Hostels in Bangkok, Thailand, San Francisco, Costa Rica, Hostel Parties, Hostel Camfires, Beach Hostels and Backpacker Hostels all featured here. I know Hostels... see my hostel photo log...
More folks older than young are taking to travel and low cost accomodations, the hostels. These are the folks who are saying no to nursing homes and assisted care facilities and are opting to jump on the plane instead of the bed.
Stories are often the same. Family is dead and gone, husband had long since passed, a small budget and savings remained so I leased out the house and am now living comfortably on fifteen dollars (USA) per day travelling and meeting others the same. The hell with the nursing home. I'll take the hostel!
Hostels are like friendly international social clubs where travel tips, experiences, and international cuisines are cooked by the guests and served to all around the beach side bonfires after dark.
Like Johny says, "Keep on Walkin".
These bar-b-que seaside lounging areas are a five minute walk from the hostel. Travellers from around the world gather each night to eat, chat, listen to the surf and hope they'll never go home. Three discos are within a ten minute walk.
How to decide whether to stay in a hostel or a hotel? Or a motel? Over the years I have stayed in all three. The greatest distinctions and differences between the three are about privacy and cost. Let's first take a look at the privacy issue. Hostels are not necessarily known for privacy. This is because many hostels offer very budget pricing for their accomodations, usually a dorm. A dorm is an accomodation where four or more people may be sharing a room for sleeping. Customarily, a dorm will have bunk beds or double decker beds where one bed is stacked on top of the other. It is true that the person sleeping on the bottom bunk can still breath because there is sufficient air space between the bottom bunk and the upper bunk. For some people howerver, this is a bit to cozy. However, as I have learned, it is a feature of hostels that one can get accustomed to.
This is tent camping near the beach.
If people are travelling as a group together, this dorm option is not only very, very inexpensive but also perfect for groups that want to chat together, have snacks and polish off a bottle of wine deep into the night. I met a group of German students at one hostel I stayed at. The night air was warm, the swimming pool well lit up, the palms overhanging the pool were siloetted by a full moon and this group of travellers to a distant land were having a very good time. One dorm room for the six of them cost only US$25 and cheaper by the night if they stayed on for a week. Well, why not? Free Internet, free outdoor covered kitchen with a full complement of pots, pans, dishes, cups, glasses, cutlery, spoons, knive and forks plus spices for the meal, free gas for the stove and oven, plus kitchen cooking prep table and watch the big screen TV while cooking the breakfast, lunch, or dinner to be eaten. Another nice feature is the inhouse laundry. For a small price the hostel will wash and dry the clothing of these world-travelers. Well, as you can see I can't say enough good things about hostels.
In a hotel or motel there aren't any community kitchens.
Evidence on the left from a beach party the night before. Where are they now?
Another interesting attraction to hostel community kitchen cooking, and yes eating, (note that I am still writing about cooking, kitchens and food- I must be getting hungry again.) is that you can be cooking up an American dish of hamburger, onions and potatoes while someone right next to you is preparing a French or Italian dinner. How does this come to happen? Well, hostels have an international flavor. When staying at a hostel you will be meeting other people from around the world and everyone will be using the same outdoor kitchen! Don't be surprised if you are an American or French if someone from Italy offers you a slice of their Italian cooked pizza! This is something else that won't be found while staying in a hotel or a motel.
A kite that I salvaged from among old coconut shells on the beach.
Please don't get the idea that I am in any way, shape or form against hotels or motels. I am not. Both are excellent venues if privacy is a necessity and social contact is not at the time welcome. There is a time and place for every need whether or not privacy is an issue.
If you are new to the idea of staying in a hostel there is probably a hostel in your home town. Why not go and check it out? I don't mean rent a space to sleep for the night, I mean just go in to take a tour. See what it is like. What you will see is probably typical of many hostels but not all. Some hostels are better outfitted than others.
Evening hostel recreation area by the beach, five minutes from the disco.
If there are not any hostels in your home area then try surfing the Internet. Just plug into Google Search or Yahoo Search the key words, for example "hostels in Bangkok", "hostels in Rio de Janeiro", "hostels in Alaska" or whatever city or country is on your wishlist. Many hostels have websites with photos, videos, prices, availability, and directions how to get there. You can try the same key words using YouTube. A number of happy hosteleers have posted their happy hostel videos on YouTube.
Yes, this is what it looks like. But, for one dollar a night? Sure.
Some hostels even feature airport pick-up so that when you land in Spain the hostel van is right there to pick you up, hostel reservations of course are required at the hostel and there may be a fee for the ride however probably much cheaper than taking a taxi. This is a great convenience whether the traveller is young or a senior citizen. I define a senior citizen as someone who is 60 years of age or older. Please don't discount the importance of senior travel and hostels. I have seen quite a number of folks 60 and over at a number of hostels, both men and women. The story is usually the same. The spouse is either gone because of divorce or passed away and no further interest in marriage. The option of budget travel was an alternative to sitting in a rest home or nursing home waiting for the inevitable.
Beautiful but watch out for dropping coconuts during the mating season.
When planning your next holiday away from home there are some great options available. The choice is yours, motel, hotel or hostel.
By the way, I did not want to leave bed and breakfast accomodations out of this writing. There are some fantastic bed and breakfast stays available all over the world!
Last chance hotel. Where some might go if they have been robbed. Free accomodation here. A little breezy around dawn. Lots of black crabs crawling the sands after the sun goes down. Hammocks are best if you are broke.
Tip: Consider taking your camera with you wherever you go. You never know when there might be an interesting image to capture such as this what appears to be an old abandoned outpost. This one was located far away from tracks of civilization. There were several stacks of empty coconuts that had been cut open with a machete. The meat of the coconut was long gone along with the milk. Considering the amount of coconut shells I found near this shelter and considering the size of the shelter I would estimate that two people lived here for several weeks before moving on. What do you think?
Day's end. The air is warm as is the water. Night birds are beginning to come out. The sand on the beach is still warm. In the distant sea, flickering lights of fisherman boats can be seen making their lonely way home to port. The air smell sweet. All of this on our little speck of cosmic dust suspended in a cosmos that has no beginning and no end. This, our planet Earth.
A sink is available but I didn't see any lines.
Mobil Bar-b-Que grill. Vendor is taking the day off.
All packed up and on the road again.
Pick your meals off of the trees.
Surf's Up! Ow, the sun's bright. Bring your Polaroids!
Siesta from 1 to 4. After that the menu is yours!
Plenty of driftwood for a good fire and some bar-b-qued Mahi-Mahi, corn on the cob and baked potatoes. Fresh coconut milk from the trees above, some say it's best with a little Baileys.
