Warmshowers.org

[brianne]

After a friend told me about Warmshowers.org, I signed up for it and about two months later hosted my first (and so far only) guest. He was so nice and had such great stories to tell, though his trip had only started a week before. He wasn't in too much of a rush, so I invited him to stay another night, and during his "day off" we went on a 30-mile ride to some nearby wineries. It was definitely a worthwhile experience and I can't wait to host another cyclist!

[AnnieBikes]

I am a member of both Warmshowers and Couchsurfing. We have hosted the most wonderful people via these sites for the past two years. I cannot say enough good about them. Couchsurfing tends to be used by a younger crowd, who travel the world, doing it on the cheap, and wanting a safe place to stay. The website is very easy to navigate and allows the maximum amount of scrutiny for your potential visitors. It allows you, as a host, to "verify" your identity for a fee and I highly recommend that. You can read references for the people who ask to stay with you and you are under NO obligation to accept anyone. I have occasionally turned down someone who joined the website the day before who wants to stay for some event in my area...say for the NASCAR race, as we have a track here. Bristol also has a very popular music festival in the fall and I get MANY requests for that, but I usually have family or friends here and have no room! We have mostly hosted people passing through the area but often they have a cycling connection.

Warmshowers seems to cater much more to cyclists and indeed, all of the people we have hosted via WS have been on a bike trip. We are within 1/2 hour of the Adventure Cycling Transamerica route and have picked up cyclists for a layover day here...for laundry, R&R, food, and friendship. We have had quite a few cyclists this summer and most are members of both sites. WS is harder to navigate and less easy to check out references though the information is definitely available. We have hosted fewer people via this site than CS but both are reputable sites and most people are members of both and with more members on CS, that seems to be where many of our guests originate. With due diligence regarding the length of time people have been members and with references there is nothing to fear. It is a wonderful way to meet some incredibly interesting people. With a 4 BR home and all children flown the coop, we are happy to share our home when we are here with people who are traveling. I hope to use the site for the long cycling trip we have planned in the future when DH and I are able to leave town together!

I can highly recommend it as a way to meet people, and again, you are under no obligation to accept someone. You can always be "busy" that night! This summer we have hosted four sets of visitors, most on bicycles, and two through CS and two through WS. Some were from the US, two from Poland, two from Italy, and one from Austria. The guy from Austria was delightful, taking a sabbatical from work to ride across America. We ended up riding with him for about 25 miles the morning he left before turning back towards our home!

If you want to see how it works, our user name is Rocky Road and Annie for both sites. You can go to the sites but I do think you have to log in to see the profiles. You will not get an actual address or phone number unless you make a request to stay with us! Then the information goes out with our acceptance of the request to visit. If you have any other questions, I am happy to share my experiences. Obviously, if you do not live "on the beaten path" you will have fewer calls, but we had a lady come to a Regional Lions Club meeting and stayed with us. So you never know who will make a request! It really is interesting...kind of like a free bed and breakfast and we like doing it...pay it forward! Someday we or our family will benefit.