CONCRETE CONNECTIONS: Soviet-style apartments like these may seem mundane to natives, but for visitors they provide a treasured glimpse into local life, something they would never find in the Old Town tourist scene.
VILNIUS - What can you do when your pockets are almost empty, but your heart longs for travel? Because a hotel bill might well be one of the most expensive parts of the trip, budget hotels and youth hostels offering cheap accommodations are becoming more popular every day. But now there is a cheaper and far more more intriguing solution. Just as hitch-hiking offers free transportation, Hospitality Club, an online database of people willing to offer you a bed and show you around the city, offers free accommodation in any part of the world, including Lithuania.
Even if you don't need a place to stay, Hospitality Club can simply introduce you to someone living in the area in which you will be traveling, who is eager to meet for a cup of coffee 's all so that you won't feel alone in your travels.
The idea behind this non-commercial organization with its online database came to life in the year 2000. Today there are 260,694 people registered in the database, including 3,766 living in various Lithuanian cities. Thus tourists wanting to see more than just the capital can rest assured that there is a place waiting for them.
Living with locals gives tourists a better perspective on the everyday life of the country, provides an opportunity to see the "other side" of the city instead of the usual tourist attractions, and allows them to meet new friends. And another major plus: when living with a Lithuanian, a tourist can taste "real" traditional Lithuanian food or might even get invited to a party. To paraphrase a famous saying: "When in Lithuania...".
Indre, a Vilius resident, first heard about the Hospitality Club by word of mouth a year ago. Being an outgoing person, she decided to sign up. Since then, she's had tourists both from exotic countries and from neighboring countries, such as Latvia, stay in her appartment.
"There is a high level of responsibility involved. You don't know the people and yet you have to find a way to communicate," says Indre. She herself later stayed in her new friends' home in Latvia for a day.
For security purposes, Hospitality Club requires that anyone wanting to use their service first sign up in the database, providing their real name, address and e-mail. Then, upon arriving at their destination, they must provide the host with their passport number. Of course, there's never a 100 percent guarantee of safety. But isn't getting to know a different culture worth a little
risk?
For info on places to stay in Lithuania visit: www.hospitalityclub.org
