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One of the best things about travel is the people that you have the rare chance to meet. Staying mostly in apartments has limited some of our interactions with others, but we've tried to make up for that by being generally chatty, joining tour groups and most importantly joining a group called SERVAS. SERVAS is an international travel/host exchange that was formed after WWII to promote peace through interpersonal relationships. It is the grand-daddy of couchsurfing and according to the webpage, forms a "worldwide hospitality network". Check it out here...http://www.usservas.org/
We first heard about SERVAS through a friend who sat on an airplane with an incredibly well traveled woman who shared some of her secrets. Thank you Amy Rutt for introducing us to the concept. It has been amazing to be welcomed into the homes of people across the world. All members, hosts and travelers are screened for safety reasons. Host lists are put together for every country in the world and travelers contact them to see if a visit can be arranged. Of our 85 days on the road we have spent 5 nights as guests in SERVAS members' homes. They have all been very memorable. For the average traveler I think the opportunity to spend say 8 days doing the travel thing on your own, and have a night or two with locals and see how they live is priceless. Actually it is priceless, except for the minimal membership dues. When we arrive back home we will definitely sign up as hosts, opening our doors to see who we might meet without even leaving our home.
Our visits have consisted of dog walks, playing board games and the violin, and touring kids' schools. We have discussed politics; theirs and ours, discussed reality tv; theirs and ours, looked through travel scrapbooks and home videos. We have cooked local dishes; ratattoullie in France and wit loof in Belgium. Shared a drink and a few laughs and all the while feeling comfortable and awed that we are halfway around the world sitting in someone's home.
Anthony wrote about the amazing couple we met who out of the blue invited us into their home, fed us the most amazing meal and took us on a tour of the seaside village in Croatia that is their second home. That day will forever be one of the most special of our lives.
In addition we have chatted it up on the train in Berlin with a guy from Nashville who runs 2 or 3 marathons a month anywhere around the world. They have no kids and his wife travels with him for fun. They have been everywhere (and he had awesome legs!) We met a great couple at breakfast one morning in Vienna who raised 5 kids in California and never downsized their home. For the next 15 years they hosted foreign exchange students. Now in retirement they spend their time visiting their own kids and the many that they have become "my other family" to. They were in Austria to meet the new baby of a former student they hosted.
Anthony got cornered one day by a man who wanted to share his dislike of the US and the next day we met a young waiter who said he loves America and watches American movies every Saturday night. What crazy and different images they must have of the US! We really are aware of being Americans out in the world and are doing our best to represent home well. We are listening and talking and seeing things that will forever change us. From tea with a Baron and Baroness in Salzburg to a movie in a hostel in Croatia with young girls from Asia we are having experiences for a lifetime and opening our eyes to other peoples and ways of life.
Amy
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Aunt Kathy E. Amy, in 1994 (approx) when we went on a tour to Germany, Austria, and Italy, Ray and I were on a train going to visit our friend Erika in Salzburg. A young girl sat across from us and kind of chuckled when Ray and I were trying to decipher German from a dictionary. We started talking to her (she spoke perfect English), had just grad. HS in the Netherlands, and was going to be an au paire (sp?) in Vienna. Anyway, I got her address and said I would write her. When she got to Vienna, the family told her "They'll never write; they're Americans." To make a long story short, we still write and email after 18 years, and we would welcome her into our home any time.
Amy Aunt Kathy, Great story. Amazing really, and today it is so easy to stay in touch with people you meet. Miss you. Amy