Travelling with Servas vs. Hosting with Servas: What's the Difference?

Updated

Servas is a global hospitality and friendship network spanning more than 130 countries, and members take part either as travellers (contacting local members when away from home), as hosts (welcoming visiting members), or as supporters who neither travel nor host but still back the network. The core difference is direction of contact: travellers initiate stays while abroad, hosts open their homes and time to incoming members, and both roles exist to build friendships and cross-cultural understanding rather than to provide commercial accommodation.

Travelling with Servas

This role fits members who want to make contact with local people while travelling. According to Servas, travellers connect with members in the places they visit, which the organisation frames as opening "a world of opportunities" for friendship and broader understanding of the world.

If you are deciding whether this suits you, the relevant conditions are:

  • You are planning to travel and want contact with locals rather than only commercial lodging.
  • You are willing to build a genuine connection, not just find a free bed — the network describes itself as a friendship and peace network.
  • You accept that arrangements depend on individual members in each country, so availability and format vary.

Hosting with Servas

This role fits members who are willing to receive visiting members and offer a space for exchange. Hosting is listed alongside travelling as one of the two main ways to "make connections" in the network.

Conditions to weigh:

  • You are based somewhere and can offer time and hospitality to incoming members.
  • You want cultural exchange in your own home rather than while on the road.
  • You are comfortable with the network's emphasis on tolerance, peace, and environmentally sustainable meetings and lifestyles.

Side-by-Side Comparison

Dimension Travelling with Servas Hosting with Servas
Who it suits Members who want local contact while away Members who want to welcome visitors at home
Direction of contact You reach out to members in your destination Visiting members reach out to you
Main activity Making contact and building friendships during travel Receiving members and creating exchange opportunities
Shared purpose Friendship, cross-cultural understanding, peace and tolerance Same
Alternative Supporters can participate without travelling or hosting Same

If Neither Role Fits: Supporters

Servas also lists supporters as a way to connect, for people who are not travelling or hosting but still want to be part of the network. This is the option to consider if you support the mission but cannot commit to either role right now.

Other Ways Members Connect

Beyond travel and hosting, the site lists additional participation channels: Servas at the United Nations, youth and families, language exchange, peace schools, Servas Artists, and Servas singing. These give members ways to engage that do not depend on hosting or travelling.

How to Decide

  • Choose travelling if your main goal is meeting local members during trips.
  • Choose hosting if your main goal is welcoming members where you live.
  • Choose supporting if you want to be involved without either commitment.

To join or get specifics, the site points to "How to join Servas," "Join & Support," and "FAQ & contact us." Note that the site does not publish pricing or membership-fee details on the pages reviewed here, so confirm costs and requirements directly through the join and contact links before deciding.