On occasion, you may be invited to stay at someone else’s house. While this offers a tremendous serving opportunity for your host, good etiquette on your part will ensure the visit runs smoothly.

• No surprises: Hosting takes preparation. Be considerate and let your host know ahead of time you will be visiting.
• Avoid suitcase explosions: Remember, you are a guest in someone else’s home—the room is not your own. Keep your belongings neatly organized. Anyone should be able to enter the room and not trip over clothes, toiletries, wet towels, or papers.
• Eat the food: No matter your taste, being a guest is not a time to be picky. While it may not be the most delicious food you have ever eaten, you are not at a restaurant. The person preparing the food put forth much effort to cook it. Eat it and say thank you—period!

The exceptions to this rule are if you have food allergies or if you are at a social gathering and someone serves an unclean food, such as shrimp or pork. In the second instance, briefly say, “No, thank you.” If the person serving it presses why you do not want any, simply answer: “I do not eat _________. Thank you, though.”

• No complaining: A good house guest is grateful to have a place to stay. Avoid telling your host that the bed is too hard or the spaghetti is not cooked like your mother’s, for example.
• Learn the rules of the house—and follow them: Find out your host’s daily routine and ask if you can help with chores, such as washing and putting away dishes, if appropriate. Do not keep him up late at night or make him wait for you. Additionally, be sure to bring a book, so you always have something to do when your host is unavailable.
• No “house-roughing”: Expensive things can break if you run around or are careless. Never use decorative towels in bathrooms, place wet towels on wood, stick things on walls, or mark windows, among others. Always strive to leave things better than you found them.