When you think about living in a hostel, what do you think it’s like? Probably pretty nerve-racking after reading my last post… “Sounds rough”, some said. “You got it right”, my fellow long term residents told me. I got it right. Hopefully they’ll agree with me on this one, too.
What makes it so incredible, so much fun and so nice to live in a hostel? It is still a hostel, you share your accommodation with other people, you even share your bed because you only have bunk beds. So why do people actually decide to stay in a hostel? And, why did I choose to stay there instead of getting my own apartment in the suburbs of Edinburgh (in this case)? Here’s long-awaited (pardon me for having to wait) my ten reasons why to live in a hostel (in addition to cheap rent and awesome location). Here’s a pic I’ve taken just from about a five minute walk away from the hostel.
Here’s ten reasons why to live in a hostel
…Ready?
1. No more cleaning the house
First of all; You don’t have to clean. A hostel is a perfect place to live if you’re a person who hates cleaning. We have our own cleaners who keep the hostel nice and neat. Toilets, showers, dorms and common areas are cleaned and vacuumed once a day, the kitchen properly cleaned twice a day. I can’t remember the time I’ve actually vacuumed the last time – and still everything is clean! It’s amazing. Although, gotta admit, it still doesn’t mean you don’t have to do anything. You need to wash your own dishes always after use and if you make a big mess, of course you clean it. But that’s just common sense. Obviously.
(But of course, if you like cleaning, our hostel can always give you a cleaning shift – if you really really like it. But if your name is not Monica Geller I don’t believe that you actually like cleaning. So just, please, stop lying to yourself and enjoy your life instead of scrubbing the showers. Let some one else do it for you.)
2. Reception
Reception is sooo handy! It’s the best invention ever. (At least almost.) You can go there if you feel like something sugary such as KitKat or if you’re hungry and you want some noodles. You can also go there if you’ve forgotten to buy a milk from the grocery store, they have everything! Or you can just go there and hang out with your mates. Also if you have a question or two about something that’s happening in the town, you can go there. They’ll know. Or at least Google will. They are there for you. It is a hostel so there is a lot of short termers always who want to ask the same questions as you. Where is that? How to get there? What’s on tomorrow? Reception is perfect for you if it’s a new place for you to live in. You get to know the city better, they have all the maps and knowledge you need and you don’t have to worry about a thing.
Sometimes we also do some crazy stuff in the reception such as set up a karaoke party (yes, you heard right) or just do about anything we feel like; dance, lie on the floor, read a book, talk to the fish (yes, we have a fish tank there)… Anything. Or you can just stare at the short termers who are checking in or out. Hahaha. Not going to admit anything. Just do what ever you fancy.
On the left there’s a pic taken at our reception. Pretty cool, eh? That’s my Hungarian friend playing a fiddle that doesn’t have any strings. Don’t ask. 😀
3. Facilities
Living in a hostel doesn’t mean that it’s impossible to cook, watch TV or do the laundry. The facilities we have are exactly the same as you would have at your home, they’re just shared with other people. Our kitchen is fully equipped and there’s free coffee and tea so you can help yourself when you feel like it. We also have a free food section where you can find ex. buns and cakes always once in a while because few of the long termers work at cafes and bakeries so always after work they take some of the dainties they can’t sell the next day back home for us. 🙂
We also have a laundry but you’d have to pay for it and it works only with cold water… So it’s not really very helpful what it comes to actually washing and cleaning your clothes. 😀 But! You still have a working washing machine. Oh well, no one cares, you’re living in a hostel. Hostels are the kinda places that have very laid back atmosphere, no one really cares about unnecessary things or at least they can live with the discomfort. Some of them live there because of a choice, some do it because they don’t have any other chance, might be because of the lack of money or something else. For every person hostel life would not be ideal for sure, but for the ones that it is… It is very ideal. If you’re fun loving, ready to live with other people and want to meet new people from everywhere, it’s perfect for you. But it is very necessary for you to set your mind into a certain kind of freedom from care -mode. Otherwise you’re gonna have hard times in settling. For me it was a top choice. Could have not chosen any better. Soon we’ll come to the reasons why.
