Hostels… Those places where you meet people from all over the world, save on accommodation and plan your next stop.
1. The people
In a hostel there are no lonely travelers, because there is the meeting point for all of them. If you want to find people like you, the kind whose eyes light up when they hear stories of incredible travellers, all you have to do is go to a hostel. To the advice and shared experiences, we add the hours and experiences that give rise in many cases to true friendships with people from all over the world that when you leave you feel sorry to leave behind.
2. Change hostel when you’ve got used to it
Jeri Hostel Arte , Jericoacoara, Brazil.
When you arrive at a new hostel in a city or small town, the first steps are always difficult. Get used to your new bed, know how to move around the hostel and in short, get used to the place. The worst thing is when after a few days you have to pick up and continue the trip when you had finally gotten used to it and started to feel at home.
3. Nightlife
A day without alcohol? Not to mention!
Whatever the day, there is always nightlife at the hostel. Monday, Tuesday, Friday or Sunday, the hostels do not understand schedules. There is never a lack of activities for all those who want to have a good time or who are looking for a party. Happy hour, quiz night, ping pong beer, dance workshops (such as tango, samba or forró) and international dinners, as well as all those improvised experiences that can only happen in hostels, are just a few examples. You will miss the nightlife of the hostels but not the hangovers.
4. Travel the world without leaving the hostel
Tiki Hut Hostel, Palomino, Colombia.
Travel the world without taking a step. Hostel in all languages means people from all over the world. Staying in one you will meet people from all over the world, you will experience different cultures and you will listen to languages from any corner of the globe. A German who is going around South America on a vintage motorcycle, an Italian who has just crossed the Atlantic on a sailboat, a Japanese woman who is going around the world on a bicycle… A whole trip without practically leaving “home”.
5. Luxury mansions for little money
There are more and more hostels that for one reason or another become small mansions or paradises with all kinds of luxuries. Some have even baptized them with the pompous name “boutique”. Whether it’s because of its paradisiacal location, its swimming pools or its buffet that has nothing to envy to that of a hotel, one can feel like Paris Hilton in them.
6. Hostel pets
Casa Do Professor Hostel, Barreirinhas, Brazil.
They are of all kinds. From dogs, parrots, cats, and even turtles. Guardians of hostels and faithful companions of their owners, they love (in most cases) to fraternize with visitors. During the time we stay in the hostels one becomes fond of them.
7. Anecdotes
Teacher’s House, Barreirinhas, Brazil.
Staying in a hostel is a focus of continuous stories and anecdotes. Who hasn’t had one? Nice shared experiences that are and are part of the trip and that you still remember after a while. Some, like secrets, have a “Top Secret” degree of confidentiality. Do you remember any? Do not cut yourself and tell us.
8. The owners and staff
The regents of the hostels and the staff are genius and figure and the soul of the hostels. In the end, they are travelers like us, who mix with the guests to share a good chat and show us the hidden face of the cities we visit. Small families that one joins as soon as they check-in and that are always difficult to leave when it’s time to leave.
9. Gastronomy
Travel to eat the world. Each place has a unique and particular gastronomy but in a hostel on many occasions you find them all. And it is that each traveler brings with him his culinary arts to share them with the rest. Tasting some of the most exquisite dishes in the world without spending the cutlery is another of the many advantages of staying in a hostel and one that we always miss. If not tell it to our stomach.
10. House Rules
Waypoint Hostel, Medellín, Colombia.
Each hostel is a small universe with its own rules. We have all lived, suffered and loved in equal parts. From not using the phone during breakfast to encourage people to talk to unplugging the wi-fi for a few hours. There are those that have an hour of martial silence and others in which the party does not end until dawn.
11. Footprint of the artists
Full Sail Hostel , Fortaleza, Brazil.
Hostels have their own personality. Sometimes decorated with peculiar objects of their owners or with things that guests leave behind, they are like true traveler’s museums. In many cases, some of the people who stay give their art to them in the form of painting or graffiti, giving color and leaving their mark wherever they go.
