Hospitality Exchange
Hospitality exchange involves hosting people in your home, and vice-versa, staying in other people's homes while you are travelling. Hosts don't charge for the bed. What you pay, if anything, is a fee to the network that puts you in touch.
Hosting networks
Servas International was founded in 1949, after the Second World War, by Bob Luitweiler and a group of students as part of the peace movement. It is run by volunteers in more than 100 countries. Servas encourages travellers to experience other societies more deeply and with more understanding: through Servas, travellers meet their host, their families and friends, and join in their everyday life. Members pay a yearly fee set by each country, and new members are interviewed before they can travel.
Couchsurfing is one of the largest hospitality exchange networks. It was free when this page was first written. Since May 2020 members pay a subscription to use it, though hosts still can't charge for a bed.
BeWelcome calls itself the largest free hospitality community, and it is run by volunteers.
Hospitality Club, one of the early web-only networks, is still online.
Warmshowers is for touring cyclists: hosts put up riders passing through. You join with a one-time contribution for lifetime access, and it has more than 200,000 cyclists and hosts in over 160 countries.
Nomadcommunity, the community Matteo founded in 2000 for the first ever interactive RTW tour, is no longer online, and nor is Stay4free.
Work for your stay
A few hours of work a day in exchange for a bed and meals is another way to stay with local people for longer.
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WWOOF puts volunteers on organic farms in more than 130 countries. Each country has its own non-profit WWOOF organisation, which you join separately.
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Workaway lists more than 50,000 opportunities in over 170 countries. A year's membership costs US$69 on your own, or US$79 for two travelling together.
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HelpX has a free membership. Premier membership, which lets you contact every host and read their reviews, costs 20 euros for two years.
More on working your way round in Gap year: work and travel around the world. For swapping homes instead of beds, see Homestay & Home Exchanges.
Tags: servas, accommodation free, couchsurfing, couchsurfing around the world, Hospitality-exchange around the world, rtw couchsurf, stay for free
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