A Lesson in Hostels

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The train pulls into the station at six o'clock in the evening. You throw on your backpack, grab the smaller daypack, and join the crush of people leaving the station. You've never been here before, but then again, it's just like all the other stations. It isn't difficult to find your way out. The people at places like these move in herds, all you have to do is follow the crowd. The only thing that sets you apart is the fact that you are carrying everything you own and even if you know where you want to go, you don't know where that is. You might face a language barrier, a different currency, or bad timing, but there's a certain desperation of finding a bed for the night.
Once you're in the city of choice, the first step is finding the hostel. They are listed in guide books, on fliers, or you might have gotten a recommendation from someone you've met along the way.
Guide books give a very general description of the actual hostel, but they tend to do a good job of helping you locate them. For instance, Anna's Youth Hostel in Amsterdam was listed as having a congenial proprietor and an Arab flair about it. What you find out once you're there is there's one guy running the place, there are some painted archways and some little glass stones superglued to the wall. What the book doesn't tell you is the hostel has two twenty bed dorms, a few toilets and a couple showers with little else. Their kitchen consists of a microwave next to the bathroom sink.
A flier might be a bit more descriptive with pictures of the place and a list of emenities. These can be picked up at other hostels.
The best bet on finding a decent place to stay is the recommendations you get from people that have been in the city before. They've been there, and generally their descriptions are more accurate than those in the book. Where do you meet these people? Other hostels of course.

So let's assume you've picked your hostel of choice. Finding it on the map and finding it in the city are two different things. From the station you might have to jump on a bus, tram, subway, or walk a bit to reach your destination. Quite often the hostels will give brief directions on how to get there from the major points of arrival within the city.

Once you get to the hostel, if you've made a reservation, life gets a little easier. If not, there's always the possibility it could be full, in which case step one starts all over. Most hostels offer a range of accomodations. The most frequent choice is the number of beds in the dorm you'll be staying in. The more beds in a dorm, the less expensive the night. However, this has some tradeoffs. In a room with four beds, you only have to deal with at most three new faces with three different bed times and morning alarms. In a room with twenty beds, there is the distinct possibility that people will be moving around in the room or rustling through their packs at random hours of the night. It also increases the chance you'll be in the room with someone that sounds like their sawing logs through their nose all night long.

Some hostels offer private rooms, but most offer four to thirty two beds with the average being about ten. The bathrooms are communal and no one seems to mind. Most places tend to stay pretty clean by employing cleaners in exchange for free rent.

Breakfast is often part of the deal, and it's generally bread, butter, jam, cereal, tea and coffee. Some go so far as to offer cold cuts and cheese.

However, the best part of the hostel is by far the people you meet there. The vast majority of them are all in the same situation as you, with a few ¨long termers¨thrown in for good measure. They experience the same discomforts and the same new sights, however glorious or absurd. You exchange stories. Hear about the places they've seen and how long they have to experience the world before they return to the ironically defined ¨real world.¨ They give recommendations and show pictures. But most of all, they help to make it home for a night.

Hostels are temporary. The people you call your friends will be gone tomorrow and you'll get to do it all over again. Enjoy it while you can and take heart in knowing that if you're miserable, it'll all be over soon. But that's just like everything else in life isn't it?

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