Hostels, the best way to travel



Our hostel's terrace in Porto, Portugal

 

I've always loved going to hotels, don't ask me why..but its something I've always enjoyed..the comfy beds, free breakfast, the mini- sized free toiletries (I can't be the only person that takes those). Now that I'm in Europe, hostels are my new favorite thing.  In one month, I've stayed in 5 hostels and every one of them has been great.  Sure, there's probably crappy ones that are dirty but if you're smart about it (read the ratings) then you will end up happy with what you are paying for. 

 





These beds were so comfortable!
 

 



Our room



The first few things that come to mind when you say hostel are; cheap and international.  Hostels are traditionally very cheap places to lay your head at night when you travel.  The important thing to remember is that when you are young and traveling the world, you aren't going to be spending all of your time in your room! Most of the rooms are dormitory style and if your room is big enough, you could have a bathroom included.  I personally love the international dynamic of hostels.  I have met people from all over the entire world in that past month thanks to the social environments hostels provide. I remember sitting on the hostel terrace in Lisbon...I was surrounded by so many different people that I actually stopped in the moment to think to myself how cool this experience was.  I had a Canadian speaking French to a Frenchman to my right, two Portuguese speaking Portuguese to my left, across from me sat an Australian, a girl from Finland, guy from Switzerland, an Italian who was dating an English man, a lawyer from Chile, and another American from Washington (who was sitting in the corner watching the Seahawks game..typical American!).  But see my point?? How cool is that. 

 

To sum it all up....

• Hostels are budget orientated; ranging from 10- 25 euros a night
• Your room can vary on size, how many beds in each, multi-sex, etc. (You pay more if you have less people staying in your room, or if you want a female only room)
• They provide more entertainment than hotels; free book exchanges, pub crawls, group dinners, free city tours, dance classes, etc. (they're a great way to get to know a city)
• There are more general areas to socialize (terraces, dining rooms, lounges)
• They typically host younger travelers although I've seen older couples before at a youth hostel
• They are self-catering; you wash your own dishes, you can cook your own food too
 



Typical sign advertising their dinner specials

 

 

Basically, hostels are less formal and less private than hotels.  However, if you are a 20 something world traveler, do you really want to sit alone your room without meeting people? No..so the bullet points above do not bother me at all, in fact I think its fun. 

 

 

To book these hostels; I usually turn to HostelBookers or HostelWorld.  These sites are great, they categorize them by cities, ratings, price, etc.  I usually read through a lot of reviews to make my decision.  If a hostel has a 90% + rating with 300 reviews, you know that you can't go wrong.  Plus, at the end of the day its convenient to take advantage of the free breakfasts, free walking tours, and if you can handle a pub crawl that lasts until 5 in the morning, then I recommend doing those too!

A hostel in Sevilla I'll be staying at in December

 

Rooftop terrace in Cadiz, Spain.



Who knows, maybe I'll become a travel agent after all of this planning is done :) Many more trips to come!