Hostel 101: Why You Should Experience the Hostel Life during Your Travel

Hostel 101: Why You Should Experience the Hostel Life during Your Travel

In 1909, Richard Schirrmann, a German teacher, took his students on an organized school trip around the country. They got caught up in a storm and had to find refuge in an empty school building. A simple idea, not the lightning, struck Schirman. He saw a possibility to bring affordable accommodation to students and young people by letting them stay in dormitories when schools were not in session. Three years later Schirman started the world’s first youth hostel. Neighboring countries caught on to the new idea. In 1932, delegations from Austria, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, France, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Switzerland, and UK established the Internal Youth Hostel Federation. The Americans joined a year later. And today as you look around, hostels are everywhere around the world.

People often mistake hostels for cheap, shady sorts of places. Cheap definitely. Shady not quite. Hosteling was born out of the need to provide affordable accommodation for young people on their journey out in the world. For this reason, many hostels focus on the prices and neglect the quality, turning them into a dreadful kind of place. Some hostels that I stayed still give me the creep just by remembering them.

One such example happened to me on top of Huashan Mountain in China, one of China’s major five, (Read “Climbing Mount Hua and Chasing Legends“) I doubt the staff changed the bed sheets at all, and there were visible stains on all the beds. You don’t have a choice when you’re thousands of meters above ground visiting one of the most popular tourist spots during a holiday period. It’s dark and cold, and there is no better alternative. My other crappy experience was in Hong Kong. If you have been to Hong Kong, you know what it means to live in a tin can. I lived in two such tin cans, wrapped in a small box, locked in a container. But even in this shady condition, you have some story to tell about the shadiness of your travel experience. However, these cases are not common representative of hostels. I’ve been to other where I just wanted to stay there as long as I could.

In earlier days, many hostels imposed an age restriction, allowing only people younger than 30 years to stay on their premises. Some still set the age limit, but most don’t. In the hosteling world, we all are young.

So why should you stay in a hostel?

Have an awesome adventure

A hostel is a melting pot of backpackers from all over the world wanting and doing more or less the same things you do. It’s a great source for information you wouldn’t get otherwise from the Internet and travel guides. One travel item I since removed from my bucket list was doing the Trans-Siberian train journey. It would be much less memorable if it weren’t for the hosteling experience. I traveled solo, but I met up and traveled together with different people I met at the hostels. I ended up doing many more wonderful things than I would have done on my own.

Now some of you might think that you go out to the world to do your own adventure. Why should you tag along with other people? Sometimes you need other people to make your adventure more awesome. For example, when I was doing my trans-Siberian, I didn’t plan on camping and didn’t bring any gear. But at the last stop of the journey in Russia, I met a group of backpackers at a hostel in Irkutsk who invited me to camp with them. Only by camping that I got to stay close to the nature of Siberia, get anywhere near Lake Baikal, the romantic, famous place everybody wants to go.

Learn to plan

Backpackers are probably not the most well-planned people and prefer to go with the flow. Yes, you can show up at the hostel and ask for a room; more often you will get a room.  But you don’t want to take a chance during peak seasons when rooms in decent, affordable and central-located hostels disappear quickly. Therefore, you learn to plan, even if just a bit.

Be independent

You become more independent. Sure, move out of your parents’ house is one big step forward. But have you been to foreign countries where you don’t know anyone, don’t understand what they are saying? You have to learn to co-exist with all sorts of people. Should you slap the dude who snores and keeps you awake at night or sing the Beatles’ Let It Be?

You will meet a bunch of weirdoes, at first you might attempt to judge, but after a while, you realize that you’re just another weirdo yourself.

Be social

I stay in hotels too during my travel and on business trips, and I have become indulged by the hotel comfort especially when I want to be by myself or catch up with some work. But often, I miss the hostel atmosphere, the crowd, and the people. It’s really empty at the hotel.

I booked the first hostel on Hostelworld for my first solo trip to Washington DC, USA, followed by many more trips during my vagabonding in Europe and Asia.

The hostel is not just a place you stay. It is a part of your travel experience. Try it. Stay in one. Visit one. It’s a home, albeit a chaotic one you have while going out into the world.

My favorite countries and cities for hostels

I judge a hostel for the look-and-feel, the location, and cost. All hostels listed below meet these criteria. They are low-cost, centrally located and have beautiful decors or amazing atmosphere.

1. Beijing, Hangzhou, Xian – China

Leo hostel in Beijing, China. Not only Leo, many hostels in China are housed in traditional buildings and decorated like this. Staying here makes you feel like living in the past.  

4 eyes backpacker – Hangzhou, China. The room itself is not so good, but I like the spacious exterior. There is seperate garden for breakfast and hang out. 

