Life is meant to be an amazing adventure. The opportunity to spend time in other countries living not as a tourist moving from hotel to bridge to cathedral and back again, but staying with friends to see how they experience their own cities has given me a deeper appreciation for the people and places on this beautiful planet than a guidebook ever could. This is the primary reason the greatest gift you can ever give a traveler is the view from your window. The second greatest gift is the opportunity to do the dishes.