Hospitality network is a community of people who offer a stay at their home to other members of this community. As a rule, we are talking about stopping for several days. Arrangements for arrival are most often made through specialized websites. In addition to universal networks, there are networks aimed at specific groups of people: cyclists, Esperantists, etc.
How it worksTo use the services of the network, you need to register (usually on the website) and, if possible, fill out a questionnaire as completely and interestingly as possible, which other participants can see. After this, it becomes possible to search for people with whom you can stay (a place where you can stay is called a “list”), a forum, etc.
To agree on “registration” you need to write a letter to the person with whom you can stay. The letter states the dates of arrival/departure, travel goals, plans, hobbies and everything else that may interest the interlocutor. Often, when searching for a “registration”, letters are sent to several participants at once, since the reply letter may contain a refusal (the owner may be busy these days, be in another city, he may have already agreed with other travelers that they will come to him on the indicated days, and you may simply want to relax without guests). They also exchange phone numbers through letters and/or arrange a meeting. It is better to agree on “inclusion” in advance, although some participants are ready to receive a guest literally a couple of hours after they agreed on the site.
As a rule, on such sites it is possible to write a review about another participant. The review briefly describes how and where you met the participant, what interested him, whether there were any negative aspects, and the general impression of the communication.
Members of such a community must treat each other with respect, take into account each other’s habits and traditions, because representatives of different cultures often meet in this way.
No money is taken for accommodation, but, by agreement with the owner, the guest may be required to buy food for themselves, wash dishes, etc.
Through such networks you can not only find where to stay, but also arrange a meeting with local residents. Thus, even those who cannot receive guests can also participate in the exchange of hospitality: they can meet travelers, tell them about the city, show them interesting places.
Many members of such networks hitchhike.
StoryThe idea of exchanging hospitality was first implemented in the international non-profit service Servas Open Doors, which opened in 1949, the mission of which was formulated as “world peace.” The very next year, the Intervac service appeared, the priority of which was cheap travel. With the spread of the Internet, the number and variety of such networks has increased dramatically.
AdvantagesCompared to hotel accommodation, hospitality exchange has a number of advantages:
* Opportunity to meet interesting people, like-minded people.
* An opportunity to get to know the life of local residents from the inside.
* Allows you to save on housing.
* Most of these networks are international; traveling through them provides good practice in learning foreign languages.
* Local members of such a network can help a visitor find his way around the city, meet/see him off, and help in case of unforeseen circumstances.
Since the use of such networks implies a very rapid transition from communication on the Internet to close communication in real life, much attention is paid to security. The main security tools are:
* Availability of reviews from other users. Before meeting an unfamiliar member, you can read what other community members think about him.
* Recording of negotiations through the site by the site administration.
* Indication by participants of their passport details.
There are many hospitality chains. Now most of them have their own websites on the Internet. Networks differ from each other in the number of members, focus, and site design. Many people are simultaneously members of several hospitality networks. Depending on the country, one or another network may be more popular.
CouchSurfing is the most developed service for finding kind people who are ready to let guests in absolutely disinterestedly and free of charge. The database contains more than 2,000,000 people from more than 240 countries. The project is proud of its base, which contains only the most cultured and respectable people. Free service.
HospitalityClub is exactly the same service as CouchSurfing, but has a smaller base of countries and users. The database contains more than 325,000 people from more than 205 countries. It is also possible to simply find people who will show you the city, recommend good cafes, clubs and, in fact, just communicate with the locals. The service is free.
WWOOF - connects travelers with farmers and peasants from different countries who need additional labor on the farm and who in return provide tourists with housing and food.
Caretaker is a search for people who need caretakers for their home while the owners are away without paying rent, although in fact the service also offers options for exchanging houses, working in exchange for housing, and other options. Use of the service is paid - $30 per year.
Organicvolunteers are the same as WWOOF and Housecarers, but with a much wider choice of housing type: from simple houses and apartments to informal rooms in student dorms and housing of religious sects in exchange for "understanding" of their religion. Cost - $20 per year.
