A big hesitation that
people have when desiring to travel abroad is staying in hostels. I can completely understand where the worry
comes from if you haven’t stayed in one before.
Horror movies like “Hostel” and “Hostel II” don’t paint a desiring
picture of hostel life what-so-ever. I didn’t know what to expect when I was
heading to my first hostel in Brussels, Belgium. Belgium wasn’t the first
country that I had traveled to but it was the first one where I stayed at a
hostel and not with a family. I wasn’t
nervous at all. I’m not sure why. But, I knew that my mom was extremely worried
about me backpacking for the first time, traveling by myself, and staying in
hostels. Hollywood and Lifetime movies
got to her and she would conjure ideas of everything that could possibly go
wrong. Her ideas couldn’t be furthest
from the truth.
I absolutely love
staying in hostels, for many reasons.
Granted, it definitely depends on where you stay because every hostel
experience is very different. Hostels
are an amazing way to travel on a budget.
Hostels in Western Europe, Australia, and New Zealand tend to cost more
because of popularity. You can expect to pay around $12-$20 for a shared dorm
room in these areas. In Eastern Europe
and the Mediterranean region such as Macedonia, Bosnia, Albania, Croatia,
Montenegro, and Slovenia, which I visited in the off-season (February and March
timeframe), it can be must cheaper to find a place to stay. I stayed in “hostels” which were private
rooms with my own bathroom, shower, hot water, big bed (or sometimes two beds),
some have little kitchen areas, furniture, and cable t.v. The reason that I say “hostels” is because
although I found these places on the same websites that I find all of my other
hostel accommodations, they are more like little studio apartments or private
rooms in apartment complexes which are own by a family. They are fantastic. Since it was off season, not only were the
rooms even cheaper, there were no one else really staying in the building
except for the family downstairs and I, making it quite and peaceful. I have stayed in a handful of places like
this in countries like Nicaragua ($8 a night), Bosnia ($12 a night), Macedonia
($15 a night) and India ($20 a night). The
families are always very hospitable and welcoming. They often invite you to come have breakfast
for free, coffee, tea, to chat, and to spend time with them. The family in Macedonia were one of my most
memorable. They always wanted me to sit
and talk with them, they always offered me food, they let me use their computer
and printer for free, they told me the history of their town, they borrowed me
their map to use, they picked me up from the where I was dropped off at in town
to make sure I made it to the apartment safely and they paid the taxi for me
because I didn’t have local currency yet, they waited with me for the bus the
day I was leaving to make sure I got on the right one, and much more. They even offered me to go out dancing with
them and a group of visitors from Albania.
The woman even walked me around town on the first day to show me where
the supermarket, bank, stores, lake, restaurants, and outdoor market were. The day before I left, I hand drew portraits
of their two young sons for them to keep as a thank you gesture.
In Central America and
Southeast Asia I mainly stayed in private rooms, some with my own t.v, all with
my own bathroom, for super cheap. They
can range from $6 a night to $12 a night, depending on where you are. You can often negotiate a rate too. You can choose from all types of rooms at
many places. Each establishment is
different although they may be on the same accommodation booking site. Some room options are: 4-bed female or male,
6-bed female or male, 8-bed female, male, or mixed, 10 or 12-bed female, male,
or mixed, private one bed, or private two beds.
Some things to keep in mind are: the higher the bed count, the cheaper
the price is and just because there are so many beds in one room, it doesn’t
mean that the room will be full (I have stayed in rooms with a lot of beds and
been one of the only people staying in them).
You have choices to support your comfort level. I change it up often. Sometimes I stay in dorm rooms because it’s
cheaper and I want to be social and sometimes I stay in private rooms because I
want to have time to myself and because they are cheap enough in some
areas. It also depends on how long I am
staying in the city for.
Each establishment
offers different stuff too. It also
depends on what region you are in. Some
places offer: lockers and locks (I bring my own pad lock just in case), storage
rooms for free (to keep you belongings if you have to time to spare before
checking in or if you have to check out earlier than your departure time), free
WiFi, computers to use (sometimes for free, sometimes for a small fee or they
give you a free 20 minutes or something), bedding (every place that I have
stayed at have provided bedding for free, and yes, it is clean!), toilet paper
(this is very crucial in many regions such as Southeast Asia and India because
paper products are scare there), free breakfast or breakfast for a small fee, a
kitchen to use for free to cook your own food (a great way to save money on
food), free coffee and tea, hot water (very important because it’s hard to come
by in some countries), free games, movies to watch, communal area to be social
with others, a book exchange area or a free library shelf, free maps of the
city, tours and transportation information and bookings, activities such as Pub
Crawls for a fee, free walking tours,
discounts are local restaurants or shops, free towels to use, free little
shampoos and soaps to have, free shuttles to and from the airport or for fee, and
much more. Every place offers different
amenities which are listed on the booking websites. These are all some things that I have
received at places that I have stayed at.
The types of “hostels”
that you will find on these recommended booking websites are: actual hostels
with both private and multi-bed dorm rooms, budget hotels which are all private
rooms, individual bungalows, beach-side places, apartment-like places that are
family owned, and more. You can look at
the photos of the place and read the reviews on these websites too. I like staying at all types of places because
you never know what you’ll experience, who you’ll meet, and it’s nice to change
it up.
One of my most favorite
things about staying at hostels is the amount of friends that I meet. I have met people all over the world from all
over the world. I have kept in contact
with so many of them via email or Facebook.
I have also stayed at many of their homes or with a friend of theirs
when I visited their country. Some
examples are: my friend that I met in Chang Mai, Thailand and stayed with in
Vancouver, Canada and my friends that I met in Phuket, Thailand that I stayed
with in Bangalore, India. Even if you
don’t stay with the friend in their country, they can provide information,
recommendations, and advice about anything in their country or region. Although I like to stay in many private
rooms, I still meet a lot of people and sit and chat with them in the common
areas, lobby, computer area, or go on tours with them. Staying with friends is a great way to save
money when traveling too.
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