In a hostel you don’t have your own living room but in my hostel you’ll have a TV-room with eight amazingly comfy couches and hundreds of movies you can watch at any hour of the day. No need to worry about noise-sensitive, irritated neighbors – our TV-room walls are well isolated. Whether it was the early hours when the sun have already risen but you can’t fall asleep or the early hours when you’re just coming back from the bar and still feeling a wee bit tipsy. That’s when TV room is your place. At any hour of the day you can just go there and hang out with the people. It doesn’t really matter if you know them or not. They’re just people and that’s the only thing that counts in the end. 😉 There might be guys who have lived there for years or just random travelers from god knows whichever corner of the Earth, guys who are just planning to stay there only for overnight. (Of course when they realize how awesome the hostel is, they kinda want to stay there and just… magic happens. It reminds me of the Eagles’ song Hotel California; “You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave…”) 😀
There’s also games you can borrow, guitars and other instruments you can play and plenty of books you can read. Not all people (especially if you move into another city or country) have all the great nostalgic old board games to play at their new apartment. Those are the kinda special things only your childhood home usually provides – and even though if your apartment did have the games, how often do you actually have enough people there to play with? Not too often, I dare to guess. But think about when you’re living in a hostel… Only the sky is limit. You can play games in different languages, you can teach your craziest drinking games and funniest childhood card games to your fellow mates or – my favorite – you can make people say something in your utterly strange language when you play some card game such as “King’s cup” or some other game where you need to come up with a rule. I love it. I love Finnish language. It is so strange. 😀 The most memorable moment for me was when I was in Iceland just a few weeks ago and it was Finland’s independence day and I made the guys yell “HYVÄ SUOMI!!” with an attitude. I told them to mean it and wave their hand in the air with rave. It was awesome. It means “GO FINLAND!!” 😀 So that’s hostel life. It’s not house life in a normal home – it’s better. Oh, such a good times.
4. The people – short termers
Just think about it. You’re living in a place where first of all there’s people from all around the world. The people change all the time and chances for you to meet someone actually interesting and important increases a lot. And it does happen, more often than it would if you’d live alone in your own apartment. It really moves my heart to even think about all the inspiring and such a great people I’ve met during my nine months there. All the people I’ll remember for the rest of my life. All the people who I got to know and who got to change my life, every one a bit. It’s such a richness you can never get with money. People. Love.
All the moments you get to live with these people, even if it’s only for a day or two, an evening or a few. The new winds will always come and take the old mates away, they need to continue their travels. But then again, you won’t be regretting anything. You had brilliant time with those guys and world is small, who knows if you’ll meet someday somewhere again. The best part is that when the new wind comes, it’ll always bring some new people with it. And then, again, new memories, new stories to live. After setting the sun will always rise again. Days go pass but life will go on.
All the stories you hear from the people you meet, all the places you had never heard before but now they’re suddenly on your bucket list. You want to do that too! You want to go there too! God, so many times I’ve found myself thinking: “I didn’t even know that’s possible and here I am, talking to the person who’ve actually done that and been there. Wow, shit, I want to do that too.” Life is short, why not. 😉 I find it so inspiring when people tell me what they’ve done. It gives you whole new perspective, you realize how everything’s possible if you really want it and if you are ready to try. The world is open and it is right there – you just have to have the guts to take your stuff and go. Just try. What are you afraid? What can you loose? This kind of thinking, a way of life became a part of my reality, it’s all not just a dream anymore. It became part of me, part of who I am. And here I am now, holding tickets to Asia for next February. We’ve already planned on doing cycling around Bali and practicing yoga in a retreat on a top of a mountain in northern Thailand. It’s all possible. It sounds like it is not but it actually is. You just need to buy the ticket and go.
Short termers are usually the funniest ones. The moments we experience together become so special because we both know that the time we have is very limited. Some people will leave the next day, some people maybe the next week. So we take everything out of the time we have together in this amazing place. We’re alive and we live only once. Why wouldn’t we go out and have the craziest time in our lives and just simply… feel alive. It’s such a good feeling. I looove people when they go traveling. It changes them, it makes them want to be alive and live. Sadly, a thing people a bit too often forget when they’re too busy drowning into the daily grind of work and obligations. “No free time.”, “No time.”, bullsh*t. You do have time. Life is full of options. Although, I do know that in nowadays’ world you can’t really do anything without money. But when you do, that’s what I’m talking about. When you do have the money but you still continue complaining about… well, everything. No time, not even to breath. How on Earth can you find yourself in a situation so stressful that you can’t even breath? It shouldn’t be like that. It shouldn’t go like that.
