It’s Just as Important to Be a Good Houseguest as It Is a Host

Written by Posted On Tuesday, 16 July 2019 09:11
friends in living room having a converstation friends in living room having a converstation Daria Shevtsova

Summer is the perfect time to visit the people you’ve been putting off all year long. The good thing about visiting family out of town is that there’s a good chance you won’t have to pay for accommodations while still fitting in a summer vacation. Staying as a house guest significantly cuts the cost of traveling, though it’s important to be a good guest. 

House guests can be a lot to handle, especially when they overstay their welcome or don’t respect the unstated boundaries. In fact, 37% of people say they have hosted a bad houseguest at least once in their lives, according to a recent survey. Not to mention the added stress of making sure the house is perfectly tidy and guest-ready. 

Majority of hosts clean the house from top to bottom and wash the bedsheets before and after the guest’s stay, making it no quick process to get ready for houseguests. Less than 1% of respondents said they didn’t clean at all before their guests arrived. 

Despite all this hard work, guests can be rude, messy, or unhelpful making it challenging to put up with them during their visit. While the visit is most appreciated, an overstayed welcome can be frustrating to the entire host family. Most say they can handle guests for 1 to 4 days, anything past this is too much. 

This means when planning a staycation with your family, keep it short and sweet. A weekend is the perfect amount of time to spend with guests without driving them crazy, anything longer can result in not being invited to return.

As a guest, the home you stay in will likely be at least somewhat out of routine from your expectations. You’ll have to run on your host family’s schedule and be flexible in allowing them to plan the majority of the vacations. The host may have to put up with bad houseguests, though the guests may also have to put up with bad hosts. 

To keep your sanity, give yourself some personal time to escape the hectic vacation days. Strategically plan your stay to travel smarter and keep yourself in check and be the ideal houseguest no matter what situation you’re staying in. 

While hotels can be a luxurious experience, they can also be very expensive. If a host is truly terrible, you always have the option to turn to a local hotel, though your wallet will feel the backlash of not getting along with your friends and family. Eliminating this expense can save a significant amount of cash to put towards shopping or other excursions while on vacation. 

Keep this in mind while staying with friends and family and go above and beyond to be a good houseguest - offer to help clean and put a portion of the money saved towards a thank you gift, you’ll be much appreciated. 

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