Rural hospitality

Rural hospitality stands for rural hospitality exchange. Here is your one stop portal to interacting with the world through internet hospitality websites - whether it's CS, BW, HC or Warm Showers - all are welcome to participate.

How it works: Please read through our guides and once you are familiar with how it works, and how it is different to a normal urban hospitality experience please check out the country pages and maps where you are either going to visit or reside.

''Note: This has been created with the developed world in mind. A draft outline of a model for the developing can be found at rural hospitality in the developing world. ''

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Nuvola_apps_bookcase.png Basics
New to Rural Hospitality?
 * Vision Statement
 * Purpose
 * Definition
 * Rural vs Urban
 * Expectation of Host
 * Expectation of Surfer
 * Icon

== Maps ==

For now we still have our old Google map network seen here.

Check back later this year and hopefully there will be a new map system up and running :) 
 * Canada
 * Australia
 * Scandinavia
 * Iberian Peninsula
 * France
 * Switzerland
 * Germany
 * Austria
 * UK and Ireland


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Nuvola_apps_bookcase.png Languages

 * Le Rural Hospex en Français
 * Ländliche Hospex in der Deutschen
 * Hospex Rurale in Italiano
 * Rural Hospex em Português
 * Hospex Rurales en Español

Nuvola_apps_bookcase.png Rural Guides

 * Rural Hospitality Serbia
 * Rural Hospitality Canada


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Vision Statement
To build an international Rural Hospitality Network :) 

Purpose
The purpose behind Rural Couchsurfing is twofold,
 * 1) To allow travelers to experience rural areas that are often overlooked, letting them experience ways of life completely different to those found in cities.
 * 2) To allow rural communities to experience culture exchange they otherwise wouldn’t.

Definition
Rural areas (also referred to as "the country", countryside) are settled places outside towns and cities. Such areas are distinct from more intensively settled urban and suburban areas, and also from unsettled lands such as outback, American Old West, or wilderness. Inhabitants live in villages, hamlets, on farms and in other isolated houses.

Population Limitation
Since this definition is not clear enough for everyone, generally the maximum population for villages is considered top be 2,500 persons.12

Alternative definition
A village can also be defined as:

''A village is human scale: it is large enough so that all the needs of its inhabitants can be met, with complete specialisation of tasks, but not so large that there are anonymous people; in a village everybody is known, and strangers are instantly recognised and assessed. Settlements smaller than villages are called "hamlets". In a hamlet there are not enough people for a diversity of specialisation of tasks, so culture is limited to necessities. ''

For further clarity please read What Rural Means to make sure that you understand the difference between rural and "out of big cities".

See the discussion.

Languages
This wiki page should be translated into more languages. How many more? The more the merrier. If you can help with translations please contact the Rural CS Team.


 * Le Rural Hospex en Français


 * Ländliche Hospex in der Deutschen


 * Hospex Rurale in Italiano


 * Rural Hospex em Português


 * Hospex Rurales en Español

For this wiki in other languages please click here :)

Flags were removed from the wiki as hospitality exchange isn't about nationalism 1

What is the difference between a rural and urban Hospitality experience?
The principal difference is the location.

Note that there can be some other differences:


 * No or few internet access
 * Difficulty to reach the place
 * Difference of activities to do around
 * Difference in lifestyle of host(s)
 * In some cases, more help needed or expected than in urban environments(Click the following to read more WWOOF vs Rural Hospex)

Expectation of Host
A rural host can expect from his guest exactly the same things as in an urban area:


 * Respect of his place
 * Understanding and respect of his way of life
 * Sharing time, experiences, conversation, and some daily tasks (dishes, cooking…)
 * A great experience in general

A rural host can also sometimes expect:


 * A little more help in the garden or the house

Expectation of Surfer
A rural Couchsurfer at the very least is expecting to discover what it is to live in a rural environment in the country they are traveling through.

A Couchsurfer in a rural area can expect:


 * A place to stay (bed, couch, place on the floor, place for a tent…)
 * Understanding and respect of his way of life
 * Sharing time, experiences, conversation, and some daily tasks (dishes, cooking etc.)
 * A quiet place to rest and forget your busy city life
 * A great experience in general

Additional things that can be expected:


 * Discovering a bit of the daily life if on a farm or an alternative community for example.
 * Participating a little to the daily tasks (and then maybe learn and experience new things) (1)

(1)The guest has to make sure that he/she understands what is going to happen during the stay and that he/she is going to be able to give the little help that might be expected.

Country Guides
Rural areas change as the landscape changes. Please check your country page to find out information about anything rural related.

The meaning of rural changes from place to place, and while we have put a general population limitation in place we encourage people to come up with their own definition that suites their area, along with a matching icon. Moderators of the relevant group should maintain a basic wiki page for their respective area, if for nothing else than to explain the process of how to be added to the map. See a list of the regions by clicking - Rural Hospex Guides.

Promotion
Rural Hospitality has mostly spread through word of mouth and by people reading the groups within the website www.couchsurfing.org. It is hoped that it will transcend couchsurfing and be open for members of all hospitality exchange websites.

Groups

 * main Rural Couchsurfing group

The French Rural CS group got up and running through the promotion of groups. Read here to follow the steps they took. This is the main way to promote Rural Couchsurfing - by making a Rural Group and then linking it to the main country group, as done in France and Australia.


 * Rural Hospitality group on BeWelcome

This group has just started (August 2012) but it is hoped that will become active and a place for people to interact about their rural experiences.

Newsletters/News feed
Rural Hospitality has been spread through a variety of Couchsurfing newsletters that are managed by volunteers. Please see examples from Australia123 and France. Rural Couchsurfing has also been mentioned in the official News Feed1, it would be great if it could be periodically mentioned here so that new members could find out about it too.

Permanent website placements
Rural Hospitality has been placed in the Couchsurfing.org tips secion!

Other Media (Pictures)
Pictures are currently stored on the Rural Couchsurfing Picaso account.

Icon
Rural hosts may want to add an icon to their profile as well as a link to this wiki page explaining that they are rural hosts.

Possible ideas for an icon are:



To see some icons for Rural India click the following link.

Rural CS India Icons

To add an icon for Rural CouchSurfing to your couch description, just copy paste the code below:



Note: the last two images appear the same but the second has a white background and the third has a transparent background. The code to put an icon in your couch description is for the third image. You can change the image by substituting the url from one of the other images for it.

More ideas are MOST welcome! There is no reason to only have one icon, the greater the variety the better. More discussion about icons here.

Examples
Listed below are some examples of Rural Couchsurfing hosts all over the world:

In Australia

In France

In Ireland

In Mexico Located here

In Morocco

In Norway

In Portugal

In Slovenia

Background, Past and Future
Click here to read more about the Background, Past and Future of Rural Couchsurfing.

Feedback
If you would like to propose a change to Rural Couchsurfing please do so here or contact us directly at: ruralcouchsurfing@gmail.com

If you want to see an overview you can check out our administration page. Administration