I’ve spent the last four days at the Hostel Che Tulum.  One new friend who has stayed at hostels all over Latin America said she thought this was the best hostel in all of Latin America.  I was just about to write how there is a chill morning vibe, which is true, but it’s 8:50am and they turned on the music for the day.  From this point forward, there will be music until at least midnight.   They got the chill music vibe thing going on right now.  

Hostel-ing is all about setting expectations, realigning expectations and really letting go.   Sometimes when I was working full time and looking for a backpacking-style vacation, I would purposefully stay in hostels.  I eventually had to stop doing this because it was really hard to return to an office job after experiencing the backpacker culture for a short five day stint.  Either I wasn’t getting the relaxation I needed out of the vacation or the taste of the hostel lifestyle made me jealous and angry.  I think I was angry that I didn’t have the same freedom as the other travelers and I felt teased by all of their travel stories and newly discovered less-documented travel destinations.  At the same time, I enjoyed the idea of meeting people from all around the world, practicing my French and learning about who these other mysterious backpackers really are.

Hostel Types

In the two-dimensional array of hostels, there are two types of vibes of hostels, in my estimation: party hostel and chill hostel.  In addition, there are two structural style types: building and campground.   Any unique combination of the two criteria are valid: party building, chilll campground, chill building and party campground.

A building is not going to have bathrooms located outside.  It might be located near a landmark or not, that is described later in the “Making Things Easier” section.  A building probably has an entry lounge.  A party building will definitely have a bar adjacent to the lounge. A chill building will have space for you to read, by yourself. A campground might have sone outdoor toilets. I call it a campground because they most likely also allow campers with tents or RVs, but the structure you will be sleeping in will resemble a summer camp bunk. 

Campgrounds are more rustic by their definition.  In the world of hostels, your building might end up being rustic too.  In my most recent quiet campground hostel, we had air conditioning.   Buildings are bigger and breakfast will be busier.   You might think that buildings are more conducive to partying but party campgrounds do exist, like The Yak at Lago de Bacalar, which apparently is frequently booked to capacity.

The best way to travel solo and make guaranteed new friends along the way is to stay at a party hostel as your first stop.   Yes, you too can be a 35 year old enjoying party hostel culture.  If you are looking to take a break from alcohol, stay at the chill hostel.  Booze is a big theme at the party hostel.

Social Element

Now we will get to the juicy stuff.  In the party hostel environment, you will most likely make automatic friends.   Conversations are typically light but flow freely.   If you are in a hot weather location, my preference, there will be eye candy beyond your wildest imagination.   Acknowledging the beauty around you is key because you must remember that you are beautiful too, otherwise you wouldn’t be there :-)

Healthy, natural-bodied men walking around shirtless in board shorts, women in bikinis, unbuttoned shirts, tank tops, flip flops, legs, knees, thighs and most importantly: smiles.  I am frequently wowed by the super hotness at hostels.  What is it about backpacking that attracts such handsome men and beautiful women?   Why do they seem to all be fit?  Is there a correlation between the backpacking active traveler and living a healthy, active lifestyle?  Or am I just surrounded by genetically defective people who can process lipids through the art of Star Trek transporting their unhealthy food into a black hole thereby never making it into the bloodstream?

You will meet people from around the world.  In my first day at Hostel Che Tulum, I met people from Lithuania, Germany, France, Israel, UK, Australia (of course), The Netherlands, Argentina, Italy, and Portugal.  You guys know that I love practicing my French... in my first few days I had opportunities to speak in French, Hebrew and German.  This is while I am speaking Spanish to get around town and order food.  I feel like I’m using these parts of my brain that needed more exercise for a few years.   I feel stimulated, challenged and motivated to improve my language skills.  It is a wonderful feeling.

 ”How old is everyone there?  I’m too old for this stuff.” Shut up.  No, you aren’t and just stop with your nonsense all the time.  Your excuses are so boring.  Here’s what: you will rarely be able to accurately guess how old the beautiful people around you are.  You might as well bring it up during drunk conversation because once everyone gives their big reveal, it will blow your stereotypes of age out of your judgemental skull-head and you will feel like such a bitch.   Well, you are a bitch, but people still like you.  

Once you get over yourself and really accept that people are talking to you and genuinely interested in why you are traveling, you will start to make connections.   These connections may eventually change your plans!   Another amazing part of the social culture of hostels is that the backpackers are typically en route and will inspire you with new travel destinations on your current trip!  You may even decide to travel together.   Next thing you know, you are sharing experiences of actual travel with people from around the world.   Last night I sat around Lago de Bacalar with a lovely solo traveler 25 year old lady from Finland, guys from Germany, Montreal, Israel, and the UK.  One of the UK guys fought for NATO in Afghanistan.

