If you speak Esperanto, you can stay for free with many other Esperanto speakers around the world. The secret? A hospitality network called "Pasporta Servo" (Passport Service). This network, which has been around since 1974, today offers free lodging with 1320 hosts in 92 countries.

The idea is simple: Esperanto speakers love the opportunity to learn about a foreign culture or to share their own, and there are no language barriers between them. So no matter if you want to backpack across Europe or see the real Japan for example, it makes sense to contact the Esperanto speakers on your way and spend a night or two at their homes. Your journey will be much cheaper, more comfortable and more interesting - Esperanto speakers can show you places that tourists don't normally get to see and they can tell you so much more about their country. In some places, such as Africa, staying with a local can also prevent you from making dangerous or costly mistakes. You will see, traveling with Esperanto is a much different experience than traveling with a tour group of people from your own country.

The rules:

• you have to speak at least basic Esperanto
• you have to have the Pasporta Servo address book (hosts receive it for free, others can buy it for 5 Euros)
• the hosts themselves decide who they want to accept as a guest and they set the rules, for example how many people can stay with them for how long, how many days in advance you have to inform them of your travel plans, whether they will provide meals or not, and so on

You can probably agree that these rules are very reasonable. So why not give it a try? You'll probably never want to travel differently again! Here's the website.