Globalfreeloaders is an ordinary house exchange service. The main condition: after registration, host guests at home for six months. Free use of the system.
Servas is the same home exchange service, but recognized by the UN as the most charitable. The reason for this, apparently, was the mandatory interview with the person providing his home to check his integrity.
Be Welcome is a cross-cultural exchange network that helps you share, meet and help others on the road.
flatjump.com is a free global travel community.
WarmShowers is a network aimed at cyclist travelers.
HelpX.net - hundreds and thousands of people around the world offer people food and shelter in exchange for help with their work. HelpX is an online directory of small private farms, ranches, hostels, restaurants, wineries and even yachts that invite volunteer helpers to visit for periods ranging from a few days to several months. The portal is focused on mutually beneficial cultural exchange combined with an active vacation. Work for every taste, but no more than 30 hours a week (4-6 hours a day), for this you get free food, free housing and often free wi-fi.
Most of us prefer to relax at sea in the summer and in the mountains in the winter, while autumn and spring are an excellent time for sightseeing tours and cultural recreation. However, many have already become bored with this traditional pastime, and more and more tourists are now striving for a more exotic and unusual vacation. That is why we have compiled a rating of types of tourism that are now gaining momentum in their popularity, but still remain something extraordinary for ordinary tourists. So, we offer you the TOP 10 most unusual destinations of modern tourism.
1. Space tourismThis is probably the rarest type of tourism. Literally very few people can afford to relax in the vastness of space. The price for space tours is several tens of millions of dollars, and therefore not everyone can afford this type of vacation. We can only guess what unforgettable impressions arise in a person who looks at the Earth from its own orbit.
The idea of space tourism arose back in the 60s of the 20th century. Today, few travel companies can offer you vacation options in space. A really existing space tourism product is a flight to an orbital station. However, if you think that space tourism is not in demand, then here’s a fact: to date, about 6750-0_bgblur_00 people have signed up and made a deposit for suborbital space flights. So in the near future, most likely, a flight into space will be something akin to an ordinary vacation at sea.
2. Jailoo tourismThis is one of the most exotic types of modern recreation. Jailoo tourism is tours to the most remote places from civilization, inhabited by aborigines. It is there, without communications, running water or electricity, side by side with local tourists that they live according to the laws of the tribe. The name “jailoo” is literally translated from the Kyrgyz language as “mountain pasture”. This type of tourism originated in Kyrgyzstan; Western tourists here for the first time tried to live in yurts with local shepherds in the 90s of the 20th century.
The lack of benefits of civilization in such tours is more than compensated for by memorable walks, clean air, and immersion in the local ethnoculture. Today, many leading travel agencies in the world have included jailoo tourism in their services. Tours are offered to the savannas of Africa and the steppes of Asia, the jungles of the Amazon and the tundra of Siberia. This type of vacation will be truly memorable and will be suitable, first of all, for those who are bored with traditional travel.
3. Polar tourismWhile some people love hot golden sand, scorching sun and warm sea, others prefer snow-covered expanses and frosty air. More recently, individual cruises to the Northern Arctic and Antarctic have begun. To everyone’s surprise, the tours became so popular that hundreds of tourists wanted to be in such unusual climatic conditions for us. The pleasure is not cheap, because a flight or a trip by ship, equipment, as well as the services of a polar guide are by no means cheap.
It is on such polar tours that vacationers can feel like real pioneers. This unique expedition will allow you to plunge into the world of ice and snow, see unusual polar animals and birds live, and enjoy the beauty of polar landscapes and landscapes. Tourists can visit the drifting ice of the Arctic Ocean, Antarctic glaciers, mountains and volcanoes.
4. Cinematographic tourismThe film industry has fascinated us since its inception. Many films are filmed in the most beautiful corners of the Earth. And the created scenery is often not disassembled, but left as a museum exhibit. It is to such places that film fans make a kind of pilgrimage.
One of the most popular places to visit is Hollywood, an area of Los Angeles built specifically for filming, and today it has become the center of film companies and film sets.
