Sup. I’m Radical, and I love travelling and adventure.
And also, I love hostels.
To me they symbolise freedom from being tied down to one location, to a rent, to a small flat I was sick of seeing, to a stale social circle and to a shitty job I hated. For me they facilitated a host of new experiences in every brand new city I ventured to, and relationships with countless new people that I met along the way. Their existence, in no small part, enabled me to make the best decision I have made to date - quitting my career focused life path in a major European capital, and fucking off to see the world.
My experience
I have travelled around Europe and the US almost exclusively using hostels for accommodation. And since that period of adventure I have spent the last 2 years living in Australia - during which time spent several months in hostels on a long term basis.
My experience is entirely what shapes the advice in this article. If your personal plan is doing a week or long weekend somewhere via the hostels then I maintain most of this is still applicable. Just be aware I am writing this from a history of extended travel periods.
With regards to girls: To date I have slept with 10 different girls that I met in hostels, or pulled them back to a hostel for sex. 3 were retained to varying degrees. My estimate is I have managed to have sex in hostels some 30 or so times and I was mostly in dorm rooms.
I could and should have done a lot better to be honest. I have only been serious about self improvement and getting laid for the past year, and during that time I have mostly opted to live in a flat - either shared or on my own. The majority of my hostel lays occurred when I wasn’t close to being maxed out; in looks, style, social freedom and experience. I have followed the GLL concepts since 2014 when I found the site, but I had certainly not gone all in. Some good mates of mine have posted insane results from hostels. 2 in particular, that I still hang with occasionally, claim lay counts over 300 and I witnessed a lad (ex model as it happens) shag 6 girls in 5 days.
A big mistake: for half of my US travels I was staying faithful to a girl so did not attempt to get laid. I turned down some opportunities which I now regret and had to watch my friend clean up. To be precise I have been single for roughly 9 months of the time I spent living in hostels. I do not advise this travel style if you are in a relationship.
The two main different types of hostels: Short term only and long term stays.
I will be primarily talking about short term hostels. These I loosely define as somewhere you cannot stay for more than 2 weeks. It is the main experience I imagine most readers will have.
Long term stays I have only experienced in Australia, as it is an integral part of the backpacker culture. If you plan to stay in a particular city for longer than your hostel will allow then it is perfectly possible to jump between different hostels in that city, or sometimes the hostel will allow you to come back if you had a break from staying there for a few days.
The difference between the two can be night and day. You will find it easier to make friends in short term stays as the long term hostels encourage cliques among the residents. Those can be tricky to break into if you are only around short term, and residents may even be a bit anti-social to short termers. There will be long term specific advice dotted throughout this article as well though, so pay attention if you are interested or you are specifically coming to Australia/other countries with these hostels.
Why should you choose hostels over airbnb / hotels / sleeping in a rental / finding a girl to stay with / kipping in a bus station or ditch?
For this part I’m going to assume you are travelling alone or maybe one other travel buddy at most. You should opt to travel alone as well in my opinion, but that's a case for another article.
Vs Airbnb or Hotels: It is the inexpensive travel option. I have yet to visit a city where it wouldn't be cheaper to stay in the hostels vs hotels. Airbnb can be an option for sure if you have a travel companion but you will end up isolating yourself with that companion which has its own issues.
Vs sleeping in a rental: This is a different kind of travelling, it's certainly the right option if you are with a companion and there is a lack of hostels. Usually it's because you are travelling to see nature not cities, or in a country that is lacking in big towns and cities - like New Zealand por ejemplo. I do feel too isolated when I do this.
Vs finding a girl locally to stay with: If you are capable of doing this consistently then be my guest. I could see it causing potential drama and being a high risk way of travelling. I have met lads that used the couchsurf app and ended up sleeping with hosts, it didn’t come across that appealing to swap sex for somewhere to crash.
Vs kipping in a bus station or ditch: it sounds like you may have been lacking the appropriate funds to go travel in the first place. Try to avoid sleeping rough. I have slept in airports and greyhound stations before waiting for transfers, it's not enjoyable.
In general though why are they great?
Against the most obvious accommodation alternative, i.e. hotels or airbnbs, they are the more adventurous choice.
Continually choosing to stay mixed in with a large group of strangers in every new city will benefit your development as a person. They are for the most part safe in my experience, at least where I have travelled. And these places attract people with the same open and adventurous mindset that you should have. You will, after some practice at it, be able to build a cool, short term social circle - to go on adventures with in the city or famous area you have chosen to visit. And hopefully meet some cute, open minded girls along the way.
Additionally I have found it easy to make long lasting deeper connections with many of the travellers I rolled with. It's sick when you can rock up in their city, wherever that is, and drop them a message. More often than not they will come meet the guy the had a fucking good time hanging with on their own holiday/journey.
