Hostels 101: How To Survive Hostel Life for Beginners
Figuring out how to survive hostel life is a long and gruelling process if you don’t get any help. But, it doesn’t have to be hard! There are so many tips & tricks that i’ve learnt during my time travelling that makes my life a hell of a lot easier. You can do it too.
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Your First Time In A Hostel
Your first time in a hostel can be nerve wracking. For a beginner, there’s definitely things to be put off by in hostels if you don’t know what you’re doing. But, working out how to survive hostel life should be fun and exciting! For one reason or another, you’ve found yourself in a hostel so it must mean there’s a bit of adventure in you. So I believe you can do it!
Hostels are amazing, but if you mention it to people back home, they might think you’re crazy for staying in one! There’s a perception that they’re dirty and unsafe, and whilst there are hostels that do fit that description, the large majority are completely fine.
What people don’t hear about is the stories you get from hostels or the people you meet! If I didn’t stay in hostels, I would not have the memories I do now.
How To Survive Hostel Life: Step-By-Step
This guide on how to survive hostel life is generally aimed at the beginner traveller, but that’s not to stay you won’t get anything out of it if you’ve already stayed in a few hostels!
I encourage you to read everything. This is everything that i’ve learnt after staying in over 70 hostels in my life.
So here we go, this is my step-by-step guide on how to survive hostel life.
Preparation
Ensuring you’re prepared before you arrive is the first step in making sure you get off to a great start for your first time in a hostel.
Making sure you have all of the hostel essentials to make your life easier and knowing what the hostel needs from you is important.
For example, in the description of most hostels – you’ll find whether they accept card payment or if it’s cash only! If they only accept cash, you’ll be able to get cash beforehand and pay on arrival rather than having to run back out to a bank. When I arrive to a hostel, I like to chill for a little bit and catch my breath.
Checking In
Great! You’re all prepped and ready to go.
The second step in making sure you get off to a great start staying in hostels is checking in! It’s probably the easiest part about how to survive hostel life.
When you arrive at your hostel, make your way to wherever the reception is – unless it’s a big chain hostel, they tend to be small desks.
They’ll always ask you:
The best hostels i’ve been to will then have a staff member / volunteer explain everything about the place you’re visiting – places to see, eat, drink and more! After this, they will explain the hostel rules, and might show you around the hostel before taking you to your dorm room.
Organising Your Belongings & Bed
“If you have any questions, let me know!” they say as you dump your bag on the ground.
You made it. There you are, stood in front of your dorm bed. But what next?!? “Is there a right way I should organise my bed?”, “Where do I put my stuff?”.
The first time I ever stayed in a hostel was in Laos, and figuring out how to survive hostel life was difficult! I didn’t do any research, I simply booked a bed and hoped I figured it out.
Gladly, after staying in over 70 hostels at the time of writing, i’ve figured out the best way to organise your belongings and bed whether I am in the top bunk or bottom bunk in a hostel:
Where To Put Your Bag In A Hostel
Most dorm beds will have enough room for you to slide your bag underneath your bed, but in the case that it doesn’t, find a spot near your bed you can put it without getting in the way of your dorm mates.
Where To Put Your Towel In A Hostel
Unless the dorm room has a towel rack (which in my experience is rare) I will hang my towel anywhere I can if i’m on the bottom bunk (except the ladder so the person in the top bunk can get up and down easily!). Sometimes you might have to get a bit crafty!
If i’m on the top bunk, I can hang my towel over the railings (this is one of the only perks of being in a top bunk).
Where To Put Your Toiletry Bag In A Hostel
I invested in an Osprey hanging toiletry bag before my first solo trip and let me tell you, it made a hell of a difference. Not only does it help in the actual showers, but it takes up less bed space! Which is the goal here.
Find anywhere to hang it on your dorm bed, whether that be the curtain railings or even over a light.
If all else fails, you can fold it up and put it back in your bag.
Pro Tip:
Put together a night kit! A little bag with a few things that you can stash under your pillow so when you get back to your hostel right before bed, you don’t need to be rustling around in your bag, waking people up.
Things you can include in your night kit:
At the beginning of my journey, I didn’t realise how important it is to organise your belongings and bed when I was figuring out how to survive hostel life. So, for that reason, do yourself a favour and make it easy for yourself!
Showers in Hostels
So, you’re all organised now! Assuming you’ve just jumped off a long flight or bus, or perhaps you’ve just walked up a hill for 40 minutes and you’re drenched in sweat, you’re going to want to wash all that grime away!
For your first time in a hostel, showers can be a bit awkward to navigate! But with a bit of practice you won’t have to worry about them in your quest to figure out how to survive hostel life.
What Are Showers in Hostels Like?
