Let’s face it. Traveling abroad can be the most exciting and nerve-wracking thing you can do. You are leaving behind customs, traditions, and languages that have become essential parts of you and you are exposing yourself to ones that you only know so much about. This can be exciting because you are ready to learn about other people and their ways of life, but it can also be terrifying because you might not know how to adjust to the new environment. Don’t worry. There are countless other people just like you all around the world who have no idea what it is like to be in a completely different place with a completely different way of life. If you want to experience the world, there is something you can do despite travel anxiety or insufficient funds: become a host.

Why host? First and foremost, you will become something of an ambassador. You are representing what you love about your country to somebody who has never experienced any of it. You get to show someone your favorite things and they will appreciate it as much as you do. There is no more rewarding feeling than making somebody’s first experience memorable. In my case, I once took a Japanese student to an American football game and there was never moment when they weren’t smiling and cheering for the team. They quickly adopted the spirit embedded in so many Americans!

Not only will they learn about your country, you will learn about theirs! If travel anxiety gets the better of you, think of hosting as bringing the world to you. You will experience the behaviors, customs, traditions, and maybe even the cuisine of different countries all thanks to one student who wants to share their country with you. When you are ready and willing to learn about someone else’s culture, that will only strengthen the bond between you and the student you host. The reason so is because you are showing you are interested in their way of life and that it is just as important as your own.

The bottom line is this: hosting a foreign student can give you a worldly experience from the comfort of your own living space, and it can also give you an opportunity to build connections around the world. Your vulnerability plus your own enthusiasm are the best things to offer a foreign student. You can make a stranger’s first time abroad the best experience of their lives just with those two tools. By the way, you will make a new friend out of the whole experience, then perhaps travel anxiety will become a thing of the past!