The home is the main place for the mitzvah of lighting Chanucah candles. Part of "publicising the miracle" is the sight of many homes with menorahs in their windows and doorways. But what if you are away? As long as someone is home to light candles, you're covered and there is no need to light your own candles. There is a disagreement about whether a guest should say a berachah on his host's candle-lighting. Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik insisted that he should not, as one's own home is the focus of the mitzvah of Chanucah candle-lighting.
If you are a guest in someone's home and do not have anyone to light for you in your own home, you should pay your host a symbolic amount of money toward the cost of the oil and wicks to be included in his lighting (Talmud Shabbat 23a). On Shabbat, guests do not pay something toward the kiddush wine or challah, so why does a guest contribute to Chanucah candles? I don't know but would be glad of suggestions.