Meet the locals - in Valencia

After reading in the Guardian about Vicky Baker touring South America with the help of contacts she had made through social networking websites, I decided I'd try a little experiment of my own. I signed up for one of the websites mentioned, Hospitality Club and it was all pretty painless. To my surprise I quickly received a request from a Spanish member who wanted to visit Bristol, but although I offered him advice, we were unable to offer him accomodation as we had family staying. He mailed me later to say that he'd found someone else to host him and had a great weekend in Bristol over Easter.

For this visit to Valencia I decided I'd make use of the opportunity and e-mailed Angel, a contact I'd spotted on the Hospitality Club website, a couple of weeks before we were due to leave. For a week I didn't hear anything and was on the point of forgetting the idea when Bingo! he mailed me back. He'd be happy to meet us, he wrote, and offered several suggestions on things to do in Valencia. Several e-mails later, we'd arranged to meet at our hostel this morning.


Read more of this article on my new travel blog at Heatheronhertravels.com

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