No less in demand are Dracula's Castle in Romania, the Hobbit hut in New Zealand, the scenery for the filming of "Harry Potter" in the UK, the "floating" rocks of a natural park in China, which appeared in "Avatar", medieval Scottish castles from "Braveheart", beauty Malta from Glaidator and many other interesting places.
5. EcotourismEco-tourism has been popular for quite some time. People, tired of civilization, prefer to literally go on vacation to uninhabited islands and remote corners with nature untouched by man. A true ecological tour involves abandoning all the benefits of civilization and completely unifying with nature - no mobile phones, navigation systems or even insect spray!
Ecotourism has several unbreakable commandments. Tourists should be very careful about the places they visit; the place where they spend the night, for example, should look the same after the tourists leave as it did before they arrived. Among the host countries for eco-tourists, the leading countries are Kenya, Laos, Tanzania, Nepal, New Zealand and South Africa. There are many places for so-called “green” tourism in our latitudes.
6. Wreck ToursDiving is also not new for tourists. Everyone who vacationed on the seas could enjoy the beauty of the underwater world with scuba diving or a mask. But tours to sunken ships are something new. Sunken ships fascinate anyone; a vessel hidden by thick water - military or peaceful - is always surrounded by many mysteries and secrets. Therefore, if you are already tired of looking at marine flora and fauna, then with the help of tours to sunken ships you can feel like a real explorer as part of an underwater expedition.
Today anyone can look at ghost ships with their own eyes. Swim nearby and look through the porthole - a person with an average diving level. But only a very well trained diver can get inside the ship. In addition, it is worth remembering that if we are talking about a depth of more than 40 meters, diving will require special equipment.
7. Gastronomic tourismGastronomic tourism is by no means tours for gluttons. These are carefully selected trips to learn more about the food culture and the main features of the cuisine of a particular country. National cuisine can tell about the culture and other features of a particular country no less than museums and other attractions.
Gastronomic tours are divided into urban and rural (“green”). The former offer a promenade through restaurants or culinary workshops, while the latter offer a simpler option, for example, self-harvesting of local produce, cooking and tasting dishes.
You can also choose a more highly specialized tour - a cheese tour in France or a beer tour in Germany. True, in the countries of Asia and Africa, fans of gastronomic tourism should still restrain their own appetites so as not to shock the body, pampered by European cuisine.
8. Guest tourismIf you have watched the famous American comedy called “Exchange Vacation,” then you can fully imagine what guest tourism or home exchange tours are. At our latitudes, this practice is not very common, but Europe and America have long learned to save on vacation, or more precisely, on accommodation. There are special sites and databases of people who are ready to offer their housing in exchange for yours for a short period of vacation.
The most important thing in this matter is to coincide with the rest period. And this option is also possible: guests from another country or city come to you while you are at home. And when you have vacation time, it will be your turn to come visit. At the same time, there are many who want to “wave without looking,” and therefore even a resident of a Ural village may have a chance to relax in a villa on the sea coast.
9. Stalking tourismThis relatively new type of industrial tourism is somewhat reminiscent of the plots of computer games. The program of stalking tours includes visits to cities, plants and factories, territories and buildings, abandoned and collapsing. This is usually done for the purpose of exploring such places, which is why in England it received the name “urban exploration” (urban exploration).
Many travel agencies offer to visit abandoned cities, ghost towns, which for one reason or another have been abandoned by people. One of the striking examples is Chernobyl in Ukraine. Despite the danger of radiation contamination (although many argue that there is now less of it in Chernobyl than, for example, in Kyiv), many tourists are ready to pay considerable sums (by Ukrainian standards) to get into the restricted area.
10. AgritourismThis type of tourism is somewhat reminiscent of eco-tourism, but here you are not going to a deserted place. Quite the opposite: you come to some village where agriculture is well developed. It could be a dairy farm or a winery with plantations, the choice is great. Here you are unlikely to be able to relax in the broad sense of the word. You will get up at dawn and do all the work that farm workers do - mowing grass, milking cows, growing vegetables, making cheese or wine.
