.
- registration: Simple registration form and profile page. Can be done online in 15 minutes.
- other: Hospitality club boasts the most users of any hospitality exchange.
- members: 49,364
- safety: Users are able to leave comments, recommendations, or complaints about other users.
- registration: Simple registration form. Can be done online in 15 minutes.
- other: No real “profile” page limits the amount of information you can get about another user before actually engaging in communication with them.
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- members: 15,000
- safety: The Servas.org application procedure is a lot more involved. Applicants must provide references, and complete a formal application which includes an essay. Then applicants have to attend an interview with a Servas.org representative. All of this is meant to determine whether or not the applicant is trustworthy, and if they are compatible with the Servas mission.
- registration: Applicants go through an application process that takes about 3 weeks to complete. The process requires the applicant to provide references, complete an application and essay question, as well as attend an interview with a Servas representative.
- other: Servas describes itself as being more than just a hospitality exchange, it is a promoter of peace. The application is a lot longer and more involved than the other hospitality networks, but that results in a network of users that are a lot more commited to the cause. Servas users in general are a much more interesting group, that are really interesting in being involved in the experience of a hospitality exchange. They are not just looking for a free place to crash.
Introduction to Hospitality Exchanges
In this series:
Perhaps you’ve heard of the newly popular couchsurfing.com or hospitalityclub.org? These are two increasingly popular services on the internet known more generally as hospitality exchanges or hospitality networks. The general idea behind these networks is that they connect users from all around the world, and provide them with an interface to host travelers in their homes, stay for free in other users’ spare bedrooms, couches, etc., or both!
It’s a very clever idea that promotes exchange among people from all corners of the globe, while also helping travelers to minimize costs on one of the biggest expenses of any trip: accommodations.
I should also note that these networks are no longer small potatoes! I remember the first time I heard about a hospitality exchange I was pretty skeptical about the actual reach of the network. I assumed that you could find a few users in major metropolitan areas like New York, London, and Paris, but not much else. However, after doing some more research, I found out that I was VERY wrong. The bigger networks now boast over 200,000 users, and are literally all over the map. On couchsurfing alone I found members in Beijing (473), Budapest (1012), and even on the Galapagos Islands (1)!
For more information on the different hospitality exchanges available today, check out the next article in this series: Comparison of Online Hospitality Exchanges
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