Welcome To My Garden

Welcome To My Garden (WTMG) is a Belgian community platform that lets slow travellers — hikers and cyclists in particular — find free camping spots in private gardens. Hosts add their garden to an interactive map; travellers sign up, request a stay, and arrange the visit directly with the host. The service is built around a 'slow travel' philosophy: journeys are made by foot, bicycle or rail, and stays are free, with the platform sustained instead by an annual membership fee paid by travellers. The initiative was started in 2020 by Dries Van Ransbeeck and Manon Brulard, who had cycled from Brussels to Tokyo in 2019 and wanted to make slow travel easier in their home country. Dries built the first version of the website on a rainy Sunday afternoon in 2020; within two hours 50 gardens had registered. The project was launched publicly on Facebook in early May 2020, partly in response to the expectation that the COVID-19 crisis would push Belgians to travel domestically — and because campsites are scarce in Belgium while wild camping is prohibited. The platform grew rapidly through word of mouth and press coverage in both French- and Dutch-speaking Belgium. By August 2020 it reported 1,400 gardens and 5,000 registered users, then 10,000 registered visitors, 3,000 daily active users and a network of 2,000 gardens in and around Belgium. It was developed on a voluntary basis through GitHub, an open-source collaboration platform, with technical costs covered by crowdfunding and, from September 2020, support from the Flemish Community Commission that allowed three volunteers to be paid. Today WTMG describes itself as a small team of four slow-travel enthusiasts, all of whom are both hosts and travellers. The platform is free to use for exploring the map and for hosting, while a €36-per-year membership (€3 per month) gives travellers full access: sending stay requests to 5,000+ gardens, chat with hosts, route uploads, saved gardens, a rail-network view and access to the community space. A €60-per-year 'Superfan' tier offers additional support. The organisation says it has 4,500+ members and 5,000+ hosts, and stresses that it remains ad-free, fully independent and member-supported. WTMG positions itself within a wider ecosystem of hospitality-exchange networks for cyclists and walkers, such as Warm Showers and Vrienden op de Fiets. Its distinguishing feature is the garden-camping model combined with an explicit slow-travel and open-data ethos, and a fair-cost membership model rather than commercial booking fees.

Welcome To My Garden was born out of a long bicycle journey. In 2019, Dries Van Ransbeeck and Manon Brulard cycled from Brussels to Tokyo over 11 months, passing through 21 countries and being hosted by countless people along the way. Back in Belgium, they asked how slow travel could be made easier and more fun at home. On a rainy Sunday afternoon in 2020, Dries built the first version of the WTMG website; within two hours, 50 gardens had signed up. The public launch came in early May 2020, when the initiative was announced on Facebook. The timing was deliberate: the COVID-19 crisis was expected to push Belgians to travel within their own country, campsites are not plentiful in Belgium, and wild camping is prohibited. The website was intended partly to avoid an influx on the few existing bivouac zones for users of slow roads. The hospitality network for cyclists and walkers was widely shared and received press attention in both French-speaking and Dutch-speaking Belgium. A few days after launch, the interactive website counted more than 300 gardens. On 24 June 2020, the website received an update that, among other things, allowed LF routes and GR paths to be displayed on the overview map. In July, the citizen initiative was mentioned in The Brussels Times and in travel stories in outlets such as Het Laatste Nieuws, and it appeared on radio and television. On 1 August 2020, the website counted 1,400 gardens and 5,000 registered users. On 17 August, the newspaper Le Soir described a dense and busy network with ambitions to grow beyond Belgium. By 20 August 2020, the website had 10,000 registered visitors, 3,000 active users per day and a network of 2,000 gardens in and around Belgium. The platform was developed on a voluntary basis through collaboration on GitHub, an open-source collaboration platform. Technical costs were financed by crowdfunding, and in September 2020 the collective announced that the Flemish Community Commission would also provide support, used to pay three volunteers. In 2023, an annual membership of €36 was introduced for all slow travellers. By the mid-2020s, WTMG described itself as a small team of four slow-travel enthusiasts, all of whom are both hosts and travellers. The platform had grown to 5,000+ hosts and 4,500+ members. Its membership model offers a free tier for exploring the map and hosting, a €36-per-year member tier for full access to the platform, and a €60-per-year 'Superfan' tier for additional support. The organisation emphasises that it remains ad-free, fully independent and member-supported, and that staying with a host is free.

• Dries Van Ransbeeck and Manon Brulard cycle from Brussels to Tokyo over 11 months through 21 countries.

• Dries builds the first version of the WTMG website; 50 gardens register within two hours.

• Website launched publicly on Facebook.

• Map update adds LF routes and GR paths.

• Mentioned in The Brussels Times and other Belgian media.

• 1,400 gardens and 5,000 registered users.

• 10,000 registered visitors, 3,000 daily active users, 2,000 gardens.

• Flemish Community Commission support allows three volunteers to be paid.

• Annual membership of €36 introduced.

A fair, member-supported, ad-free platform for slow travel, built on a warm-hearted community of citizen hosts.

• Garden camping network

  Free camping spots in private gardens offered by citizen hosts.

• Interactive map

  Map showing gardens, trails and rail network.

• Membership

  Free, €36/year Member, and €60/year Superfan tiers.

1. 1Home | Welcome To My Gardenwelcometomygarden.org
2. 2About Us | Welcome To My Gardenwelcometomygarden.org
3. 3Membership | Welcome To My Gardenwelcometomygarden.org
4. 4Welcome To My Garden - Wikidatawikidata.org
5. 5Welcome To My Garden - Wikipedia (NL)nl.wikipedia.org