Staying with a friend can be one of the best ways to travel, as long as you keep some things in mind. If you know you are going to be staying with a friend before you start your trip, try to bring something unique from where you are living as a gift, even if it's just a postcard with a heartfelt thank-you written on it. It could be even better to take them out to dinner, or buy something else for them, especially if you're saving a lot of money by not needing to [[Finding a Place to Stay | book lodging]]. Sometimes you can pay directly, but for a lot of people the "business transaction" among friends feels weird, which is why a gift or just offering to return the favor is preferrable. A good strategy to employ is actually keeping people's address in your contacts app (even if it's just the name of a city or country and you don't yet know their exact address). Then when you are planning a trip, type in the keywords of where you'll be staying and you'll have a list of people that you may be able to lodge with (or just hang out with while you're there), that you may not have thought about before.