Hostelling, or how my travels have changed over 25 years.

This morning had me thinking back to hostels. 25-plus years ago I spent a bit of time in them traveling around. Three years ago, I spent 12 days in Scandinavia in them (well, except for the last day).

Something in the last two years has made that hostel experience harder to get. But even before Covid-19, hostels seemed to have lost a lot of the wanderlust. Or, perhaps, it is just that my perceptions have changed. Or it could be that hostels have changed too.

My ideas of hostels have always revolved around the shared dorm room. You weren’t expecting privacy or even a place that was spotlessly clean. You wanted a bunk bed at the end of a day exploring and adventuring, probably getting lost and behaving like a bad traveler along the way. Part of it was knowing that you wouldn’t get a good night’s sleep because people come in drunk at 2 AM, and there usually was someone making a lot of noise out of some bodily orifice.

The hosteling set had a huge boost in the 1990s. It was hot as college-aged folks (I was one at the time) rediscovered the ideas of wanderlust that some hippy generations had. The hostels were booming (some quite literally with a lot of bass music), and student travel was experiencing a revival. Shows like Globe Trekker helped light the fire in many, including me.

Maybe it was the fact we were the last college generation that lived without smartphones. We had to do a lot the old-fashioned way, like going into STA travel and working with someone to set up tickets and places to stay. Even into the early 2000s most folks didn’t travel with a phone.

Tickets were something that you had to have in hand. Imagine spending an entire trip guarding your plane and Eurail ticket as much as your passport. I remember tearing pages out of a Europe travel guide to save the space of not bringing the whole thing.

Even then, I was early to the online booking and reservation system. Some of the stuff I did get myself online on web 1.0. The Eurail pass, some hotels, and you were able to get info, but only if you went directly to someone’s site. This was the time before Google became the catchall for everything.

I’m not dissing today’s travel. I honestly love the tech we have. So much easier to get around with maps and translations. There is always going to be a retro crowd. And traveling lo-fi is awesome, but it’s nice to have a backup in your pocket.

I’ve fallen into a habit when I travel these days. It’s one of those good and bad habits. I tend to walk everywhere. No, it’s like a curse. One I like the slow pace, and walking is good for you. But at the same time–it takes forever! There are times after a trip that I wish that we did more. Sometimes I need to learn to take the damn bus.

One day in Reykjavik, we walked 30k steps. Was it worth it? Yes. We got a feel for the parts of town where locals live. After that, should we have just used the bus? Hell yes, we would have covered more ground.

We did the same thing while visiting Vancouver, BC. We saw many neighborhoods but not enough of the whole city. In hindsight, we need to get on the bus more.

There is something about getting lost in a place. Walking helps you do that. Staying in a hostel too. Hotel rooms are great, but how many of us fall into the trap of chillin’ in the room watching TV? I know I have. With a hostel, no TV (unless it’s in the community room), so you have to go out and interact.

Not that we are all social butterflies. I have my moments. Most of the time, I am fine in my own company. It’s nice to have other people there, even if I don’t interact with them.

When I travel alone, it makes a lot fo sense to save cost sleeping in dorm-room hostels. Once you throw a second person in the mix, It’s sometimes cheaper to find a cheap hotel. There are a lot of hostels that do offer private rooms, but usually at the same price as a local budget hotel.

Then there is the change in hostels. Many have moved away from the dorm rooms to smaller private rooms. So there has been a huge change in the hostel experience in the last 20 years. Expectations of younger travelers have changed. Experience and design hold more sway than just a cheap bad. At least, that’s what social media will tell you.

But cheap travel is cheap travel, and there will always be folks who want to see the world and don’t have a trust fund. Traveling on dad’s money like Dickey Greenleaf sure would be fun. But that’s not going to happen for most of us.