From Bed Bugs to Lifelong Friends: My Unforgettable Hostel Living Experience

I was introduced to Hostel life about a few years ago and it has been one of the most interesting life journey and I had many stories from hostel living.I am sharing some of it because I think hostel has its pros and cons. There are many things that can make or break your experience at a hostel.

Growing up, my family liked to stay at an economical hotel room in some back alley of nowhere. It's nothing luxurious and not even close to anywhere but since we have a car, it doesn't really matter much. So, I was used to live with bare minimum and quite adventurous, as long as we have roof over our head and a place to shower, that was it. Everything else seemed secondary. That was one of a few things that stick to me when I am playing the adventurous character. As long as I get roof and a place to shower, everything else is secondary. This is why, Hostel is something that I didn't mind staying.

I am not really an extroverted person but I can start a conversation as long as it's not a small talk. Usually, I rarely get into a small talk situation but often it'll go talking about life, personal development, some philosophy that gets people pour their hearts out and share their experiences. In hostel, you can meet people of all ages from different backgrounds and experiences. It's a great place to learn about life. But of course, if you just want to stay for cheap, hostel provides it for you too.

When I started traveling by myself, I tried a few hostel living in Indonesia and in Malaysia. Through these experiences, I made a few long-life friends that I am still in contact with. But those are only a few good things about staying in a hostel. People also come and goes but that's just life in itself. They serve a purpose and when they're done it's over. Some people come into our life longer but some shorter. With that mindset, it feels liberating and I feel less attachment to the people around me. Also, it's nothing negative at all but I am accepting that people play different roles and I can't force them to play role that I set for them.

Sometimes, picking up a hostel can be quite a challenge too. There are many different types of hostel that caters to your need. Hostel is definitely not everyone especially if it's a shared dorms and bathroom. Also, there are many factors to decide about a hostel. Some that comes to mind include

• Bed arrangement (mixed or single gender dorms)
• Location
• Amenities
• Reviews of others (party or non partying hostel)

I think it's important knowing what your preferences are. To me, I like more relaxed place where it's not a party hostel and some people come and go. Wherever I am going, I am often meeting with at least one or two person in crypto and then it all started to get interesting. I definitely avoid a party hostel because it's not my vibe. Another thing about hostel is also the management. These days, there are many hostels with proper management and modernized. Sure, there are rowdy places but if you don't like that kind of hostel, then it's easy as not going there.

Hostel doesn't mean it's a low quality stay. I've been some of the nicest hostel around and it's true that it's economical but they were clean and well-maintained. But I also had the experience of staying at a hostel with bed bugs. It definitely was horrible and made me check out earlier than I should. But maybe I wasn't meant for that hostel and that wasn't the place where I would made a connection with anyone. But on the next hostel after that experience, it was amazing.

These days, I realized that the people we are surrounding with is sort of like a reflection of ourselves. Funny how that also works in hostel living too because the people that I am familiar with now are mostly digital nomads and people who hustle online. There are also many entrepreneurs that I met who were willing to take the difficult risk and made it. But in the past, when I was slightly younger, the kind of people I met are mostly just someone in their 20's trying to experience life to the fullest.

As we grow older, we know better of our preferences and that's why when it comes to hostel, it was the same thing too. I know what I wanted and often go to places where I know that I won't be drained and able to focus on just slow living, relaxing and staying with minimalism purpose that I have in life.

I also saw different people from all ages at hostel and at first, I was quite surprised. But eventually, I am very used to it. I am sure have heard of horror hostel stories and this is why it doesn't matter where you go, you have to be vigilant and trust yourself or the universe more.

Staying at hostels sometimes breeds ideas too. I think that when you talk to people, if there are two ways communication, you would find out the problems that other have that can be solved. Some business is build upon problems to find its resolution and it has been something I learned from entrepreneurs I met at hostels.

I definitely suggest trying a hostel life if you don't mind sharing spaces with others. I know that hostel living can sound a bit dangerous especially when we don't know the people around us. I think like many things in life, just applying some common sense would help a lot for hostel living. Also, don't infringe anyone's space unless voluntarily too. Oh as a closing, I realized that noise can be a problem but so far, I don't think I have problem with that and I just slept fine considering I live in much more noisy environment, hostel living is like living in an oasis in the middle of the dessert.