Author: Tor Views: 78729If you are tired of traveling through travel agencies, you are unable to book hotels via the Internet, or you simply want to save on housing, then you can become a couchsurfer, i.e. travel on exchange. Couchsurfing - exchange holiday. First of all, this will allow you to see the country through the eyes of its inhabitants, gain invaluable experience of independent travel, and most importantly, you will be able to make new friends around the world.
Couchsurfers are people who travel the world, staying not in hotels, but with friends whom they previously met via the Internet.
It is absolutely not necessary to spend money on a hotel; you can simply stay in an apartment with friends, who, in turn, will someday also come to you and be able to stay in your apartment. Couchsurfers have their own specialized websites where they meet, negotiate and discuss the conditions and places of their future overnight stays. At the same time, couchsurfers, as a rule, do not care in what conditions they have to spend the night. This may not be a sparsely furnished apartment, but it may also turn out to be an empty room with only a sofa and a refrigerator. Couchsurfing is so addictive that it has become a way of life. The location and living conditions in this case are not the main thing. The main thing in an exchange holiday is communication with like-minded people and travelers like yourself. Couchsurfing is tourism for the exchange of housing and vacation spots. Couchsurfing is an exchange holiday.
Of course, everyone decides for himself whether he can become a couchsurfer and host complete strangers in his apartment, sharing his bedroom (in the normal sense of the word) and kitchen with them, and accepting their habits and desires. Arranging exchange holidays
, you first “write off” with your future guests and try to learn as much as possible about them during the correspondence. Some people simply love to receive guests, and receiving foreigners is doubly enjoyable for them.
On the other hand, you yourself can go to the country you like in the same way, without worrying about your place of residence or booking a hotel in advance. Moreover, it is possible that the receiving party (host) will help you (the coach) navigate an unfamiliar country and a specific city. If desired, the host will show you the main attractions, accompany you to a nightclub or museum and explain where it is better and cheaper to buy food. In this case, you also save on guides. When receiving guests from another country, you can walk around your hometown with them and probably learn a lot of interesting things about it. Only a couchsurfer can really understand the life of a country, how ordinary people live in it, what they are passionate about and, as a result, gain a unique and invaluable traveler experience.
Once you become a couchsurfer and start traveling on exchange, you will, of course, have to communicate with your guests. The unspoken language of communication among couchsurfers is English. However, no one is stopping you from learning the language of the host country, for example, Albanian or Greek.
If you decide to become a couchsurfer and are ready to travel on exchange, learn a few simple truths. First of all, before agreeing to host strangers in your home for the night, try to find out in advance what they are like. Ask them, for example, to send you their photo and tell you more about themselves, ask what languages they speak. Go to a specialized website, where perhaps someone has already communicated with these people and left reviews about them. Couchsurfing, an exchange holiday, is also practiced by people with a different orientation. Therefore, do not hesitate to clarify these points in advance. Otherwise, having received your consent to spend the night, your guests may be very upset when they do not receive from you what they expected. In short, you must have some intuition to correctly assess the capabilities and desires of your guest. Among the large army of couchsurfers, there are also those who can easily sit on your neck. The most harmless thing in this case may be dinner at a restaurant at your expense.
If you are not satisfied with a candidate for accommodation, do not hesitate to refuse him. After all, you don't owe anyone anything. You should do the same if you are going to visit someone on an exchange holiday. Try to burden your homeowners as little as possible and people will be drawn to you, and rumors about your hospitality will spread throughout the world.
Couchsurfing does not necessarily require overnight accommodation. It is enough, having written or called in advance, to simply meet in some museum or just walk around the city, sit in a cafe and thereby strengthen your acquaintance. Remember that an exchange holiday is, first of all, about communicating with new people.
If you are interested in this type of tourism, you can leave your suggestions in the comments.
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The Pechora region of the Komi Republic is famous for its natural attractions. Travelers are attracted by the Ural mountains, endless forests, and the largest river in the European north - Pechora. But anyone who has been here at least once will hardly argue that the special wealth of this region is its original creative people who are always happy to have guests. And today I decided to spend one day among such people in the village of Byzovaya.
