Over the past few years, peer-to-peer homesharing platforms have been making it easier to connect with like-minded people when you travel. While Airbnb is still the most well-known platform, it’s no longer your only option. You can choose from homesharing sites specifically intended for elderly travelers, LGBT guests, eco-friendly lodgings, and more.
There are even sites like ThePOOSH and NuMundo, which help you arrange for work/trade programs on eco-villages and natural building projects.
Now, a new site helps plant-based eaters book overnight stays in the homes of vegans and vegetarians. Vegvisits works just like other homesharing sites: hosts create a profile describing the accommodations, guests book a room for a set nightly rate, and both can leave reviews after the trip is over.
But unlike other sites, vegan and vegetarian hosts “never [have to] stress about guests bringing meat into your home, and [you can] rest easy knowing you already have something in common with everyone you host.”
Vegvisits lets you rent out a bedroom, couch, or even just a kitchen for vegan travelers who want to cook while on the road. At my community home in NE Portland, we’re thinking about signing up for Vegvisits to use when some of our housemates are out of town. We don’t want to rent out rooms all the time – we’re sensitive to the effect of short-term rentals on the local housing market – but we think it would be a great way to supplement our rent when one or more of us happen to be traveling ourselves.
At the moment, Vegvisits is free to use, and guests and hosts must arrange for payment themselves – either in cash or through an online transfer service like Paypal. The downside is that payment isn’t streamlined the way with is with Airbnb and other similar sites. On the plus side, Vegvisits doesn’t take a cut, so you don’t have to worry about 10% (or more) of your rental fee being siphoned off by a middleman.
The founders of the site created it after booking rooms via Airbnb and realizing how hard it was to find vegan accommodations. With Vegvisits, you can search for hosts who share your specific diet (such as raw foods) or who have the appliances you need to make your favorite salads, smoothies, dinners, desserts, and more. Maybe you’ll even get to share dinner with them!
But Vegvisits isn’t just about food. Plant-based eaters often share other lifestyle choices too, and the site encourages hosts and travelers to connect over these interests. For hosts, you can include additional services in your profile: “Whether you are an artist, yoga instructor, wellness coach or personal chef, hosts are welcome to offer travelers their extra services to make their stay a memorable and life-changing one!”
And for travelers, you can ask your hosts for “inside knowledge on the top produce markets, grocery stores, restaurants, hiking/nature sites and any other relevant attractions or tips.”
Do you know any vegan communities who would like to hosts guests? Are you a traveler in need of a quality vegetarian kitchen away from home? Check out Vegvisits.com to sign up now or watch the intro video below. You can also follow Vegvisits on Twitter or Facebook.
Photos via VegVisits
NicoleCScott
I love that this option exists, and signed up immediately when I found out about it last year. Unfortunately, the listings are really sparse in the areas I’ve wanted to go. Ideally, more would use it so that there are more options. I tried booking a place in Paris, only to have the person cancel it with no message explaining why. There were no other affordable options in Paris, so I had to book a hostel instead. No plant based shared kitchen there. 🙁 I looked in Hawaii, and there’s only one listing. There’s got to be a way to get more vegans and vegetarians on board with this. It would be far better with more listings available. *fingers crossed this happens*