When I’m planning a trip, before booking anything, the first thing I do is make sure that I’ll have somewhere to stay. There’s no sense in booking a trip to a place if you don’t have anywhere to sleep there. This doesn't necessarily mean that you need to book your entire trip before you go. For example, when I was going to Greece this summer, I knew I was going to stay there for a long time but I wasn't sure exactly how long. I was thinking about traveling a bit towards the end of my trip. I booked a roundtrip international plane ticket to Athens, the ferry to the island of Ios, and a room in Ios for 1 week. Once I got there, I was able to find a room in the village where I lived for most of the summer. I eventually decided to spend my whole summer there, so I waited until my last week to book my ferry ticket back to Athens. When it comes to lodging, there are a lot of options. There are hotels, motels, hostels, resorts, apartments, room rentals, cabins, tents, igloos, boats, couchsurfing, and many more.
My personal favorite are hostels (although I have a lot of good things to say about AirBnb). Before I started traveling, I thought that when somebody said the world “hostel”, that they were just mispronouncing “hotel”. I quickly learned the difference while traveling. The difference between a hostel and a hotel is that a hotel is where you stay when all you’re looking for is a nice room to sleep in. A hostel is where you stay when you’re looking to meet young people from all over the world who are doing the exact same thing as you: traveling and discovering what the world has to offer. There is at least 1 party hostel in every city in Europe and probably the world, and it’s easy enough to find them. Most hostels have a bar where everyone hangs out and it makes it very easy to meet people. When I was backpacking around Europe when I was 17, I was traveling by myself the whole time, but I was never alone. Everywhere I went I made new friends at the hostel and we would go out all day and night and have a great time. Thanks to the multitude of hostels I’ve stayed in, I now have friends from everywhere from Tasmania to Lebanon to Iceland.
The first hostel I ever stayed in was the best hostel experience I have ever had. It’s called Far Out Beach Club located in Ios, Greece, which I loved SO much, I ended up going back there the next year and living and working there the whole summer. I paid $8 per night (yes, $8 per night) and stayed in a small 2-bed bungalow with a stranger (girl) I had never met, although we became friends very quickly since she was also traveling by herself. The only things in the room were the 2 beds, a mirror and a chair. No mini-fridge, no closet, no bathroom, no fan (there was optional air-conditioning but it’s an extra few euros per night) but it was absolutely perfect. I shared a communal female bathroom/shower house located only a few feet from the room (and it was cleaned often enough). Now for the best part, the hostel is located right on the beach and has a massive outdoor nightclub, a dozen bars, multiple swimming pools, stores, restaurants, water sports, pretty much anything you could ever imagine, right outside of my door. All of these are open to the public almost 24/7, and it cost me $8 a night.
You see places in Mexico that look like Far Out but cost upwards of $200 a night. I want people to know that expensive is not your only option!!!!! Yes, Greece is a cheap country but it’s not the only place where you’ll find deals like that. I stayed in a very nice hostel in the center of Florence, Italy, called PLUS Hostel Florence (which I highly recommend). I was in a 4-bed female dorm room but only had 2 roommates (who didn’t speak any English so I couldn’t really talk to them). The hostel has a beautiful outdoor swimming pool and lounge area, a bar, restaurant, large rooftop terrace, and a nice bathroom and shower in each room. This cost me $20 a night. PLUS is a chain of hostels in Europe, and I was so pleased with my experience there in Florence that I stayed in another PLUS hostel when I went to Venice. I believe there is another one in Barcelona and another in Prague.
Sometimes hostels aren’t the best (or cheapest) option out there. I will warn you, if you’re trying to get a lot of sleep, you won’t want to stay in a dorm room in a hostel. Most of them have private room options as well but they obviously cost a lot more, although it’s probably still cheaper than a hotel. I always stay in dorm rooms in hostels because it’s the easiest way to meet people and it’s the cheapest option, but when I took a spur of the moment trip to Barcelona to meet up with an Australian friend I had just recently met in Greece, I decided to spend the least amount of money possible and stayed in a 16-bed dorm room in a hostel, which cost about $15 per night. I almost immediately regretted it. Even though the hostel itself was very nice, there were 15 other people (men and women) who were sleeping in the same room as me. I tried to sleep a little my first night because I hadn’t really met anybody and my friend hadn’t gotten there yet, but there were 3 or 4 different men all snoring extremely loud so I just decided to go out at 1am when I couldn’t sleep. My other 2 nights there, I had met up with my friend and we met a few more people so no sleeping was done the rest of my time there. Luckily I ended up having a great time there despite the 16-bed dorm room and will definitely be returning to Barcelona.
