When I saw my friend Boyan's Facebook post announcing his visit to Israel I was happy and excited. I immediately offered him to stay at our home. Who knows better than I how pleasant it can be to stay with local residents. 🙂
During our travels we met wonderful people, some of them invited us to stay with them as guests. Living with the locals have always added a special flavor to our trips.
I am endlessly happy to host friends from overseas at our place and let them have that authentic Israeli experience! 🙂
Boyan, Valentina and little Bonny happily accepted my offer. After a week together we felt like one family.
And of course they invited us to stay with them when we visit Bulgaria next time.
Boyan and Valentina live in a small town called Samokov located near Borovets ski resort (that's where I first met Boyan).
So on our next ski vacation we will stay with them and won't have to pay for a hotel too. 🙂
If you don't have friends to stay with overseas, here are 3 more ways to get free accommodation while traveling:
Couchserfing
www.couchsurfing.com – A worldwide comunity of people who host each others at their homes free of charge. Join it for free!
Couchsurfing is about more than just crashing on a spare couch or bed in a guest room. The main idea & contributing factor to the collectives success is the cultural & hospitable exchange between the people.
House Sitting
www.mindmyhouse.com – as the name implies, people leaving on vacation look for travelers to stay at their house and take care of it for however long they're away. Your stay is "payed" for by watering plants, taking care of pets and other domestic chores.
Home Exchange
www.homeexchange.com – this website connects people from different countries who want to swap houses during a vacation. That doesn't mean it has to be at the same time. For instance if they stay with you in the summer you can stay with them in the winter.
So now, when flights are cheap and accommodation is free, no excuses to stay home. It's time to see the world! 😉
