You’ve been driving all day. You are tired, grumpy, and hungry. All you want is go to a room by yourself and lay down. Whatever you do, you certainly don’t want to have a conversation with someone.
Unfortunately, growing up, this was not an option for me. My parents, having both been in the military, developed relationships with people who then spread out all over the United States. Whenever we went on trips, we almost always stayed with some of their friends’ on our way to our destination. Even if it meant traveling a little out of our way to get there. As a young kid, I didn’t usually enjoy this. Despite being highly extroverted, I was usually too focused on wanting to be where we were going.
A few of the people we would stay with had kids my age, but for the most part, it was just the couples who were my parent’s age. We would often have a meal with them and I would sit as the parents had conversation. I didn’t always love this, but I am now thankful for the opportunities I had to get to know people in all walks of life.
Now that I am going on and planning trips myself, I have realized the advantages of staying at friends’ houses. There are definitely times when simply getting a hotel or Airbnb is the best option for you and your family, which I will mention later on, but here are three reasons why you should stay at a friends’ house when traveling.
It saves money
This one is the obvious one. By staying at a friends’ house, you avoid the cost of lodging. If you have two nights on the road on your way to a destination, or you have an extended multi-week road trip where you are constantly moving from place to place, this cost adds up quickly.
You keep connections with people
As much as you may try, keeping up with people you are not around is incredibly difficult, and the interactions that you have with people over the phone or video calls is simply not the same as in person. One of the reasons I think people don’t ask to stay at their friends’ houses when traveling is because they don’t want to impose or overstep the friendship. But by actually taking the time to go and visit someone when you travel, you are showing that you value them. Yes, they are helping you by giving you a place to stay, but most people will either be happy to do it or they’ll say no. Simple as that.
It puts you out of your comfort zone
Don’t be afraid to ask people who you don’t know very well. It may seem really awkward to ask someone you’ve only talked to a few times, but the worst that they can do is say no, and often times, these seemingly uncomfortable situations lead to some of the best conversations and experiences.
When I went on a multi-week trip to the west coast with three of my friends, we were trying to keep cost down as much as possible. I knew my parents and sister had friends in the L.A. area, and I knew that the area would be expensive to find a place to stay. I got contact info for these people from my mom and got in touch with the family. I was extremely young when we knew this family, and honestly only remembered one or two interactions with them.
Long story short, my three friends and I ended up staying with them for four nights while we explored L.A. It was honestly the highlight of our time in the city. Getting to have conversations with people that none of us knew, and discussing the various differences in culture from Kansas to L.A.
Here is my caveat: While staying with friends provides some great opportunities and saves money, you must know what you and (if you have a family) your family can handle. Sometimes, when you’re traveling or on vacation, you truly need a time that you can separate from other people and just have time to yourself and your family. By constantly staying with other people, it can drain the energy from you, and cause you to enjoy your trip much less. At that point, know when to fork out the money and get a hotel.
If you have friends in a city you’re going to be staying in anyway, I encourage you to at least ask about staying with them. And on the flip side, if someone asks to stay with you, if you can, just do it! Hospitality is a dying breed, and sometimes people must experience it before they start practicing it.
This post is not sponsored or supported by Airbnb, Marriot, Hilton, Hyatt, nor any other hospitality company.