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New Travel Season, New HE Editor, a little chaos ...
After some one dozen years as editor, Wayne Philips has stepped down and I, Harold Goldstein, have assumed such duties. (Applause for Wayne !!) At the same time we are improving our member database and other administrative tools. Bear with us please if you receive duplicate emails, or if your email is not answered immediately ... we will be better soon. If you get a renewal letter, please renew. If you haven't gotten a letter renew too. (please use the application form - send a check to the new address below or use paypal to the email address below) Thanks for your patience; I hope to meet you all someday; at home or on the road.Online Member Search Capability
Our online member search capability is getting better. Please LOGIN NOW, (email me if you have forgottten your password) if you need to find a potential host member. You can search by name, email, state in the US or country. Comments, suggestions?A Descriptive History
The Hospitality Exchange is a traveler's directory of friendly, travel-loving people who offer each other the gift of hospitality in their homes. Members like to travel, be hosted by other members, and, in turn, host traveling members themselves. Each Directory contains listings of the membership. Each listing provides details on that member's interests and the hospitality they can provide and bug reports.When one reads through the H.E. listings common themes immediately jump out - love of traveling, of course, but also the very serene places where these travel loving people choose to live. What also jumps out are member's passion for food, conversation, music, outdoor activities of every kind, and sharing local attractions with other travelers. Almost everyone's first reaction upon reading these accounts is how nice it would be to visit this person, and that person, and that person . . . if only time and money were no object!
Look at the sample listings to see the kind of kindred spirits you'll discover in the Hospitality Exchange community of travelers and friends. And be sure to check out the web sites of some of our internet junkies. As one indication of the success of the H.E., many of our members now have fast friendships with current and former members around the world.
Our roots date to 1965 when John Wilcock set up the Traveler's Directory, a listing of his friends willing to host each other when traveling. The idea worked well and the concept has prospered. The name was changed to Hospitality Exchange in 1988 when Joy Lily rescued the organization from imminent demise.
Currently, we have members in over 20 countries and territories, and 30 U.S. States and Canadian provinces.
Mechanics
We still publish a printed directory for those without web access; it will be available in May and then on demand. Our main directory will be online and accessible to all members. The cost of membership is $20 per year, $35 for two years.
Members are fond of saying that the membership costs are more than repaid by one visit and cannot begin to compensate for the wonderful experiences gained by having a friendly, local host to accompany or guide you to local attractions, outstanding restaurants, or special events.
Each year's membership typically expires on December 31st of that year. In reality, your privileges stay in effect until the following spring.
If the Hospitality Exchange concept appeals to you, we encourage you to give us a try. Print and fill out our application form and submit it. If you have any questions or need additional information, give us a call or send an Email. By the way, we also have available a rather prosaically named but wonderful little booklet entitled "Travel Tips and Clues". And we are compiling a list of some great Adventure Travel sites (see sidebar to your right) on the web. And now you can do a lot of your air planning on-line For travel documents and current travel information be sure to take a look at Passport and Visaexchange.
Protocol and Etiquette
Here is a quick look at the travel protocol and etiquette taken from our Directory and which is asked of all H.E. members:
- Only H.E. members are listed in the Membership Directory/Database and only members receive the Directory or have database access.
- Our basic requirement beyond formal membership is that you have the intent to provide hospitality, for 1 or 2 nights, to H.E. members who may visit your area. You are asked to host at times convenient to you and when given adequate notice. Sometimes you may not be available or inclined to host, and that's ok.
- When contacted by an H.E. member, we encourage you to review their listing in the Membership Directory before deciding to invite them into your home, since it remains always your castle. If an individual is not listed, give us a call to check. Often people will join in the interim period between Directories.
- When you are the traveler requesting hospitality, we encourage courtesy, plenty of advance notice and basic etiquette. In other words, keep in touch with your potential host, and if your plans change, please notify them.
- We strongly discourage calling an H.E. member for the first time on the day on which you wish to stay, unless their entry specifies otherwise, or there are those travel circumstances we all run into occasionally that prevent normal, advance notice.
- Ben Franklin's "fish and guests begin to smell in three days" is an appropriate aphorism for the H.E. We request that you ask for only a night or two of hospitality. Hosts always retain the freedom of choice on number of nights offered and whether to provide food, guided tours, refreshments, etc.
- House gifts or other means of expressing appreciation for the gift of hospitality are encouraged.
Members who travel alone frequently, or others, might want to look at Sharon Wingler's Travel Alone & Love It for some new approaches to your avocation.
copyright © 2008 The Hospitality Exchange