# feeling hostel



## bote (Jun 7, 2009)

holy cow, staying a couple days in a hostel can make you jaded. Listening to all these sandal-wearing folks talk about how much money they've spent on their world tours is weird, and makes me feel very elitist. Maybe its that two of my ex girlfriends/best friends got laid for the first time after we went our separate ways with dudes they met in hostel's, maybe that's part of the burn. I'm in PAnama city and its raining a lot.


----------



## RnJ (Jun 9, 2009)

I remember thinking that hostels were the place to be...In Victoria, BC they cost like $35 for me to share a room with 4 others...which is more expensive than the same setup in a hotel. When I was in SE Asia, I crashed in the forlorn guesthouse, because they were usually like $5 a night. I didn't care to pay for the "social benefits" of a hostel or all the info leading to expensive all-inclusive tours full of yoga chicks and frat boys. Me and a buddy got a double bed in Thailand for $4 total. It was pretty much a boxspring. No complaints. Most of the time we just camped out on beaches and public parks in a 1-man tent.

And to think of how many people say things to me like "You're staying in a hostel!? Those are SSSOOO sketchy! And haven't you seen that movie Hostel? Um, seriously...I think I'll just pay the extra for the hotel."


----------



## RnJ (Jun 9, 2009)

(double post edited)


----------



## moe (Jun 10, 2009)

whoa!.....panama.


----------



## wartomods (Jun 10, 2009)

There is this thing i hate about hostels, community showers, its like you could have built a wall, but not lets just all shower all naked with strangers, well it is not that bad, but still i would prefer the individual shower.


----------



## RnJ (Jun 10, 2009)

I have never been at a hostel or guesthouse or pension house (as they're called in some places) that had community showers. They have always had individual showers, or usually just one washroom with a shower and toilet (much like at home), but that must be because I'm such a cheap-o.


----------



## ianfernite (Jun 10, 2009)

The only hostel I've stayed it had individual rooms and showers. The bathroom was gross though, and aside from staff, we were the only people that spoke English by default.


----------



## Angela (Jun 11, 2009)

wartomods said:


> There is this thing i hate about hostels, community showers, its like you could have built a wall, but not lets just all shower all naked with strangers, well it is not that bad, but still i would prefer the individual shower.



If this seems weird to you, please don't ever travel. No, it's not exactly a luxurious setup, but most of the places that offer cheap showers such as public pools aren't private. I've stayed at a few hostels in my time and these seemed luxurious compared to my normal accommodations.


----------



## wartomods (Jun 11, 2009)

Angela said:


> If this seems weird to you, please don't ever travel. No, it's not exactly a luxurious setup, but most of the places that offer cheap showers such as public pools aren't private. I've stayed at a few hostels in my time and these seemed luxurious compared to my normal accommodations.



So you are completely cool about community showers


----------



## Angela (Jun 11, 2009)

wartomods said:


> So you are completely cool about community showers



Yes for $1 when I've been gathering crud for weeks, I'm completely cool with community showers.


----------



## wartomods (Jun 11, 2009)

Ok, btw maybe the right word for it is communal shower, not community shower, my fault


----------



## RnJ (Jun 11, 2009)

I'm down with a communal shower as well.


----------



## wartomods (Jun 11, 2009)

yeah, lets have a sword fight


----------



## Tiphareth (Jun 17, 2009)

Not that I am more cultured than the thread starter, but I seriously feel the need to tell you that putting up such rigid defenses towards people with money _at a hostel_ certainly won't make you a happier person and you are probably missing out some sweet opportunities for new perspectives on travelling and possibly even resources that THEY can afford that would be probably willing to share with someone who is willing to make an honest socioeconomic bridge, free of agendas, for the sake of decent conversation.


----------



## stove (Jun 17, 2009)

okay, I'm probably going to start a flame war/fistfight, but here goes...

Bote, I can totally agree. I do have some money (as everyone was quick to point out at the StP gathering), I've worked hard for it, and I spend it rather slowly. I've worked at a few hostels, and it really DOES grind ones nerves to hear about the hundreds of dollars people will spend on simple things, when they can be had for very little or free (Hitching versus eurail in europe, for instance, or trainriding versus amtrak in the US). Now, not EVERYONE in a hostel is that way, but when you do meet those folks, yeah, they're annoying. Try having to put up with their complaints!

Wartomods: Where have you been to hostels which had communal showers? I've stayed in my fair share, and never seen communal showers in a hostel/guesthouse. That being said, I agree with Angela and some of the others that communal showers really aren't that bad when you haven't showered in a week or two.

That being said, I've been 'showering' in the snow run-off streams around Mt. Hood. Talk about ICE COLD, damn, communal showers just don't seem so bad right now.


----------



## bote (Jul 3, 2009)

Tiphareth said:


> Not that I am more cultured than the thread starter, but I seriously feel the need to tell you that putting up such rigid defenses towards people with money _at a hostel_ certainly won't make you a happier person and you are probably missing out some sweet opportunities for new perspectives on travelling and possibly even resources that THEY can afford that would be probably willing to share with someone who is willing to make an honest socioeconomic bridge, free of agendas, for the sake of decent conversation.