The village of Byzovaya in the Komi Republic is known all over the world - in the mid-twentieth century, a site of an ancient man was discovered next to it, which was named Byzovaya. Scientists from different countries participated in archaeological excavations. They found that people lived here 30 thousand years ago. And today these places attract lovers of guest tourism. From Moscow to the capital of the Komi Republic, Syktyvkar, is 1,400 kilometers. The plane covers this distance in 1 hour 40 minutes.
From Syktyvkar to the regional center of Pechora - 500 kilometers. By plane, travel time is one and a half hours. The village of Byzovaya is located 18 kilometers from Pechora. By car or regular bus the journey will take about half an hour. The village of Byzovaya was founded at the end of the nineteenth century by people from the Izhemsky region, famous for its reindeer herders. There is no tundra near the city of Pechora and no one grazes the herd of deer, but these animals can still be found in Byzovaya.
I go to the Opanasenko-Shakhovs’ house where I am greeted according to all the rules of traditional Komi hospitality. Of course, not in every Byzovsky house such a solemn meeting with an ethnographic slant awaits guests, and today rarely does anyone flaunt around the village in ancient outfits. These people are simply passionate about the history and culture of their ancestors. In the same way, not for tourists, but for themselves, the owners keep reindeer in the village yard. Reindeer are a kind of tribute to the memory of my grandfather, Martyn the reindeer herder, who was the first to settle in the village of Byzovaya.
Unlike their ancestors, today's Byzov reindeer herders have no practical benefit from animals, but they have a lot of troubles and worries with them. In summer, deer molt and must be protected from gadflies and provided with special food. Only in winter do the inhabitants of the tundra feel truly comfortable in Byzovaya. In addition to the food supply, reindeer are very different in character from horses or cows common in peasant farming. Once upon a time, Anatoly Petrovich was an avid hunter, and now, caring for deer, it’s as if he is paying off his debts to the wild.
Village life for him and his wife Nadezhda Vasilyevna began only a few years ago, with their retirement. This life is full of various hobbies. Games with animal bones are considered the oldest in human history. According to archaeological excavations, they were played by almost all peoples of the world. The Komi game "shek" or "ankle" experienced the peak of its popularity in the nineteenth century. Ethnographers noted the widespread passion of local boys for this particular pastime. It’s easy to understand their passion when you try to play for yourself.
Shek is addictive from the first move. Although the rules are simple, knocking out a suitable bone with a click turned out to be not at all easy. An untrained beginner in a battle with such dexterous professionals is doomed, but I realized this too late. Games, rituals, and traditional activities of the Komi people are a distant past for this family, but part of an exciting modern life. Two rooms of the village house are equipped as a museum. Clothing, household and labor items, and everything here is authentic, all of this was used by their ancestors. The Opanasenko-Shakhov family remembers its ancestry well.
Past generations here seem to be in a single circle of life with today and the future. The museum has toys that grandparents played with, and next to them are handicrafts made by grandchildren and great-grandchildren. All this is in natural unity in a big friendly family. Museums are remarkable because here you can touch every exhibit with your hands and not only touch it, but also try it in action. For example, this antique gramophone, model "Friendship". Year of purchase: 1947. The thing is mobile, autonomous, and does not even require electricity. Let's see how it works.
Among the exhibits of the home museum there are some that would be the envy of a large local history museum. Due to the fact that in 2011 the Pechora River was very quiet, it was very heavily polluted, and when the flood began, when the river began to flow, it lifted all the upper villages, lifted all layers of the earth and brought such an exhibit to our shore. At first we thought that this was a bone from a mammoth’s leg, but today groups of scientists have repeatedly come to us and they suggested that this bone was located on the mammoth instead of a shoulder blade. In the museum collection is the skull of a baby mammoth, which is also very interesting for scientists and archaeologists.
