How to be a Good Houseguest
…and ensure you’re welcomed back! 🏡😁❤
Author’s Note: I first intended this piece to be satirical: my way of trying to laugh at the rough situation I found myself in when I had three traveling guests stay at my home for a few nights this past summer. I hadn’t invited them: they’d asked to stay at my place while they were traveling back to California from Texas. What I thought was going to be fun time of catching up and nostalgia turned out to be one of the most stressful visits I’ve ever experienced! It left me wondering if I’d ever be willing to host this particular group ever again. ❤
I felt like Christie Alley in the 1990 movie Madhouse: by the end of their stay, I was ready to burn my house to the ground!
Pour yourself a cup of coffee, friend, and take a seat on the porch with me. Let’s go over the basics about what YOU can do to be an excellent houseguest.
Why strive for excellence in this area? To ensure you’re welcomed back to whatever home you’ve visited, of course! With inflation at all time highs and hotel rooms almost tripled in price, you’re going to want to make sure you’ve got a safe place to sleep, eat and shower when you’re far from home.
Let’s not take for granted when a friend extends an olive branch in letting you stay at their place for FREE!
- Arrive at a decent time for your hosts.
Now, I get it: there’s no controlling travel delays. However, when this is within your power, be punctual! Showing up in the middle of the night or the butt-crack of dawn is rude and inconsiderate of your host’s time and schedule.
2. Make sure you’re communicating with your host.
A phone call or text is any easy way to let your host know if you’re delayed or will be arriving earlier than anticipated. Showing up on their doorstep hours before or hours after you’re supposed to stresses your host out: I’m very good at smiling on the outside while screaming inside my head!🤯
Save surprises for parties, my friend. Keep your host up-to-date with any travel changes.
3. B.Y.O.T.: Bring Your Own Toiletries.
Shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, toothbrush, toothpaste, etc.… Remember, your friend’s house is not a hotel! While most people will offer you a place to crash, they’re not responsible for you hygiene upkeep. If you do have to use their stuff, be sure to offer to replace it or buy them a replacement. They will probably refuse, but it’s the offer that counts!
Side note: If you only use “all natural” products to clean yourself with, please don’t raid the pantry for baking soda, apple cider vinegar and coffee to wash your hair! Yes, IT’S VERY WEIRD! And if you do use coffee to give yourself an “all natural rinse”, please don’t leave coffee stains all over the shower liner and in the grout!!!😡
And while we’re on the subject of hygiene…
4. Keep yourself clean!
From my own recent experience: I moved my children out of their shared bathroom so that our guests could use it for their stay. The bathroom in my room is large enough for all of us, so I didn’t mind. Within ONE DAY of my guests arriving, the odor from that bathroom was so potent it made me pause in the hall and wonder, “Where the hell is that smell coming from???” 🤢
It was so bad! You’d have thought I was hosting a Boy Scout Troop that had just spent two weeks in the wilderness without showers. I get it that body odor is natural, but guess what? Nobody enjoys smelling yours! For the love of everything that is holy, bathe and spray on some deodorant!
You may resume being your happy, stinky self when you return to your home. 😁
5. Don’t be a mooch.
You’re already saving money on not paying for a hotel room. Offer to help whenever you can: pick up a pizza for dinner or pitch in for some groceries.
Eating bowl after bowl of cereal from the cupboard, raiding the fridge throughout the day because you are a self-proclaimed “grazer” and draining one and a half gallons of almond milk without so much as offering a few bucks makes you a leech. Be mindful and responsible!
6. Make your exit in a timely matter.
This is the one that probably sent me over the edge: my guests were supposed to be out of my house early Monday morning. The agreed upon time was 6am, as my son had a dental appointment at 8:30am and my kids were starting school. They agreed.
One of the guests took off the day before (Sunday) to go hang out with some friends two hours away, but agreed to be back in time that evening to start packing up for their early departure.
They arrived at 7am Monday morning.
The morning was chaos and I ended up having to leave them with my door code in order to get Ben to his appointment on time. To say I was livid was an understatement! I took the kids out to donuts after the appointment because I didn’t want to come home in case they were still there!😭
If you have an agreed upon time to leave, you need to make every effort to keep your word and G.T.F.O. of their hair!
And finally…
7. Don’t leave a disaster in your wake.
Please make every effort to leave things the way you found them: wipe down the counter, fold the blanket, fess up if you accidentally broke something. This is why hotels take out a deposit when you book a room and hold onto it until you leave: to hold you responsible for any damages you caused during your stay!
Be respectful of your host’s belongings and home. 🏡❤
There you have it! Some simple and “No Sh*t Sherlock!” ways to be a good houseguest. As much as I love hosting guests in my home, it’s still stressful. I’m a creature of habit, so when I have visitors and my schedule is thrown off, I tend to need a week or more to “recover”! However, good guests make the stress worth it! 😁
How would YOU have handled my situation? 🤔
Tagging people who might enjoy reading this: PJ Kaplan, Ginger Cook, Kirby Workes, Iva Ursano, 🌬Mitch, Ann James, Mike Butler, Bev G 🧙♀️, and Margie Willis ❤
Thank you so very much for reading! I truly appreciate the gift of your time! Remember, take care of yourself because there’s only one you!❤😁
I love you and there’s nothing you can do about it! Love ~ Dani ❤