Way back in the Bronze Age, or maybe earlier, the Ancient Greeks came up with this idea they called Xenia. This concept is closely tied with the notion of "hospitality" as we know it today but has nothing to do with hotel management or single serving toiletries or any other B.S. we've managed to impregnate that word with.
Xenia is true hospitality, in the ancient sense of the word, meaning generosity freely shown to those who are far from home, or in need of shelter. Xenia revolves around the creation of a ritualized bond between people, the guest-friendship. The two rules to guest friendship are:
The host must be respectful and accommodating to the guest. Food and drink should be provided or offered upon arrival and the chance to wash and rest as well. When the guest departs, the host should offer a gift.
The guest must be respectful and courteous to the host. He or she must not be a burden and if possible offer help or advice while present. The guests should also provide a gift if they have one.
As you can see, there is a mutual benefit afforded to both the guest and host of material things like gifts and food, but also immaterial values like protection, news and information, and solidarity. It appears the guest is getting the better end of the deal, especially if the host really lays it on thick, but keep in mind, the guest is likely to play the roll of host in the future and is responsible for "paying it forward" even if he never gets a chance to return the favor to the host directly.
The Greeks took Xenia very seriously, it was an important matter. Zeus, king of the gods was in fact the overseer of the tradition and punished anyone who violated its customs. Above, we see him and Hermes disguised as human guests in the house of Philemon and Baucis. If you're wondering whats up with Baucis trying to scrub the floor with that goose, she's actually trying to catch and kill the family pet/guard-goose just so Zeus has a hearty meal. But Zeus is all "nah, I turned myself into a swan once, can't eat poultry after that" while Hermes magically refills the wine jug again. Even the famous Trojan war was started by a serious breach of the rules of Xenia. Namely Paris, a guest of Menelaus absconding with the host's wife. Seriously Paris? Not cool.
So the Ancient Greeks were big on Xenia. Great. But it is by no means a dead tradition, and it's a big deal to me as well. When I was a kid, I spent a few nights a week eating at the tables of other families who treated me well and cared for me just like I was their kid. Not because I was a lonely wanderer or anything, just because I liked hanging with my friends a lot and don't think I understood the whole "don't be a burden" part of the deal yet.
In my adult life, Xenia has still played a big part, but I've played the host more often than guest (so far... obviously that's about to change). At university my place was always the meetup house where everyone congregates when they're looking for something to do, or where "family" dinners are most often hosted. Family in quotes because I'm talking about a potluck for a large group of friends and friends of friends, we just called the event family dinner. This doesn't exactly follow the form of Xenia because these people were friends first and guests second, not exactly guest-friends, and if I left them with gifts every time they walked out the door I'd quickly be living in an empty rectangle. However, I think the spirit of hospitality and communal sharing was still there and still goes hand in hand with Xenia.
The first textbook literal guest friendships I've entered into have been when I started living with Chelsea, through an organization called couchsurfing. Through couchsurfing, we've hosted several travelers and had a great experience every time. Our guest-friends were always courteous and full of good stories and most left us with the gift of a clean kitchen, though one even bought us a bottle of drain-opener for our clogged shower (Thanks Shayna, hope you're still living the dream). Hosting or surfing is a seriously awesome experience, and either a hip new information age alternative to old fashioned motels, or a little taste of ancient history depending on how you want to look at it.
We fully intend to continue hosting travelers whenever we have a place to call home again, and Chels and I have even talked about building a hostel one day of we end up with land in the right location. Until then, we'll be on the road ourselves and in definite need of some host-friends along the way. Aside from using couchsurfing, I'd really like to try the old fashioned way sometime. You know, knock on someone's door and say "Hi, my name's Corbin and I'm a dirtbag. This is my dirtbaguette Chelsea, is it ok if we park in your driveway for the night? If they're unconvinced I'll give em the Xenia spiel and hit em with the ol' Donkey persuasion.
Ok, before I go totally off the deep end let's wrap things up. So far, we've learned about how important Xenia was to the Ancient Greeks (and maybe a whole mess of other people, we just only have good records about it from the Greeks). We've learned that traditional guest-friendship is a very odd arrangement a little like a non-aggression agreement, a business luncheon and a Secret Santa raffle all in one. Also that informal, modern guest-friendships can arise in many ways, from old friends coming to visit, staying with strangers from the internet, to chance meetings in the physical-world. Whatever happens on the trip, I'm positive I'll have a fully developed outlook on modern xenia by the end of it and if one of you weirdos out there wants to do it the old fashioned way where we drink bloodied wine and pour libations to the gods then exchange daggers or bowstrings or something hit me up. I'll try anything once.