This is not even in our Pechora Local History Museum. In 1962, a kilometer from the village of Byzovaya, archaeologists discovered the site of an ancient man. It turned out that 30 thousand years ago people came to these lands and built themselves a home from mammoth bones. To this day, the Pechora River sometimes washes the remains of prehistoric animals to the surface. Here, at a sharp bend in the Pechora River, local residents have found mammoth bones and tusks since ancient times. Since no one had ever seen this animal, a legend arose that a huge mouse lives underground and digs mysterious passages there.
But as soon as she takes the wrong road and comes out of the river cliff to the surface, she immediately turns to stone and crumbles into pieces. The remains of mammoths can still be found here today, of course, if you're lucky. The village of Byzovaya in the Pechora region of the Komi Republic. I came here to stay in the house of the Opanasenko-Shakhov family. These people study and preserve the traditions of the Komi people. In memory of their ancestors, reindeer herders, they raise reindeer in the village yard. The hospitable hosts taught me the ancient folk game “shek” and showed me the home museum filled with strange exhibits. It turned out that mammoth bones could be found not far from the village, and I also decided to try my luck.
The search for the remains of a prehistoric animal turned out to be such an exciting activity that I walked for a long time along the banks of the Pechora River, but to no avail. But at this time the owner of the house, Anatoly Petrovich, succeeded in another Pechora entertainment - fishing. He decided to catch grayling for lunch in one hour. The idea may seem too bold, but only for those who do not know this person. Anatoly Petrovich turned out to be an old river wolf. Most of his life he worked as a captain at the Pechora Shipping Company. He knows the river like the back of his hand. And there is no need for him to roam the open spaces in search of half-empty places.
The very first cast of the fishing rod brought quite a weighty grayling. This could have been attributed to luck if history had not repeated itself over and over again. Obviously, the catch in this case is ensured not so much by luck as by experience, skill and proven, competent tackle. Anatoly Petrovich fly fishing. This technique requires serious skills and not every fisherman is able to cast correctly. In general, there is a lot to learn from this man, especially since the former captain is happy to share his experience and even writes stories. Most of the stories are from my own life.
Once upon a time, Anatoly Petrovich set records on Pechora - he towed as many barges with cargo as no one could. For labor merits he was awarded the order. He became a big boss in the shipping company, and then gave up everything and went into geology just to be closer to nature. And now, having settled in the village of Byzovaya, I am sure that there is no more soulful and better place on earth. Even a short walk along the banks of the majestic Pechora, through the village with its leisurely, measured life, allows you to feel why my new acquaintances fell in love with these places so much that they settled here forever.
Nobody specially planted these birches on the steep bank of the Pechora. Nature itself arranged the trees into slender lines and an alley was formed, which the locals call the “Alley of Love”. The name is easy to explain - if you walk along it to the cliff, landscapes open up that will make any heart tremble. It's hard to find a better place for romantic explanations. And in good weather you can see the Ural Mountains from here. The picturesque Pechora expanses are filled to the brim with life. Swift light swallows are circling over the cliff. They arrived in the spring from tropical countries, but their nest is here - on the banks of the Pechora.
The triumph and grandeur of the picture is woven from millions of moving, trembling colors. A powerful ancient river, along the banks of which mammoths once roamed, carries water as if through time, making you forget the worries and bustle of everyday life. However, you shouldn’t forget about such pleasant things as lunch. While I was walking, work was in full swing in the kitchen. The hostess Nadezhda Vasilyevna and her granddaughter Nastya decided to pamper the guests with dishes of national cuisine. Shangi, known among many peoples of the north, is baked here not from wheat, but from rye flour, as they did in Pechora a hundred years ago.
The fillings for such village cheesecakes come in a variety of varieties: from cereals, berries and mushrooms, but the most popular in these parts is from boiled potatoes. These are the shangs that Nadezhda Vasilyevna puts in the oven. She is not just the mistress of the house, but the main keeper of traditions that maintain a living connection between times and, according to traditions, prepare food in elegant costumes so that the joy of the festive moment is transmitted to the dear guest.
