Why should you trust me?
I really enjoy staying in hostels, I think they are the best way to travel. You get a cheap place to sleep, a kitchen to cook, and plenty of interesting people to surround yourself with while you experience a new city. I’ve been staying in hostels solo or with a traveling companion for years. I’ve put in the dirty work, I’ve stayed in terrible, disgusting hostels and great hostels that almost seemed like a hotel. At hostels I’ve had the best spontaneous experiences like exploring Rome at 2am or playing bocce ball with a mountain man. Through these experiences I’ve met a litany of great people, of whom one is now me Fiancé.
So let’s get to it! First things first.
1. Pack Light
Packing light is the best way to travel, whether you are staying in a hostel or resort, carrying only one bag is the most desirable way to travel. Having a backpack is the best bag to travel with because they are easy to maneuver around with and are the most comfortable. Even if it is a small roller suitcase, rolling over the cobble stones around Europe is annoying. Also, when I say backpack, I don’t mean the massive 70 liter hiking backpacks, take a 40L Max. Trust me, you’ll be able to fit everything you need in a 40L bag (or one much smaller) no matter how long you are traveling for, although I would recommend taking even smaller. There is always a way to wash your clothes and it’s good to restrict yourself to a finite space.
You will take as much stuff as your bag will hold, whether that is a 20L bag or a 70L bag, you will always want to fill it all up.
2. Go Solo
I like to travel solo because it gives you the ultimate freedom. If you are going to travel solo, the best place to stay in is hostels, so you’ve already made that right choice. I think this is the best place to stay more days than not because it is the cheapest and allows you to be alone or be around people, depending on what you want.
You can go with 1-2 other friends at a hostel, but I would keep your group to 3 Max. At a hostel you will interact with many other travelers, so everyone is eager to meet someone new and make friends, you just have to go first. I’ll talk more on this later.
3. Talk to Everyone
For some people this will take you out of your comfort zone but once you get over that feeling you’ll realize it’s easy. The hard part about this is you need to remember their names. Everyone always says, ‘Oh I’m bad at remembering names’, sorry to call you out, but it’s because you aren’t trying. When you meet someone new it’s exciting and you want to see if you get along with them, but if you aren’t remembering their name then it’s meaningless.
I won’t go in depth on how to do this because it’s already been said a million times on the internet, but I’ll share the one trick I use. Pick something about them that uses the same letter as their name to create a memory bridge (or the German ‘Eselsbrücke’ (donkey bridge). Example: You meet someone named Brian and you learn he’s from Britain, your memory bridge can be Britain Brian. Associating something of the same letter with their name will strengthen the brain connection (doubly) and using words that share the same first letter helps come up with it if it’s on the tip of you tongue.
Even if you don’t recall their name early in the conversation, just ask them and say your name afterwards so they can hear yours again if they also don’t remember. A lot of people will skate past this part but I think it is one of the most important things when meeting someone.
We didn’t know it then, but later at 3 am we all came back to this beach and swam in the ocean. It was December
4. Make Friends
Everyone is friendly, you just have to go first. Start talking to people everywhere, if you want the most sure fire place to meet people go to the hostel common room. A lot of people in Hostels travel solo, so people are looking to meet new friends. Be the person that brings people together that will give you a lot of social credit. I like talking to a few people until I find someone who I think is interesting and go on an adventure with them. This can be as simple as exploring the city together and bring anyone who wants to join with.
5. Create a Group Chat
Create a group chat and start adding people you meet in the hostel, this is a great way to stay in touch and create groups to do things together while you are in the hostel. Although staying at a hostel is usually only for a few nights everyone wants to maximize their time during there.
6. Use the Hostel Kitchen
I only book hostels that have a kitchen. This is an essential part of staying in a hostel for me. One, it’s an amazing way to save money while traveling because you can cook your own meals and other guests come and go so frequently they usually leave a space for free food, so this is an easy way to get dry goods for your meals (rice, pasta, spices, herbs, coffee, tea…). Two, the reason why I like hostel kitchens the most is because you can cook meals with your new friends or best of all cook a meal FOR your friends. This was done for me once and I immediately wanted to do the same for others too. Sharing good food with others is a great experience and all the more meaningful when you prepared it yourself.
7. Don’t Stay too Long
Don’t become the hostel veteran, when you stay too long and see many generations of travelers coming and going, you get to a point it where it feels weird that you also aren’t moving onto the next location. Hostels are a temporary place, don’t become the constant.
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I took this photo in Pompeii, it turns out the Brothel ruins are the number one tourist attraction in the ancient city.