Bed and Breakfast Reciprocal Sharing Programs

While on a cruise recently, my husband and I met up with a lovely couple from North Dakota. Both are retired and have a lot of times on their hands to use for traveling. I asked how they can find hotels inexpensively, as much as they travel. They informed us of one of the best kept secrets in America. It is called Bed and Breakfast Reciprocal Sharing.

Here is basically how the program works. There are three basic programs offering the service. They are www.mennoniteyourway.com, www.gowayside.com and the Evergreen Bed and Breakfast club. I could never locate the web site for the last one, just information on the internet in different ravel sites. One of those sites is http://www.worldtraveldirectories.com/Evergreen-Club/Members-Visited-by-Brian-And-Rosemary-Nelson.html. All of the services are in some way associated with churches, but it is an interdenominational service. You do not have to belong to a church to belong to the bed and breakfast program. You pay $45 a year to get a book that lists families that are willing to open a bedroom in their house for short term vacation stays to families, couple or singles.

You are generally approved to be on the list by a pastor or priest. If you are not a church member, they do ask for someone in your community to vouch for your character in order to be placed on the list. You also are sent an application asking about your home, animals, and whether or not you have a master bedroom with a bath. Our friends stated that the program really looks for families that have a master bedroom with an attached bath so the house guests can have as much privacy as possible. If you pass the screening process, your name is then entered into the next book. Before you received your list of homes, you can access homes via the website with your password.