And then people take off and go traveling. Some people quit their jobs, some take a vacation. But it’s all because they need it. And then they enjoy. Traveling, just even a wee vacation. They’re suddenly alive again. No stress, no obligations. Just chill. That’s hostel life, that’s travelers. And that’s what I love. Traveling makes people remember to live and reasons why they live. It’s beautiful. 🙂
When you travel there’s no such things as obligations. Every day is different, no routine, no schedules. Anything can happen; The same thing what it comes to hostel life. Travelers are the ones who build the place and the atmosphere we have there. That’s why there’s no such thing as a similar day. 🙂
5. The people – long termers
As much as I learned to love the short termers, I could’ve not lived in the place without all my mates. All the people you live with, all of your friends.
There’s all kinds of people. From the age of 18 to age of 40 or so. We’re all there together, living, chatting, having fun. We’re all one. No one cares about the age, we’re living together. Why wouldn’t you think someone who’s ten or twenty years older than you as a friend of yours, if you anyway do the same for the person who’s only three years older? Exactly, it doesn’t matter. Age becomes just a number. Such a clichè, but a true one.
But just think about it. Think about how you behave with your mates. All your good old mates who you like to hang out with, who you feel relaxed and good with. Now transfer all that to a life in a hostel. All of your mates, your whole group, get to live under the same roof. Awesome, eh? Think about it, you’ll always have a friend around who to enjoy a beer or a glass of wine with after a long day at work. You also get to spend all your free time with them. No need to set up a date or make a schedule. They’re all there, always. They live there! It’s their home also. You never have to ‘look’ for a friend, someone will always be there, someone to chat with. But then again it’s not like a little shared apartment only with five people – we have over twenty, sometimes thirty long term residents so you don’t have to be afraid of getting bored with the faces either. There’s always other people to hang out with. Plus the short term residents, of course.
Long term residents are your savior. They share the same kind of laid back attitude as you. Some of them are a bit quirky and special but that’s what makes it so good. Everyone can be themselves, no judging. It’s all of our home, no one wants to act anything else in the own home. Oh boy. After living in a hostel I believe I can say that everyone’s a bit weird in their own way. Some people don’t just admit it to themselves. 😀 Oh all those crazy things that’s happened at the hostel – from “dancing” ballet in the kitchen to falling asleep in the staircase, from playing table tennis in our dining room to witnessing all kinds of crazy things from the surveillance cameras. Hahahaa. Oh people. One of my ultimate favorites was the two Italians dancing in the kitchen. That was awesome. Radio had just started playing some song they know and apparently they had a choreography to it. We laughed so much. 😀
You get to know so many people from all around the world. You make friends with someone from England, Hungary, Argentina, Australia, Spain and someone from Slovenia. Just to mention few of them. They tell you about their countries and you find yourself really lucky to hear all these things from a local’s point of view. All the things from political issues to cultures and people. You get to know such a random stuff that makes your world view expand. Knowing this people makes you so much richer in a way you could have never imagined before. You know now better and it’s all the kind of knowledge you cannot just read from a book. One of the best parts also knowing this people is that they’ll be able to provide you a bunk when you find yourself in their home destinations. That is so cool. You can go anywhere and you’ll always have a place to go.
Us long termers, we’re like a big family. At first before I moved into the hostel I was a bit afraid of what’s gonna happen, who am I going to meet, is everything going to be okay. Am I going to get along with the people? I didn’t know what to expect but I was ready to try. And now look where it led me to. I became a part of a big, freaking awesome family who cares about each others and help if someone is in need. We are there for each other, in both good and bad. We share the same rooms, the same facilities. We eat our breakfast together, we cook together, we go shopping together and we drink a beer after work together. We go out together and we enjoy spending time with each other. We become friends and we get to know each other so well. They give you a hug if you need it or a kiss on your cheek when they see you. I miss that so much. I’m in Finland now, been here for few days only but I miss it so much already. I miss about going home and someone comes to you and gives you a big hug and kiss on both of your cheeks. They smile at you and make you feel better no matter how down you feel. They become your family and you become one of them.
