Hostel? Like a hostile conversation?

A friend of mine recently reacted to the news that we were backpacking through Europe and staying in hostels with the above statement. Hilarious.

Mickey and I decided to backpack through Europe and stay in hostels for many reasons. First, we discovered hostels back in 2001 when we took a cross country road trip to California. It was amazing to say the least. And, staying in hostels allowed us to meet new people that were of similar age and interests as well as to travel on the cheap. Cheap accommodations means more money for other things! Thanks to our cousin, Joseph, for intro'ing us to the idea of hostels.

And, yes, I will admit that hosteling may not be for everyone. It offers more of a "dorm" setting than anything. Most times you share rooms that contain bunks with 8-10 other people and you have common areas such as a television/game room, kitchen, laundry, etc. It's really a neat experience. Check out the hostel we stayed in in San Diego.

In the kitchen of our hostel

The game/common area

The tv/movie room

For us, hostels were the obvious choice for our backpacking trip. Many people look at us like we're crazy when we tell them we're backpacking and staying in hostels. Maybe you have to experience it once to really appreciate it. Or maybe it's because we've been mostly talking with our parents and older fam. Maybe they'd have responded differently back in the day!

Either way, we're looking forward to staying in the hostels and meeting other travelers. Word is that many of the travelers we will meet will be, most likely, Australian or British...apparently there aren't as many American backpackers as one would think. Interesting.

So, stay tuned for all of the hosteling adventures to come! And, no, they won't be hostile adventures...they will be non confrontational, pleasant adventures!