For us, the high cost of travel restricts our letterboxing to day
trips. We'd love to get elsewhere to letterbox, but the cost of
staying over is prohibitive for us retirees. Is that true for you,
too? If so, perhaps we could help one another as host boxers. A host
boxer would be someone who has an extra bedroom in their home and is
willing to make that available at no cost to other boxers from away.

We have one room with a double bed and would be willing to make that
available during the summer. We winter elsewhere in smaller quarters
but can manage guests who don't mind sleeping on a pull-out couch
in the living room.

There would have to be some stipulations for both guests and hosts.
For example, a host would be expected to allow the guest to have a key
to the house, would provide a bed(s) but not necessarily bedding;
shared or private bath; refrigerator space including freezer space for
cooler ice packs; and car-parking space. Children might or might not
be welcome. In our situation, kids are great but our house really is
not suitable for small children.

There are risks involved, of course, and these could be reduced by
some stipulations for participating in such a program. For example, I
suggest that potential guests be restricted to people who can, and are
willing, to also be hosts. That is based on the belief that a
home-owner is generally a good and safe citizen, demonstrating the
ability of handling adult responsibility through home-ownership. Yes,
I know that some pretty weird people can and do own homes, but in
general

Guests would be expected to use such an opportunity strictly to aid
them in letterboxing, i.e. they are not guests that hang out and do
not expect to be entertained. Guests would be expected to come and go
at reasonable hours, take care of their meals on their own, not
expecting kitchen privileges other than refrigeration unless clearly
agreed upon or offered by a host. Guests would have to agree not to
hold a host liable for any accident, so that if a guest falls down the
stairs, a host doesn't have to worry that s/he will be sued. On
the other hand, should a guest break something, the guest would be
expected to cover repair or replacement costs.

If any of you would be interested in experimenting with host/guest
boxing, please be in touch. My wife and I live in central MA, about
20 miles northwest of Boston. As potential guests, we would be
particularly interested in hosts located within a half day's travel
from our home. That would cover elsewhere in New England and the state
of New York. However, longer journeys are not to be ruled out.

oldhounder and Siamese