To Stay In A Hotel Or With A Local Family
Tourism nowadays has become one of the core industries in Vietnam and in many countries all over the world. Living standards are enhanced and many people find traveling as a good way to relax and relieve stress. It is not right to say that only rich people can afford to travel; it is a fact that the cost for your holidays depends you.
Businessman often travel with the help and guidance of tourist companies, while students tend to choose backpack travel in their gap year and homestay as an economical way. Many people are confused between the decision of staying at hotels or living with local families during their vacation. Each of these two accommodation ways has its own advantages and disadvantages. If I traveled to a foreign country, my choice would be to homestay with a local family.
Staying together with a local family has its advantages. The first and foremost advantage of homestay is that travelers can save a considerable amount of money and time. When a person has a plan for traveling, accommodation is the first thing to think about, and hotel fees seem to eat up most the expense. The decision to stay at a local house is a smart choice for the average class and especially students.
Many local families not only invite travelers to stay free but also offer free meals. Thus, tourists can spend their limited budget on traveling and buying gifts for family and friends. Besides money, homestay at local residents allows travelers to save much of their time. Why? Traveling overseas is a challenge for many people. They come to a totaly different country and start adapting to a new environment. Reading books, searching for information about that country, studying the map of the city you are visiting all of these steps would become easy if the traveler stays with the city dwellers.
The second point why travelers benefit from homestay is culture exchange. To learn a new culture, the fastest and easiest way is living in its cultural environment. Living with a local family gives the travelers many chances to see and understand the country's culture. A foreigner can learn how to cook traditional food, see how a day works in the country he is visiting. If a traveler wants to learn that country's language, homestay is a perfect choice to practice.
Besides the good points of homestay, travelers should notice some small things. First of all, local policy is an important point that needs to be noticed when a traveler stays at a family house. To take one example of this, I invited a German girl to homestay during Tet holiday in Vietnam. It takes time and energy to cope with legal document and rules and then work with the local police so that a foreign traveler can live with us.
Second of all, it is necessary to bring some favorite foods from your own country with you in case the new flavors are strong and strange for your appetite. Additionally, each family has its own principles and habits, the guest needs to ask the family members about these things to avoid culture shocks.