In my next post, I’ll talk about other lodging options like AirBnb and Couchsurfing and tell some more travel stories. Till next time! :)
My personal favorite are hostels (although I have a lot of good things to say about AirBnb). Before I started traveling, I thought that when somebody said the world “hostel”, that they were just mispronouncing “hotel”. I quickly learned the difference while traveling. The difference between a hostel and a hotel is that a hotel is where you stay when all you’re looking for is a nice room to sleep in. A hostel is where you stay when you’re looking to meet young people from all over the world who are doing the exact same thing as you: traveling and discovering what the world has to offer. There is at least 1 party hostel in every city in Europe and probably the world, and it’s easy enough to find them. Most hostels have a bar where everyone hangs out and it makes it very easy to meet people. When I was backpacking around Europe when I was 17, I was traveling by myself the whole time, but I was never alone. Everywhere I went I made new friends at the hostel and we would go out all day and night and have a great time. Thanks to the multitude of hostels I’ve stayed in, I now have friends from everywhere from Tasmania to Lebanon to Iceland.
The first hostel I ever stayed in was the best hostel experience I have ever had. It’s called Far Out Beach Club located in Ios, Greece, which I loved SO much, I ended up going back there the next year and living and working there the whole summer. I paid $8 per night (yes, $8 per night) and stayed in a small 2-bed bungalow with a stranger (girl) I had never met, although we became friends very quickly since she was also traveling by herself. The only things in the room were the 2 beds, a mirror and a chair. No mini-fridge, no closet, no bathroom, no fan (there was optional air-conditioning but it’s an extra few euros per night) but it was absolutely perfect. I shared a communal female bathroom/shower house located only a few feet from the room (and it was cleaned often enough). Now for the best part, the hostel is located right on the beach and has a massive outdoor nightclub, a dozen bars, multiple swimming pools, stores, restaurants, water sports, pretty much anything you could ever imagine, right outside of my door. All of these are open to the public almost 24/7, and it cost me $8 a night.
You see places in Mexico that look like Far Out but cost upwards of $200 a night. I want people to know that expensive is not your only option!!!!! Yes, Greece is a cheap country but it’s not the only place where you’ll find deals like that. I stayed in a very nice hostel in the center of Florence, Italy, called PLUS Hostel Florence (which I highly recommend). I was in a 4-bed female dorm room but only had 2 roommates (who didn’t speak any English so I couldn’t really talk to them). The hostel has a beautiful outdoor swimming pool and lounge area, a bar, restaurant, large rooftop terrace, and a nice bathroom and shower in each room. This cost me $20 a night. PLUS is a chain of hostels in Europe, and I was so pleased with my experience there in Florence that I stayed in another PLUS hostel when I went to Venice. I believe there is another one in Barcelona and another in Prague.
Sometimes hostels aren’t the best (or cheapest) option out there. I will warn you, if you’re trying to get a lot of sleep, you won’t want to stay in a dorm room in a hostel. Most of them have private room options as well but they obviously cost a lot more, although it’s probably still cheaper than a hotel. I always stay in dorm rooms in hostels because it’s the easiest way to meet people and it’s the cheapest option, but when I took a spur of the moment trip to Barcelona to meet up with an Australian friend I had just recently met in Greece, I decided to spend the least amount of money possible and stayed in a 16-bed dorm room in a hostel, which cost about $15 per night. I almost immediately regretted it. Even though the hostel itself was very nice, there were 15 other people (men and women) who were sleeping in the same room as me. I tried to sleep a little my first night because I hadn’t really met anybody and my friend hadn’t gotten there yet, but there were 3 or 4 different men all snoring extremely loud so I just decided to go out at 1am when I couldn’t sleep. My other 2 nights there, I had met up with my friend and we met a few more people so no sleeping was done the rest of my time there. Luckily I ended up having a great time there despite the 16-bed dorm room and will definitely be returning to Barcelona.
In my next post, I’ll talk about other lodging options like AirBnb and Couchsurfing and tell some more travel stories. Till next time! :)
Sunset from the restaurant at Far Out
More sunsets at Far Out
Another day on the job at Far Out
Watching the sunset from a friend's room at Far Out
The view from the rooftop terrace of my hostel in Florence
Hanging out by the pool during the heat wave in Florence
Beautiful Venice
More hanging by the pool with a cocktail bucket in Venice during more heat wave
The most beautiful man made structure I have ever seen - the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain
Little rooftop pool at my hostel in Barcelona
Hostel drinking games with new friends in Barca