So, to start out the various tales from my adventures abroad, I thought I'd start with a word on hostels. Being poor college graduates with thousands of dollars in loans on the way, my friend and I had little money to spend on lodging (let alone food and travel). Probably the most significant way we saved money on the trip was choosing to stay in hostels as opposed to hotels. Throughout the trip, most people asked what we thought of the hostels because they had never stayed in one but had heard horror stories or were simply curious. I was admittedly terrified to stay in hostels in a foreign country. I mean, if they've made a horror movie about them, there has got to be some logical source of fear behind them. But after staying in nine hostels over a two week period, I can safely say that it was a great decision. It definitely isn't for everyone, but if you do your research and know what to expect, it can be a pleasant surprise and a great way to save a lot of money. The first thing I would suggest is that you check the ratings and reviews. As a general rule, if the hostel is rated over 50% positive on tripadvisor.com, it's probably a safe bet. Simply do your research so you'll know what to expect and chances are you will enjoy your stay. Bear in mind that you won't be staying in a hotel so don't expect hotel quality. There will be mostly backpackers there who are just looking for a bed for the night. We didn't stay in any one hostel more than two nights (mostly for travel commitments), and we often stayed longer than other guests in the room. It's much more of a college dorm or camp scenario than a hotel so be prepared for this if you plan on staying in a hostel.
But the most important thing to know when staying in hostels is that the quality of the your stay will will almost always depend on who else is staying in the room with you. If you do your research on the hostel ahead of time you shouldn't worry about anyone too sketchy, but you should take the size of your room into account. When booking the hostels with my friend, I debated with myself whether we should stay in a four-bed room or a ten- or twelve-bed room. I thought to myself that less people might be safer because there would be less of a chance that the fellow travelers were kleptomaniacs or worse. On the other hand, I thought that a larger room would be safer since no one would try anything shady with more people around as witnesses: power in numbers. In retrospect, I was being way more paranoid than necessary, although it's interesting how it turned out. We had absolutely no problems with theft (which has reportedly been an issue in some hostels), we met some really friendly people, and the only problem we had was with noisy roommates in one or two cases. In one of our four-bed rooms, it was literally the size of a closet with only enough room to walk between the two bunkbeds and there was a Chinese couple that would not stop screaming at each other the entire night. This was without a doubt the worst experience we had with the hostels. But the next night, new people were there and it was actually a pretty good experience. If you're traveling and sightseeing, you really won't be spending that much time in the hostel room anyway, so the size of the room usually isn't a problem as long as the people are agreeable (which can be a gamble). One of the nicest rooms we had was the largest with six bunkbeds and all of them filled. Everyone was really friendly and wanted to know where we were from, where we were going and how we were enjoying our trip. But the absolute BEST of the hostels we stayed in was Paddy's Doolin hostel in Doolin, Ireland. I'll go on a further rant about this particular hostel and the amazing host in another post, but it was amazing. The beds were comfortable, the bathrooms were near hotel standards, and there were fresh scones in the morning for a very reasonable price. So to conclude, hostels can be a great experience if you do your research, choose a larger room, and don't let annoying guests get to you. Sharing a room really isn't that bad and more often than not, the only time you'll be around your roommates is when you're all sleeping. If you're traveling on a budget, I would definitely suggest staying in hostels as a way to save for transportation, food and sightseeing.
