Home Encounters of a Visiting Kind

Having your fortune read in a New Delhi home, sitting by a cozy fireplace in a British farmhouse, having an outdoor barbecue on an Australian sheep station or having tea with a Japanese family are the kinds of experiences travelers can have when they take advantage of opportunities to visit foreigners in their own settings.

Home visits and people-to-people programs are offered in some foreign countries; some private companies offer comparable programs. And while their emphasis remains more on places than people, some tour operators also offer a variety of home encounters in their packages.

But the concept still has a way to go. Many destinations don’t have “meet-the-people” programs, and several that have had such offerings have dropped them because of dissatisfaction by both visitors and hosts. For many travelers, observing firsthand how others live gives an extra dimension to their trips.

Home-Stay Options

Meanwhile, the number of home-stay options, particularly the paying kind, continues to grow as more travelers seek to experience rather than just see a destination. One illustration: New Zealand has more than 2,000 farms and private homes that welcome overseas guests.

If this kind of experience appeals to you, check with the government tourist office of the country you plan to visit and learn what kind of official or privately run meet-the-people programs are available.

Such programs may be free or offered on a commercial basis. Some may involve overnight stays, while others can just include a dinner or casual get-together. Home visits can even be set up between flights at some areas.

Some tourist offices provide a list of residents who rent rooms and other accommodations, including bed and breakfast establishments. You also can get information about which tour operators offer programs involving home visits.

Homes within these programs can range from simple apartments to elegant chateaux.

Leave a Small Gift

A representative example is the home visit system in Japan. There is no charge, although it is customary to leave a small gift.

At least one member of the family speaks English. These home excursions are arranged in Japan through offices of the Japan tourist office or city tourist organizations, which provide names of participating families.

Then it’s up to the traveler to contact the family and make home-stay arrangements. The program is running in 14 cities including Narita, the site of Tokyo’s international airport, where you can visit a family if you have enough time between flights.

Similarly, in the Bahamas you can get coupons to mail to Nassau or Freeport from the Bahamas tourist office, asking for such visits. Or you can contact tourist offices once in the Bahamas.

Jamaica also offers a “meet-the- people” program that can be set up through its tourist offices in the United States, including Los Angeles, and in major Jamaican cities.

In Israel a meet-the-Israeli program can be arranged by tourist offices in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa, Eilat and Netania.

Tea/Coffe Visit

Sometimes such programs are available only in certain cities. For example, you can arrange a tea/coffee visit with an English-speaking Dutch family in Amsterdam. Comparable programs are available in Odense, Denmark, and Chester, England.

An illustration of a paid program comes with “Friends in France,” which offers home stays involving village houses, farmhouses, restored abbeys and chateaux.

To distinguish themselves from bed and breakfast places, the company imposes a minimum stay of five nights. The degree of English spoken by the hosts varies. Rates per night, including continental breakfast, are from $25 for a couple sharing a room in a village house to $90 for a suite in a chateau.

A variety of paid-for, home-stay programs, both urban and rural, are available at other destinations around the world. Farm stays, either structured into a tour operator’s package or on an independent basis, are increasingly popular.

Most farm stays tend to be in such English-speaking areas as Great Britain, Ireland, Canada, New Zealand and Australia, but they can be found elsewhere.

For example, Australia offers farm-stay options, with information on this subject (as well as accommodation possibilities in private homes) available from the Austrian Tourist Commission, 2121 Avenue of the Stars, Suite 1200, Los Angeles 90067, phone (213) 552-1988.

Homes offering rooms to travelers may also come under different titles. For example, Newfoundland has “Hospitality Homes.” Japan has minshukus where visitors can stay with Japanese families in the equivalent of bed and breakfasts.

India maintains a list of families you can stay with in Bombay, New Delhi, Madras and Calcutta. A home-stay program also is available in conjunction with the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea.

As an example of programs offered by companies abroad, Melbourne-Personally sets up luncheons, barbecues and dinners in private homes around that Australian city.

Custom-Made Work

Home stays may also be set up by travel agents on an independent and not a group tour basis. You might have to pay a service fee to agents for custom-made work in composing your trip.

Private organizations in the United States also work in the people-to-people area. Some programs have an academic focus and others may be primarily available on a group basis.

The Experiment In International Living (Kipling Road, Brattleboro, Vt. 05301) offers academically oriented programs, including one for older adults in cooperation with Elderhostel; non-academic home-stay programs are being developed for 1989.

United States Servas (11 John St., New York 10038) facilitates home stays abroad. The Friendship Force (575 S. Omni International, Atlanta, Ga. 30303) sponsors exchanges of citizens between cities in the United States and overseas.

Regardless of the type of program you’re interested in, it’s important to have a clear idea of what to expect in your home encounters to avoid disappointments and awkward situations.

People-to-people and home-visit programs are often scheduled during evenings and weekends because hosts, who are not paid (in the complimentary programs), work during business hours.

Meeting hosts is not limited to homes. You may be able to go to social or civic clubs, sporting events or other activities, churches, business offices, etc.

The more you specify any special interests you have in terms of occupation, religion, hobbies and other subjects, the more likely you are to have a worthwhile experience. If you’re traveling with children and want to meet a family with children, indicate that.

Not a Dating Game

Such programs are a good way to meet people, but they are not dating games. Don’t expect to be set up with a person of the opposite sex.

The specifics generally are left up to the host and the traveler after the program administrators set up the initial contact. Make sure you know who is supposed to make the first contact, and get your host’s phone numbers (work and home if needed) to avoid being tied to your hotel room waiting to be contacted.

Determine what the program will include. If you’re paying for it, this should be relatively simple, but if your visit is complimentary, the subject may be open. Learn if you’re meeting for cocktails or dinner. If you’re not sure if a meal is included, ask your host.

As a rule, don’t expect gourmet meals, just food that reflects the local cuisine. If you’re not partial to certain foreign foods, you can also always excuse yourself. If your curiosity doesn’t extend to local cuisine, specify this condition to the program coordinator.

Find out what the dress code will be. Should men wear a coat and tie? Can women wear slacks?

If you’re not sure about something after a conversation with a host (linguistic nuances may cloud matters), contact the local tourist office. You’re better off being politely candid than embarrassed.