travel for me is about stories, about places, people, where they have been, and how they got here. i like travel, not just for mad travelers and their envious around-the-world tales but for experiences, stories, histories. for living, in a place, that can only come from sticking, staying put.

i can’t always do that! don’t have the money or time to live in another city till in seeps into my pores, till i colour into the light brown of its stories like the jasmine tea at my neighbourhood chinese restaurant…

the solution: i can get it all, and way cheaper at a homestay!

from the heritage homes, to eccentric expressions to basic homes that have opened their doors, i love them all. homestays are filled with stories… stories of a time, place or event that i have not lived in, but through its retelling i can experience and imagine. it is like partaking of a delicious piece of apple pie without having taken any of the effort (lazy aren’t i?) i get to experience a bit of the history, a bit of their struggle (if they are garrulous talkers)

these homestays make a city, village, place come alive for me in ways that a google map, lp guide or even hours of aimless roaming doesn’t. i get nuggets of a life i can never live. 

so a big hooray to homestays! hope to give back to traveling one day when i put up my legs and open up my doors to traveling from around the world.