Regarding my nationality, I kinda like being the only guy/person from the US.  Also it is super weird how many Australians backpack.  It’s always been like this for the 20 years I’ve been hosteling.  They embrace backpacking culture as a rite of passage.   For some Australians, I’ve noticed that they are a little less excited about their overall travel experiences because they kinda always knew they’d be traveling, their older siblings did it and now they are doing it and they are here and now they are drinking and now they are chilling and this is how it is supposed to be.  

I’ve met 21 year old Australians that have traveled way too much.  What’s the rush?  How much can you appreciate at such a young age?   Then there’s the drugs.  Please don’t travel the world at 20-21 just to do drugs everywhere.  I cannot imagine that being a good idea.  One drugged up Australian 21 year old was trying to convince me that $3,500 MXN pesos was super cheap and the equivalent of $10 AUS.   Those are the moments when I decide that I don’t have to be right and it’s better to smile and nod and fake-chuckle.  Oh, this same person also referred to the historical Chichen Itza site by her newly invented Australian-accented abbreviation “Chichen ”.   Nope, not a thing.   “I think we are going to skip Chichen.”  Good, skip it and don’t bring it up. No one cares and it isn’t called that.  We do not abbreviate the names of ancient, glorious archaeological sites.   We should not do that, it’s disrespectful.   The people of the Yucatan are descendants of the Mayans.  Fucking drugs and Chichen.

I have found that people from almost every other country seem to have a more of a chipper attitude about travel itself, like the novelty has not worn off yet    It is super hard to read French travelers because they are so worried about their lack of English or Spanish skills that they tend to stick to themselves and end up looking like they want to be left alone.   When they meet me and we speak French, I get to see their genuine personality and excitement.   I am then able to surmise that it’s the language confidence issue that blocks them from really accepting all of the feelings around them.

The Lithuanians made it very clear how much they hate Russians.  The Dutch seem to be excellent conversationalists and drink a bit more than you would think.  The Israelis get their own future post because it’s part of my identity and whoa that’s a post.  I’ve met two computer programmer backpacking freelancers so far.  They get their own post too. 

Making Life Easier

How much schlepping do you want to do when you arrive?   Is your hostel near a bus station?  Can you walk?  Would you even want to walk?  Maybe consider a taxi because they are affordable in Mexico and typically wait at bus stations.  If your bus is arriving late at night, you might not find any taxis so consider calling the hostel so they can call a local taxi to pick you up.  

If you are using a hub-and-spoke model for your travel, consider leaving your big bags at a hub hostel and taking a weekend bag to your side trip. Then the schlepping consideration is significantly reduced.    I love this plan. 

Do bunk beds piss you off?   Well if you want to stay at a place for $11 USD/night, get over it.  I prefer bottom bunk but oddly, I’ve met peapple who prefer the top bunk.  You may find someone willing to switch.  If you don’t like sharing sleeping spaces with strangers, the private rooms are usually a great option.

These shared rooms also have their own bathrooms.   Hostels also have building-wide bathrooms.   I prefer to shower in my room and to do #2 in the public restroom.   This helps guarantee that our room smells only like fresh shower.

If the hostel doesn’t have simple things like lockable bathroom doors, filled soap dispensers, a good hot shower, then the hostel sucks and you know not to go back.  The reviews on Hostelworld speak the truth!

Perks

Some interesting features I’ve recently seen: laundry service, towel rental, day trips, buffet dinners, and smoking hash with innkeepers.   When I was in Venice, Italy, the entire hostel dined together nightly with wine and pasta.   Then one or two of the girls would join the two very handsome innkeeper hipster dudes to the attic where they would smoke hash and turn downstairs later with their hair all messed up.

The organized trip from Tulum to Akumal was how I made most of my friends in Tulum.  Even though Akumal was just a resort town filled with overweight Americans, it was super cool to be on the beach with the international hostel crowd.   

Folks have spoken highly of the laundry service at Hostel Che Tulum but they don’t rent towels.  Weird.

Booking

Everyone and their mother books using Hostelworld.  They have really figured out the market and they have been doing this since the dawn of the web.  I booked my first hostel, The Generator in Russell Square, London, on Hostelworld in 2004.  [I might need to fact check this].

Is it for you? 

Hosteling and backpacking is not for everyone, and that is totally ok.  Do not feel badly if everything I wrote about above makes you feel super eyeroll-y.  If you do not have to return to a stressful life (ooh another post idea!), are traveling solo, are looking for spontaneity in your travel experience and can compromise on some standard hotel amenities (like toilet bowl seats), you might just have what it takes to be a part of this awesome hostel world that I love; an $11 USD/night world with a $4.50 USD Argentinian BBQ buffet and $2 USD Coronas where you sleep in bunk beds in rooms with strangers, use public toilets daily and watch very attractive people smile together. laugh and sometimes dry hump and shake their asses (another post idea!).