The best thing is that everyone’s welcomed into the group. We’re flexible, we’re open to new people. There’s no bullying or childish behavior – we’re not in highschool anymore. We’re dealing with adults now. We’re just there to live our lives peacefully and having fun, enjoying each others company. Nothing less, nothing more.
Except… sometimes someone might steal your phone when you turn your back and take a selfie or two (thanks Kalle)… 😀 Love u xx
They became my family. They became my second home. They teach you to cook if you don’t know how to and help you to carry your groceries. They are there for you. We are a commune, we are all in this together. It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been there. And you’re always welcomed to come back again, whenever you feel like it. Here’s me goofing around in a hallway with Laura. ❤
I was really lucky with my time there. I got to live with some amazing people and I made some strong, hopefully life long friendships. They all made me one very very happy girl. There’s no experience like that, not a single one. And there is not going to be either. Nine months living and learning to live with people from different cultures, I am so thankful. I got to grow so much. I thank the guys for that. You’re the best. 🙂
6. You’re never alone
In a hostel you’re never alone – in good and bad. This time it’s good. When ever you were feeling a bit down or lonely, ex. the worst moments when you were missing home so bad that it hurt you physically, there was always someone for you. Someone who would come to you and give you a big long hug, someone who would help you when you needed it the most. And that’s what made the strongest bonds, life long relationships. Young people, especially, they all knew how I felt. They lived the same crises as I did, it was the first place for me to move after living at home in Finland. They knew how you felt and they could make you feel better. You never had to feel lonely. You had your best friend, or best friends, right there. I made really good friends with some of them. For example with a Hungarian woman who became almost like my big sister. I will never forget her.
You sleep in the same room with the people, you share everything. You live with them. Think about how well you get to know them and they get to know you. You can talk to anyone. It is like the friend group you would have at home. You never have to feel like you didn’t belong there when you go to the common areas and you see that it’s full of people. You can go to anyone. And there will always be some who will come to you and hug you or smile at you, ask how are you. Someone who actually cares about you. How was work? What are you doing tonight? Do you want to cook with us? Do you want to watch a movie after dinner? They care, why wouldn’t they? They’re your family. They make you happy and they’re always there for you.
In the photo we’re hanging out in the famous hallway. There’s Maija playing ukulele and singing, and me just starting to paint 🙂 This is how we spent our free time. Together.
7. Sunday dinners
Sunday dinners are the best things ever. We all gather together, everyone in the hostel. Some long termer cooks for about sixty people and we all go to our dining room and eat and chill together. It’s great. You remember those times when you used to live with your family and always when you were celebrating something you gathered and dined together. It’s like a Christmas dinner with all your family and friends, except it’s weekly and there’s bunch of random travelers in addition to your friends. It’s really nice. You get to see everyone and just eat. 😀 🙂 And often after that you all go out and drink some beer, dance, listen some good a live music and just have fun, enjoy life. That’s our Sundays. Every single Sunday of the year. It’s beautiful! Who wouldn’t love to dine and just hang out with their friends after a long and exhausting week at work? I thought so too. 😉
(No, that’s not a Sunday dinner in the photo 😀 That’s just my Finnish friend Maija getting some Finnish treats for the first time in ages! Hahaha, winning!)
8. There’s always someone going out
If you’re feeling like going out, there will always be someone to go out with. Whether it was someone who’s there just for one night and who wants to see the best pub in the town or some long termer you’d like to go out with just for a pint or two. Whether it was just going out in the park and lie on the grass under the big sun with some beers, just play guitar and chill or actually go out and drink and dance the whole night. No one cares what day it is, people there are always up for a beer or two (it’s never just one, right 😉 ). It’s almost impossible to get stuck in to the nowadays’ circle of life, the famous treadmill of life. Wake up, get up, wash your teeth, eat breakfast, drive to work, be at work, drive back home, eat, watch TV, take a shower, go to sleep. Wake up, get up… For forty years. Nope. Living in a hostel makes your life pretty interesting. The people make it interesting and the experiences you will end up experiencing is something you would not have had if you would live alone in a small quiet apartment. There’s an actual life happening around you at the hostel, all the time. Now, sometimes it makes you really annoyed because there’s always someone around you. But that’s only sometimes. I prefer to look at the bright side and be happy for having that awesome people around me. I think it’s great that the days are similar and you will not get bored, there’s always something going on.
