Why haven’t you heard about it before? Servas Open Doors is not advertised in any way, it is only the word-of-mouth kind of thing. Somebody told me about their experience, and I’m telling you now after having tried it myself.
It all started…
Well, for real it started a long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, just after the first population of cavemen grew large enough to spill over to the second cave, which is when the subject of neighbors first arose, I suppose. Around the same time the first manifestations of some other well-known phenomena took place, namely: grass became greener on the other side and neighbors became a lot more hostile-looking over that high spiked fence (on the other side of which the grass was greener). Next thing we know – it is the 21st century, and we are still at war. I mean, not “we” we, and, hopefully, not you either, but the human race in general. The population of neighbors being afraid of each other.
But then, in 1949 one guy said, “well, allrighty then, I want to go and check out what these people are like, anyways. Not only that, but what would be cool is if everyone started rambling around and shaking hands with their neighbors. Because, you know, the world does not consist of “the Russians” or “the French” or “the Barbarians” – only if you watch the news on TV it does. It’s actually full of decent people who are fun to have barbeque with”. That is when and why Servas was conceived. You did want the long version, didn’t you? Well, this is, in fact what the idea is based upon. People wanting to meet other people in a friendly way.
How it works today?
You have to decide if you want to go or if you want to stay put and welcome travelers in your home, or both. There are members of Servas who sign up as hosts and others who are travelers. You don’t have to be both, but you can, obviously. To sign up you go to www.servas.org and find your local branch or whatever is closer to you. To get in, you have to go through an interview with a representative of Servas. This is a basic filter, nothing major.
After that, if you are a traveler and know where you are going, ask your branch for a list of addresses for the countries you are trying to invade want to visit. From the same source you should obtain special stamps which are attached to your letter of introduction – your Servas passport, which you show to your hosts. The organization is quite old and quite conservative, which is why the lists only exist on paper (I think it might be a safety precaution, as well, since electronic documents get copied and can easier end up in some wrong hands). You then go through the lists, choose the people you would like to burden with your presence and contact them to ask if it is possible for you to come over and squat with them. The list, besides addresses, provides a whole lot of information about the hosts, what they do, where they have been, etc.
Did I mention the money? That’s right, I did not. It is because the whole initiative is based on goodwill, hence it costs nothing. There is a processing fee which you pay when you obtain the stamps for the letter of introduction (LOI if you want to start learning the lingo) which goes to cover the production of the stamps themselves, printing the lists and other such things. I suppose it would vary from country to country, in our case it is quite bearable. Some branches ask you for a deposit which you get back when you return the booklet with addresses.
Then what?
Then you knock on your host’s door, and you both try to overcome the initial shyness, awkwardness and whatever other natural human reaction there is to overcome. There are some basic etiquette rules which are usually neatly printed somewhere on the address list. You should carry your Letter of Introduction and show it to your hosts without them having to ask for it. It is not implied that food is included in the package, so – hm – at least wait to be invited before tucking in the napkin. And don’t ask if you can stay longer – a normally accepted stay is 2 days.
Talk, listen, learn, by all means have fun together, talk some more. I was genuinely surprised the first time when the hosts asked if they could join us for the sightseeing we were planning. As you can imagine, being shown around by locals is a tad more interesting than just walking the streets with a map in your hand. Great fun!
So, what is the catch?
No catch. Seriously, none. No brain-washing sect, no junk mail afterwards. Just normal, friendly people. However (you saw it coming, didn’t you?) seasoned Servas travellers know to prepare themselves for pretty much anything that comes their way. You can find yourself in a nice little guesthouse at your disposal one day and in somebody’s dusty attic, on an air bed (your own) – the next day. Some hosts will be busy with their own lives while others will want to join you on your sightseeing trips. It is, indeed, very diverse and if there is anything that you must be equipped with, it is an open mind.
Which is exactly how the peace shall prevail.