Take Hospitality
Hospitality for Wayfarers
The basic principle of Hospitality is that you sleep in someone else’s place, with their permission.
Usually this means a hotel, b&b, campsite or home. Sometimes it can be a stable, barn, shed, skittle alley or garden.
Wayfarers don’t need much. A roof to stop the rain, and walls to cut the wind, are a treat indeed. Permission to be there is a luxury to be savoured.
You can find B&Bs on AirBNB, hotels on Booking.com, and campsites on Pitchup.
If you are hoping to find friendly strangers, one good option is to hit the local pub and put out feelers. After an evening of getting to know the locals, you may find an invitation arising.
Campsites in the UK are relatively few and far between, and facilities vary. Some encourage fires, while others are far more caravanny. Some don’t have toilets, while others offer constant hot water for showers. Some have washing machines and tumble driers, and cafes and shops.
If you take hospitality as a Wayfarer, take advantage of the full range of opportunities it affords you. Even if you are tired, be sure to wash and dry your clothes, to shower, and to charge up any electrical devices you carry.
If you can afford a bed every night, this offers the advantage of not needing to carry sleeping kit, which will make your journey far more lightweight and comfortable. But this is an expensive luxury, and the cost of Hospitality soon adds up. I would always recommend interspersing Hospitality with Sanctuary and Coldharbour, which are more authentically satisfying as Wayfaring accommodation.
You may wish to join the Camping and Caravaning Club, for access to a wider range of campsites throughout the UK. This will open many tiny sites that are only accessible to members of this society. Also recommended is the Mountain Bothy Association, for Scotland and Wales.
If you have friends and family in areas through which you will be Wayfaring, consider getting in touch and pre-arranging Hospitality. Also, of you are the member of a group, society or association, you might put the word out that you will be passing through an area and keen for willing donors of Hospitality. If you say you are happy to sleep in garden, in your tent or tarp, this might make it even easier for people to upgrade you into an indoor setting.
When Satish Kumar made his Wayfaring pilgrimage around Britain, he pre-arranged a night’s sleep in someone’s home for every night. This made his journey lightweight and people-rich. But it bound him to a schedule. In my experience, people are wonderful but tiring, and an arrangement like this will lead to lots of answering the same questions. The silent solitude of Coldharbouring is a valuable tonic. Don’t willingly give it entirely away for the sake of regular comfort.
The same logic goes for booking Hospitality. It will probably be necessary to book in advance, but doing so binds you to a strict schedule. So be careful with too much meticulous planning.
