destination: anywhere

Hostel Life

I stayed in three hostels during my trip, and had varying experiences. Some things are the same regardless of what country you are in though — the noise, the drunk frat guys stumbling in at 3 am (”Duuuude, I can’t find my keeeys”), the breakfast (bread, cereal and coffee, maybe fruit), and the weirdness of sharing a few days with complete strangers in an intimate setting.

In London I stayed at the Astor Museum Inn. It’s located in a converted house with four floors; I, of course, stayed on the fourth floor. My room was a 4-bed female-only dorm, with two bunk beds and a sink in the room. Two shower rooms and a toilet were down the hall. Here’s a tip for staying in budget hotels: take your shower at night, because there will be no hot water in the morning (and it may not reach the 4th floor, either). I met some really cool girls from all over the world, and it was nice to have people to go out with at night to dinner and whatnot.

In Paris, I stayed in a single room at the Le Montclaire Hotel. The room was quite spacious, all things considered. It had a single bed, a closet (!) a small writing desk and a sink with a mirror. The showers are only on every other floor, though, and they have the kind of nozzle that you have to push continually to keep the water coming. While it was nice to have the space to spread out, I think I would have had a better time in a dorm, where I could have met more people.

In Amsterdam, I stayed at the International Budget Hostel. No free breakfast here, but they made a good ham, egg and cheese sandwich that you could buy. This was the most awkward hostel experience for me, because I was in a 4-bed dorm with three guys. They were all very nice, and I never feared for my safety or anything like that, but as I said before, sleeping in the same room with strangers is very intimate, and sleeping in a room with strange boys was a little too intimate. Plus there was nowhere to change except the shower stalls, which were wet most of the time. But being back in a dorm let me meet more people again, and the lounge area was very comfy for watching TV and reading.

I don’t think I would want to do the hostel thing every time I travel, but once you get acclimated to it, it’s not that bad.

Call Me Goldilocks

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