The roof terrace at Han Tang Inn Youth Hostel – Xian, China. 

2. Lisbon – Portugal

The lounge at Yes! Hostel – Lisbon, Portugal. This hostel is  incredibly clean, has good location, and the staff is very friendly. 

3. Granada – Spain

The roof terrace of Oasis Hostel in Granada, Spain. 

Hostel Tips

1. Book in advance

In many cases, you can just show up at a hostel reception desk and ask for a room, you don’t want to take this risk. During peak seasons, decent, affordable and centrally-located rooms disappear quickly. If you forget to book in advance, at least look them up online and call ahead telling them to put your name down. Some hostels do take reservation like this without demanding a deposit.

2. Know how to get to your hostel

Just so you know, you’re staying at a hostel, and nobody will wait for you at the airport or the bus station with your name printed in 40px font on a big cardboard. A few hostels have free pickup at a designated location. Some will charge you a small fee. Most will expect you to figure out how to get there. If you have booked your hostel or know where you will stay, print out a map and direction. Some hostels provide very detailed instructions which you can do exactly what they say. Sometimes, you still have to ask the bus driver to drop you at the exact area and other locals to direct you to the spot. If the hostels don’t provide any direction or you don’t understand, email them. From my experience, they reply very quickly. If they don’t, call them up.

Do you know why I’m trying to suck the spontaneous fun out of your adventure? You can be spontaneous in another situation, and I will show you how. But for now, just stick to the boring routine and bring the damn map not just an address unless you come to a midget city where train and bus station are next to each other. The center is an easy walk away from the station, and the street you are looking for is probably around the corner.

I tried to prevent you from becoming a hopeless lost and silly traveler like me when I first traveled. I arrived in London from Bratislava. I didn’t book a hostel, so I spent hours walking around nearby streets looking for accommodation sign and knocking on doors. Their prices shooed me out almost instantly. I found an internet shop to search for a free hostel. But then I don’t know how to get there. I didn’t have a phone to call them. Finally, I walked to a tourist center and paid 5 pounds for them to find me a hostel and tell me how to get there. And it was during the day. Imagine you arrive in the late evening.

3. Safety

I’ve never had any problem while staying at hostels or any other types of accommodation, but then I travel mostly in Europe which is very safe. However, it doesn’t hurt to take extra caution. If you have valuable items, keep it in a locker which you can rent from the hostel. Some hostels have extra security safes for your money, passport, and other important documents. Hosteling culture should be a nice experience as most hostel staff and hostlers are cool and friendly, but you MUST watch out for a rotten few. If you lose your items at a hostel, the chance you will get them back is slim to none unless you plan to stick around for a long time to pursue justice. Don’t flaunt your cameras, watches, laptops or other electronic gadgets. In many Eastern European countries, they are worth more than the national average monthly salary.

4. Food

Some hostels offer free breakfasts as part of the price or charge a few euro more. Don’t expect mom-prepared breakfasts. Free breakfasts tend to be from average to bad with cheap cereal, white bread, store-brand butter and jam. Some hostels throw in eggs. Some throw in extra fruits and cookies. All (except for a stingy few) give you free coffee and tea. Many hostels have kitchens. If you’re staying for more than one day, take advantage of it. You eat far healthier meals and save a lot more money by preparing and packing your own food. I eat out usually when I can try typical dishes from the country or those recommended by other travelers. But if I have to eat a plain sandwich or a simple salad, I can make them myself.

5. Stuff to bring

Remember, you share the bathroom and shower with strangers, so bring your own soap, shampoo and a towel (I prefer microfiber towel which dry quicker and convenient when you stay only one day and have no time to dry). One essential item which many hostel beginners forget is a pair of slippers or sandals to wear in the shower. Most hostels which I’ve been to in Europe provide free bed sheet, blanket, and pillow. I’m not sure if the same applies elsewhere. The very first hostel I stayed in Washington DC, USA charge for these items and another one in Bratislava. If you don’t want to spend the extra money, and it’s during the summer you can use your jacket and towel for sleeping comfort.

6. Reviews

Skim through a few reviews but make your own decisions. Negative reviewers tend to be over-negative and spoiled. They choose a cheap hostel and demand hotel services. Sometimes, things they complained about were isolated incidents and won’t probably happen to you. If I care only about the price, I ignore reviews completely. If I look for something else, fun, location, etc…then I read a few reviews.

Note for non-Americans who might not know what ‘101’ means.

‘101’ is an advanced beginner course for a college subject. For example, you have Astronomy 101, Anthropology 101, Math 101, English 101. A ‘101’ usually is more comprehensible than an “Introductory” course.