Im more than happy to make conversation with anybody, I dont think I have any reservations in that direction. What I was referring to was how some peope travel and interact in ways that make me squeamish, espousing values that I cant or at least dont want to relate to and that I find embarassing by association.
Its part of a broader idea ive been thinking about lately, how very few people actually go travelling per say, the actual travel part of their trip is what they like least, just an uncomfortable necessity to get them to and from their vacation. 
The only resources the people Im talking about might have to offer me is a squirt of cologne or a bump of coke, not interested.
As for these feelings not making me a happier person, you are absolutely right, which is why I try not to put myself in this situation very often.


----------



## dirty_rotten_squatter (Jul 3, 2009)

That couchsurfing stuff online is pretty cool I've met some cool people doing it that way.


----------



## Angela (Jul 4, 2009)

stove said:


> okay, I'm probably going to start a flame war/fistfight, but here goes...
> 
> Bote, I can totally agree. I do have some money (as everyone was quick to point out at the StP gathering), I've worked hard for it, and I spend it rather slowly. I've worked at a few hostels, and it really DOES grind ones nerves to hear about the hundreds of dollars people will spend on simple things, when they can be had for very little or free (Hitching versus eurail in europe, for instance, or trainriding versus amtrak in the US). Now, not EVERYONE in a hostel is that way, but when you do meet those folks, yeah, they're annoying. Try having to put up with their complaints!
> 
> ...



I've showered at plenty of places that I would consider community showers, as in they weren't private bathrooms but they weren't exactly out in the open for everyone either. What I assumed he was talking about were the kind of places such as public pools that have community showers/locker rooms and you might want to be in your swimsuit/shorts when you shower since there are no private stalls, but even these are pretty nice when you haven't had a shower recently and they do have stalls where you can dress/change privately. And yes, after staying in a few hostels I've gotten annoyed with the folks who seem to be unhappy with the fact that it's not a five star motel kind of arrangement. I also long ago became weary of them for the same reason I don't like motels(even really cheap ones), they seem to attract all the wierdos. Is that just my experience or have other folks noticed this, how all the perverts seem to gravitate toward hostels/cheap motels rather than sleep outdoors?


----------



## bote (Jul 4, 2009)

yep, I worked the graveyard shift for awhile at a hostel in San Francisco, and definitely had a lot of wingnuts coming in. As for the whole shower thing, what exactly is the perceived problem? That someone else might see your weewee or your bird or whatever? That stuff doesn´t bother me, although at the Eugene mission they force you to take a shower before hitting the bunks and I was kind of worried about some sort of prison scene going down, or somebody rifling through my clothes, but no.


----------



## wartomods (Jul 9, 2009)

it is not problem at all, as i've done it several times, but i would rather have private stalls. Usually in comunal showers you are the weirdo if you are using shorts/swimsuit, lol, and if the place has comunal shower it certainly has a shared changing/dress place.


----------



## RnJ (Jul 26, 2009)

I agree with bote about how people percieve the travel as the price to pay for a week at whatever resort they go to. I have also found it interesting that people say things like "I can't afford to travel," when in actuality they only mean "I can't afford to fly to a third-world country and sit on the beach with unlimited drinks and a tour guide to take me on an 'adventure'"

I went international thinking all "backpackers" would be the raddest people one could meet...
I came back being utterly annoyed by most of them...


----------



## bote (Jul 26, 2009)

I`m at a hostel today doing laundry and chilling in Lima Peru, I hitched down from Quito and got here pretty dirty yesterday. This one is nice though, a really old Spanish Colonial style house with oil paintings all over and giant, gilded mirrors, and plaster busts of whoever (there`s one on the nighttable next to my head for my to hang my hat on), and 4 bucks a night. Not punk, but every now and then it`s good for a body to get a full night`s rest, and Lima might not be the best place to sleep in the park, although really I don`t know and everywhere else I`ve slept unmolested in Peru, though mostly in fields and such.


----------



## stellaxtara (Nov 26, 2010)

RnJ said:


> I agree with bote about how people percieve the travel as the price to pay for a week at whatever resort they go to. I have also found it interesting that people say things like "I can't afford to travel," when in actuality they only mean "I can't afford to fly to a third-world country and sit on the beach with unlimited drinks and a tour guide to take me on an 'adventure'"
> 
> I went international thinking all "backpackers" would be the raddest people one could meet...
> I came back being utterly annoyed by most of them...


 
Agreed. I haven't ever stayed in a hostel in the US I was hoping it would be like... well europe, central america & canada... I guess THAT bubble has burst. Wamp fucking wamp wamp.


----------



## Diagaro (Nov 28, 2010)

if yo ever been to jail/prison your fear of ppl seeing your junk goes right out hte window. cry some more insecure private showeres


----------



## billstack (Mar 10, 2011)

I know its an old post but heres a good little trick I picked up. Goto the hostel and walk in like you own the place and goto an open room and sleep, or if their locked, goto the shower or raid the communal food stash. at most hostels the front desk clerk is usually not even there.

35$? i could buy a weeks of groceries/beer and id probably get a better nightts sleep outside. The one in winnipeg is worse than jail, dont go there


----------



## RnJ (Mar 11, 2011)

You mean the Occidental? Or the house with a few rooms? Or the HI hostel (which is the only one Winnipeg has now, from what I understand). I think the HI, just off Ellice, and beside the LO-pub which is where all the hipsters used to go (til their scene got "blown up") is actually the best one Winnipeg has ever had. But yeah, still up there in price. Ridiculous. Plus hostels are usually noisey. Honestly, I don't know where in Winnipeg I'd want to sleep at night. I'm living right downtown, and I'd want to get at least 20 blocks East or South for the night.


----------

