A Brief Guide To Stress-Free Hostelling

Don't be fooled by those 'hardened' backpackers who love to recount nightmare hostel experiences, and like warriors sitting around a campfire comparing battlescars, relish outdoing each other with tales of hardship. Times they are changing and backpacking doesn't have to be an endurance test.

There are two keys to an enjoyable hostel experience: choosing wisely and being prepared. The Internet has revolutionised the way people book hostels by completely taking care of these needs. No longer is it a matter of turning up to a strange city, burdened by your backpack, scrounging around the backstreets searching for a place to stay, ending up in an over-priced under-cleaned hostel of dubious legality. Read on...

BEING PREPARED

The most important thing to do is book ahead! This is also the most important function of the Internet hostel services. There are a number reasons why this is important. Firstly, it guarantees a bed for you (nothing is worse than arriving in a fully booked city with nowhere to stay). Secondly, you have time to compare what's on offer and make an educated selection. Thirdly, you don't get ripped off by inflated prices.

Take five minutes to go online and guarantee yourself a place to rest your head. Less time searching for a hostel by foot means more time sightseeing/barhopping/sleeping off last night's debauchery.

CHOOSING WISELY

This is the second way that the Internet has come to the rescue. Before this, hostelling was a matter of luck, you either stumbled upon a good one, or had the blessing of a recommendation from someone you knew.

These days you can see everything that's on offer in a particular country, order the hostels by various factors such as price and customer satisfaction rating, and then select the best candidate to view further details (such as pictures and descriptions). From her??)???e, you can check out exactly which are the facilities offered (such as wireless internet, shared lounge, bar, etc.) and are even able to read the reviews of people who have stayed at the hostel before you.

Using the internet to help plan your trip doesn't take the flexibility out of backpacking, it takes away the hassle. Showering in your flip-flops, sleeping with earplugs, and all those other little joys that come with sleeping with multiple strangers in a small room aren't going to go away. But, c'mon! you don't really want to smooth over all the rough edges that makes backpacking such a unique way to travel do you?

Written by Alex Azzi and Rachel Jackson.