9. It changes your life
Your life turns upside down when you move into a hostel.
You’re forced to live with people you didn’t know before and there’s people from all corners of the Earth. All those cultures, different kind of lifestyles and personalities you got to meet and live with. How they treat people around them, how they act towards everyone. Do they shake your hand, hug you or even kiss you? We don’t kiss people on the cheek in Finland, but look at me now. All kissing people, friends, family,.. my dog. 😀
At this age, living in a hostel was a top choice (as I mentioned before). You’re just growing up and learning all these things about life. In these last nine months I learned for example how to let go. How to beat the so called social pressure. Communicating with all people became very natural and easy. Even though it’s not even my first language. I am shocked now that I’m in Finland and they don’t do small talk here. You don’t talk to strangers and they don’t talk to you. What on earth!?! I don’t know how to be like that. I’ve just got used to chat with everyone! Fuuukin hell 😀 Oh life what did you do. 😀
You have people around you 24/7. Though the bathroom is private and showers too, but that’s about it. No more “my space”. You can try to conquer a couch in the TV- room but there’s always going to be someone jumping there, on you or something. They’ll make their way (photo). And so you can’t help but to learn how to live with people around you. And you think living with your family or a roommate (or two) is bad? Try to live with five other people in a six-bed-dorm, in addition to the fact that you’re sharing – not just your room but your bunk bed also. Plus of course the facilities and common areas. You share all these things with everyone, including the people you don’t know.
“Home is wherever I’m with you…”
I’m not going to lie. It was pretty tough in the beginning. But nothing good comes easy, right? 😉 Of course you need to try yourself and make the effort, try to get to know the people in the beginning etc. After a while it became actually quite normal for me to go home after work and just chat with people (even the ones I don’t know). It became so natural just to walk to the kitchen in the morning (or afternoon…) wearing only your pyjamas and make yourself a breakfast. No matter what time it is. You don’t really realize that there’s people around you anymore, after a while. It became so natural for me to hang out in the reception, yes, sometimes even (often) when wearing only my pyjamas. I just don’t care anymore. I don’t realize when there’s so called “normal” people (short termers) around me, I’ll do my stuff and continue my life. 😀 I’m so used to having random people around me that I’ve passed the point where I care anymore. It is my home and I will be there like I would be at home. 😀 But that’s the best part what it comes to our hostel. It is a home abroad for everyone. There’s people living so the whole atmosphere is just totally different than what it would be if you’d be staying in a hostel that has no long term residents there. In our hallways you might find us playing our guitars or ukuleles, singing Christmas songs – or about anything else from practice yoga to painting.(Yes, I’ve done it all.)
It just… it changes your life, the way you live and who you are. It changes your perspective to everything. And when you go back, you learn to appreciate your warm home with a great deal more.
All in all, if you add all the good and bad things together you get an amazing life experience that you will remember the rest of your life. It changed my life and moving to Edinburgh was one of the best decisions I’ve made in my life. It led me to such a beautiful places and people, such a memorable situations. Such a good life experience. I feel like… It opened the world for me. How great is that?
10. A home abroad
It became a home abroad. I’ll always now have a place to go back. The people. The atmosphere. Of course things will change and some things will stay the same but all in all… Edinburgh is not going to disappear anywhere. And that’s where it all happened, on the rainy and windy streets of Ed, with the people of all around the world. People I will not forget and memories I will cherish for the rest of my life. I can’t wait to continue my travels, after all this. Who knows what’s waiting for me somewhere there elsewhere. Just like I said, the world is open. You just have to take the leap and try. What have you got to lose? 😉
Thank you guys. For everything. You’ll stay in my heart forever. xxx
My plan was basically that I don’t have a plan. I had just returned home but I knew I couldn’t be there for any longer. I have always known that Finland is not my home so now that I had once left the place, it didn’t really feel like a big issue to leave it again. I did some calculating and I decided that if I don’t get a job in Scotland, I’ll just come back home after when my money run out. The only thing I was certain about was that I just couldn’t stay in Finland anymore. I had lived my days there and I didn’t have to go back. At least not yet, not in a long while.
wild world - my route 