They are different in every hostel, but usually, your run-of-the-mill shower in a hostel won’t be anything luxury. Hostel life rarely is luxury! You should expect a small-ish cubicle with a couple of hooks for your towel, clothes and hanging toiletry bag.
My Best Tips For Using Showers in Hostels
Like i’ve mentioned, the showers in hostels can be a bit awkward to use! So here’s how you can make it a lot easier:
Cooking in Hostels
You’ve checked in, organised your stuff and had a shower. But now, you’re a bit hungry!
When I was working out how to survive hostel life, I found that cooking in hostels became more and more important.
It’s so expensive to eat out all the time when backpacking in Europe, Australia or New Zealand. So be prepared to cook! Throughout my 6 months in Europe, I barely ate out and instead cooked at my hostel. I was able to save so much money because of it.
My meals consisted of eggs on toast, sandwiches and then for dinner, pesto pasta was my go to! Maybe it’s not so glamorous having the same meals all the time but I was fine with it!
Unless you’re in some affordable places in Asia, Africa or South America – I really recommend cooking! So here’s some tips for cooking in hostels:
The Shop
Once you’ve had a scan for free stuff, now it’s time to head to the supermarket! My best advice for you would be not buying anything that will take too long too cook and is easy. Dominating the kitchen in a hostel when other travellers are trying to cook as well is seen as bad hostel etiquette.
Now You Can Cook!
Once you actually start cooking, there’s no real secret to it. It’s just like cooking at home. That being said, you must follow some rules!
Making Friends in Hostels
Making friends in hostels is key component to surviving hostel life. After all, the whole point in staying in hostels is not only having a budget bed, but meeting new people from all over the world.
It can be really difficult if you’re not making any friends and you might get your first case of solo travel loneliness.
As a bit of an introvert myself, it was quite hard at the start of my trip not meeting anyone and made me really try and work out how to survive hostel life. Over time, i’ve become so much more confident and found the easiest way to meet people in hostels. Here’s a few things I do:
There’s so much more that you can do, here is a great guide that covers making friends in hostels.
Washing & Drying in Hostels
As a long-term traveller, I need to wash my clothes all the time. Figuring out how to survive hostel life was hard, but washing & drying proved to be a bit more difficult than it needed to be.
My clothes, being made in Australia couldn’t be tumble dried! Seeing as it’s hot and sunny in Australia, we can just hang dry everything. Unfortunately, hang drying is not always possible when staying in hostels.
Here’s my best tips for washing & drying when travelling:
Sleeping in Hostels
Time for bed!
If you’re worried about how to survive hostel life, chances are that sleeping in hostels might be the thing that worries you most.
Now, obviously you want a good sleep. But what if you’re stuck with a snorer? Are you worried about people seeing you sleep? Not to mention people turning on the lights in the middle of the night!
Those concerns are completely valid – and I had them too during my first time in a hostel. Here’s what I do to make sure I get a good sleep:
Bonus Tips on How To Survive Hostel Life
When you’re travelling and staying in hostels, you’re likely to pick up some tricks yourself! Here’s just a few things you can do that I didn’t mention earlier.
1. Pick The Right Hostel For You
Picking the right hostel for you is so important for your comfort, safety and peace of mind. It can be really off-putting staying in a hostel that you don’t really like and can make surviving hostel life harder! Check out my guide on how to choose a hostel!
2. Pack Your Belongings The Day Before You Leave
When solo travelling on a budget – you tend to be on the move quite a lot! After a while, packing your stuff in the morning just before you check out becomes a pain in the arse. If i’m leaving the next day, I get most of my stuff packed the day before so I don’t have to worry about it in the morning.
3. Stay Organised
It will make surviving hostel life a lot easier if you just. stay. organised. Time and time again I see other travellers with all their things all over the place! It’s uncomfortable, painful to pack, and is annoying for the other dorm mates!
How To Survive Hostel Life: A Summary
Hostel life is one of my favourite parts about travelling – purely because as a solo traveller it can be lonely if you’re not meeting people! Hostels are a land of infinite possibilities, where dreams are made of (slight exaggeration maybe). But above all, staying in hostels is a must for backpackers alike.
Of course, figuring out how to survive hostel life is hard if you do it on your own! So I hope all of these tips and tricks helped you at least a little bit!
Book Your Trip With My Favourite Resources:
Cheap Flights: I always use Skyscanner to browse for cheap flights. It offers so many options to help you find a good deal! It even allows you to search for “anywhere” if you haven’t decided where to go yet!
Accommodation: I start my hostel search with Hostelworld. Most hostels are now on this platform making it the place to find the best hostel for you.
Travel Insurance: If you can’t afford travel insurance, you can’t afford to travel. It is so important to have when travelling as it will save you from illness, injury, theft and cancellations! I always use Worldnomads when travelling on a budget as they have the best deals for me.