Pickleball is an incredibly social sport and naturally lends itself to hosted housing. My social network has expanded ten fold because of pickleball and I feel lucky to have so met many kind and interesting people from all walks of life.
I have met artists, doctors, a writer of children's books, an owner of a hot-air balloon company, retired military, accountants, martial arts experts, prison guards, nurses, lawyers, a singer/songwriter, contractors, a chiropractor, and the list goes on. This blog post delves more into hosted housing, how to find hosts where you want to travel, and how to find others to accept into your home.
Connecting with others will take an investment of your time. No one immediately trust others; it takes time to share who we are and to find out about someone else to gain a feeling of comfort and confidence.
Here's are some actions for finding and connecting with others. I recommend posting on Picklebilly Hosted Housing about some places you want to travel. Here's the link to our Facebook group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/3746620065377220
Add info about yourself, your picture, and a bit of your background. You may need to repost this one or more times to get a response. Stay diligent and committed. Once you start getting responses on your post, you can respond briefly through comments. If something or someone looks promising, take it to the next step.
Survey the other person's Facebook profile. Private message them to get their email and write back and forth. Be honest, and share info about who you are, your experiences, a bit about your family or pets. If you're open about who you are, most people will reciprocate. Again, you must use your own due diligence. I find most people are kind, helpful, and agreeable. Pay attention to what you find and your own intuition. Stay away if there are any red flags.
Once you feel comfortable and that you like this person and would want to spend time in their home or to invite them to stay in your home, work out travel details. When will you arrive, how long will you stay; what are the parameters for staying with your host?
There are endless possibilities for making deals and arrangements for the satisfaction of both parties in creating hosted housing.
This community is comprised by intelligent, energetic, hard-working, lovers of pickleball. I am confident there will be lots of new friendships made through pickleball and from hosted housing!!