On a side street in the heart of Shkoder, Albania, through a door next to an unassuming two-car garage, you could easily miss the entrance to a unique and wonderful Warmshowers hosting experience.
Warmshowers hosts play a vital role in creating a sense of community and connection among cyclists from all over the world. Today, we celebrate a significant milestone for Chuck and Susan Atkinson, who recently welcomed their 1000th guest into their home. Yes, you read that correctly: 1000th guest!!
Chuck and Susan have been retired since about 2008. Susan (76 years old) was a mental health therapist, and Chuck (80 years old) was an Alternative Education Teacher (elementary school). They spent their working life in Oregon, USA, but moved to Shkoder, Albania, after retirement.
We asked Chuck to share some of the experiences and inspiration that fueled their journey to becoming a Warmshowers legend. From unforgettable first guests to the joys of cultural exchange and building lifelong friendships, they share what makes hosting so special and how each visitor leaves a lasting mark on their lives and home.
Q: What initially inspired you to open your home to fellow cyclists through Warmshowers?
A: As an Alternative Education teacher, I used the skills and experiences of my students as the foundation for their learning since traditional teaching techniques like opening textbooks and taking written tests did not work for them. Through our own bicycle travels and later, when involved in hosting bicycle travelers through Warmshowers, it was easy for me to see the educational opportunities our guests were experiencing, pedaling the myriad of places on this rock we all live on. I’d venture that 80 to 90 percent of our guests have never experienced anything like life and living in the Balkans (where Susan and I live). As hosts, listening to these cultural, geographic, and personal stories is a real hoot.
Q: Reflecting on your 1000th host stay milestone, can you share a memorable experience from your very first Warmshowers guest?
A: Susan and I were hosting in a small rural village in Gusenje, Montenegro, in the Albanian Alps. Susan was hiking in southern France when I accepted a family of four to host for two days. This “family” included a single mom in her 30s with two children under 11 and her boyfriend. In his early 30s, the boyfriend was also single and childless. The “family” was pedaling from France to Athens to see if they could survive as a “family.” If so, the mom and boyfriend would move in together and become a family unit. To make a long story short, Gusenje was a perfect place to spend a few days and do “family” stuff. They asked if they could stay for four days. The boyfriend had many opportunities to spend bonding time with the kids, pedaling around the village, kicking a soccer ball, and taking short day rides into the beautiful mountain valleys. The mom got to relax in the apartment and get some quality quiet time to herself.
The highlight for me was that while they were there, I had a birthday. The boy, about 8 years old, gave me a marble as a birthday present. To this day, when we are on the road, that marble is in a small tin container in my handlebar bag.
Q:. Hosting 1000 guests is remarkable. What aspects of hosting do you find most fulfilling?
A: That truly is a difficult question to address as we find ourselves performing many “roles” with these folks. In essence, I think Susan and I want our departing guests to leave their experience with us ready to continue their journeys a bit more assured and prepared than when they arrived. Quite often, we have folks asking to stay for one night. Within the first 30 to 45 minutes after they arrive, we let them know they can stay here as long as they wish. There is often a sense of relief on their faces when they hear this, as they have things that need to be addressed—gear and clothing maintenance or repair issues, health issues, various social media updates, or routing concerns. On the WhatsApp Europe group, Susan and I are known as the people to turn to for help with any issue when heading south in the Balkans—whether it’s a bicycle mechanic, parts, pharmacist, physical therapist, welder, shoe repair, clothing repair, dentist, doctor, massage, or fuel canisters, to name a few. As mentioned, when they leave us, we want them to be comfortable in their own skin and ready to continue their journeys.
There is also the part of hosting that involves listening. For many of these folks, this is their first long adventure, and they really want an ear to share their stories and adventures. It helps when we have multiple guests here as the “newbies” get person-to-person validation for the adventures experienced.
Q: Many hosts develop lasting friendships with their guests. Have any of these connections turned into enduring relationships or travel companionships?
A: Most definitely! I’d venture there are somewhere near 25-30 folks we have hosted who follow our travel and hosting adventures through Facebook.
Q: Have you implemented any creative ways to document and remember your guests beyond traditional guest books?
A: Our apartment is above the two-car garage with a long stairway leading up to it. Over the last three years, we have invited every guest to paint their handprint with their name, home country, and date on the walls in the garage and stairway. When guests arrive, that is the first thing they see, all of these handprints—and they almost automatically feel comfortable and relaxed. We have had only one person choose not to put their handprint on the wall, and that was fine with us.
We chose handprints on the wall because no one reads a guest book, even when amazing things are written in them. The handprints really go beyond what a guest book accomplishes. As guests walk up the stairs, they will look for other names of folks they may know. We have had a guest or two recognize a name as a person they know from their home city. And folks really look forward to putting their handprint on the wall.
Q: Have any of your guests influenced your own travel plans or provided valuable tips for your cycling tours?
A: Other than validating or sharing experiences of places they have visited here in the Balkans that we might be interested in visiting. We have a limitation in that we travel on recumbent trikes, which means we must stick to asphalt roads. We cannot do any off-road routes, but there have been some really interesting places that some of our guest’s off-road routes have led them to.
Q: Throughout your hosting experience, are there any guests whose stories or journeys have particularly inspired or intrigued you?
A: There have been a lot of “stories” that have been intriguing, most of which involve how couples met on the road. We know many solo riders who meet up with riding partners and form lasting bonds. We also know a handful of couples who met while pedaling in the Balkans and are now together with children.
Some final thoughts from Chuck and Susan…
Until this October, the most guests we had ever hosted in a single month was just under 50. But this October, we hosted 65! I did make a bit of a scheduling error on three nights, where we ended up with 8 guests each night instead of our usual limit of 5. In our six years of hosting here in Shkoder, we’ve only had three nights with that many people—this month alone added three more! It was a fun but challenging experience!
Thanks to Warmshowers.org and these amazing bicycle travelers we get to help out, Susan and I are living a dream in our retirement that we never expected to be in our lives.