Gerhard

Have you ever said to someone, "If you're ever in __________ (fill in the name of your city/town), let us know and come stay with us" -- or something along those lines? In our travels, David and I have said that many times and received many replies like, "Yeah, definitely!" and "That would be great." But how many times has someone actually taken us up on it?

Once. And after spending three days in our home this week, he left to go back to Germany.

We met Gerhard on our trip to Peru this spring. He's a single man, never been married, a retired schoolteacher and looks the perfect part of the All-German-Guy. We chatted with him after he held up our tour bus for 15 minutes while he purchased "an original painting by an art student working to pay his way through art school" on the streets of an ultra touristy village near Machu Picchu in Peru. He was so happy with his purchase (and so oblivious to the evil stares he was getting from the rest of the tour bus), that we didn't have the heart to tell him about the 17 other "art students" who were selling identical "original paintings" all over that village. He was jovial and easy to talk to, and when we bumped into him the next day we invited him to join us for pizza. When we said goodbye, we threw out the invitation -- "If you're ever in New York..."

Seven months later, we were suprised when he took us up on the offer. But we had a pleasant time with him, and he had a great trip throughout the northeast. He came at the peak time to see the autumn colors, and we know from experience how delightful it is to stay in someone's home when traveling overseas.

Gerhard's future travel plans involve a visit to Alberta, Canada, where he told us he will be staying with another young couple he met during a trip somewhere a few years back.

The morals of the story:
1. Don't offer your home to people you meet unless you truly want to have them come.
2. Start taking people up on their offers to host us!