Staying In Other People’s Homes Around The World
There has been a recent trend in people staying in other people’s homes around the world. It’s an ideal way to see lots of different places, on a reasonable budget. You can either have private access to their entire home, or stay with the owner.
It’s obviously nice to have some privacy, but staying with people you don’t know certainly teaches you more about where you are staying. You can attempt to communicate with them in their language, they can tell you about local traditions and also show you the best places to visit.
There are a few different websites that offer the opportunity to stay in someone else’s home. There’s the Air B n B type websites which list properties you can stay in all around the world. However, you can also stay in other people’s house for free using website like couchsurfing.com or by building up local contacts.
With couchsurfing, you can stay with a local on their sofa or in a spare room for free. It’s more social than simply renting out someone’s property, as you really get to know your host and often they are keen to show you around. Couchsurfers are slightly more authentic and often are used to a rather nomadic lifestyle. They have interesting stories from when they have travelled to numerous different countries.
Student exchange programmes also often involve staying in other people’s homes. Students will go and stay with a family in another country in order to try and understand their culture and help improve their language skills. This is a good introduction for young people to the world of travelling and it teaches them to respect other cultures.
Staying in other people’s homes is now a huge part of the tourism business, and it is also beneficial for eco tourism. If you are staying with someone then you are sharing their property instead of renting out a whole place to yourself. Amahoro Tours, which is managed by Greg Bakunzi, is very focused around ecotourism, helping the local people and playing an active part in wildlife conservation.
Amahoro Tours offers homestays as part of the tours that they organise. Homestays give customers the chance to really immerse themselves in the local culture. On trips such as ‘face the locals’ you get to visit schools, go gorilla tracking and involve yourself in the community.
They also run cultural activities that travellers can take part in which help them to learn about local traditions and skills. Another main tour that Amahoro Tours offers is ‘meet the people’ which lasts for 9 days. It involves and Intercultural exchange where guests take part in cooking lessons, explore food that is grown locally on the farm and make local banana beer.
These are things you just cannot get from staying in a hotel. It’s only through being a bit more adventurous and staying in other people’s homes where you can really get involved with the community. You will gain far more going out on a cultural adventure than relaxing in a five star hotel. Click here to browse through the selection of different adventures Amahoro Tours offers and book a trip of a lifetime today.