At this point I basically have a global network of people that I can go bounce between on my way round. I'm not saying you couldn’t build this without hostels - many of us are globally networking through the forums for instance - but I think it’s a great learning curve for young guys who need to learn networking skills. Especially if you want to do it fast and in a non-forced sort of way.
Finally it will 100% get you comfortable meeting and hanging with girls if that is something that you struggle with or have little experience of. And potentially you will get over the paralysing, oneitis causing effect hot girls can have on the more inexperienced - because you will have to share a dorm room or two with a hot chick. Typically when you see girls on travels and/or share space with them, it's hard for them to present as well as they can on say instagram. Also you spend more time with them and realise they are just people, most of them are pretty fucking cool too.
Who is this aimed at?
Younger guys primarily - as in the 18-25 range. I 100% consider travelling to be a viable option for those in this age range that are focused on self improvement, or merely just enjoying their formative years. Now this isn't to say I’m telling older guys not to use hostels, but it will be harder for you. One of the reasons being many hostels have age limits (often designated as youth hostels). There are reportedly hostels in the larger cities aimed at older travellers but I have not stayed at any to date.
Younger guys will more naturally fit into the usual crowds that show up to hostels. And if you are just out of education and lacking in funds then hostels are basically a necessity if you wish to travel.
This is also specifically aimed at guys with good English. I can’t really emphasise this one enough. It is the international language as far as travellers go. Even in countries I have visited where it is less spoken (Eastern Europe) the travelling community is dominated by young English speakers. And it would hamper your ability to connect with people if you can’t understand the conversations happening. Caveat to this one is that I have not experienced travelling as a non english speaker so this is observation based.
Finally if you have maxed out your looks (at least to above average) and have the ability to approach, this already puts you head and shoulders almost all other male travellers. It's certain that a guy that has his shit together by the standards of GLL or KYIL would absolutely clean up in hostels.
The How To Do It part
Booking: Hostelworld is a good app for finding and booking hostels easily - it's what I use. You can also do it via booking.com and any other site of that ilk too - sometimes there will be better deals on those. These sites also have rate and review sections which is a nice bonus. I trust the ratings/reviews on hostelworld more because it's a niche app used mostly by travellers whereas booking.com is more normie ridden.
Checking in: It’s better to always ensure you show up in daylight hours and when the reception is open. Not all receptions are open 24 hrs. Generally you will need to provide a passport at check in - if you are a native of the country check the hostel isn’t international only beforehand as well. Passports can also be left as collateral if you are having payment issues on arrival.
Travel Light: As light as you can manage guys. Hostels do not always have great storage and if you are travelling with a couple of big suitcases you are gonna find dorm rooms where even that will max out the available space. After your essentials (i.e. toiletries, electronics, chargers, a week's worth of underwear and socks, footwear etc) you should only need like 2-3 decent outfits for going out. You should pack hiking gear too, which could feasibly double as gym wear if you want to visit gyms while travelling. My wardrobe is pretty minimal (but stylish) most of the time anyway. I don’t recommend taking any more than one large backpack worth - a 35L-45L one in terms of capacity plus a smaller one for day trips. Beyond just a lack of storage its best to stay as mobile as you can too, hostels have a habit of making you move rooms if you extend or complain about a room.
Making travel friends: Confession time. I was terrified that I would be unable to connect with people and make friends when I first left the UK. I had booked a return flight from LA with 3 months between landing and return (the length of a tourist visa), and I had a recurring fear that I would be stuck in a hostel room in LA for the entire time on my own.
In essence the process is exactly the same making friends from a more stable location, except easier. You have to force yourself through the awkwardness and fear you feel to talk with people and form instant connections that all humans are capable of. It's easier because the sheer number of opportunities you have to meet new people is way higher in hostels, and they are all trying to make travel friends as well (for the most part).
What do you talk about you ask? After a while you realise you have the same intro conversation with everyone: where are you from? Where are you going? Where have you travelled before? What are you going to get up to in this city/area?. It's really simple small talk anyone can do and the main subject is travelling itself for the most part. Get a couple beers down you first if you have to but make sure you introduce yourself to people and start these small chats. Pro travel insight: names are always the last thing that comes up in these beginning conversations. Not sure why, guess no one really cares what your name is.
At the beginning due to social fear I would predominantly make friends with my roommates. This had the obvious drawback of relying on being put with good roommates.
As I gained more confidence I would chat to new people wherever you can find them - hint it’s the communal areas. The tv rooms, the kitchen, the smoking area, the dining tables or the pool if there is one. Breakfast is the best in my opinion for that, most hostels have a free breakfast of sorts and little in the way of table space to accommodate the hungry, broke backpackers that need this. From meeting in this way the best thing to do is propose some sort of sightseeing or traveller activity that you and whoever you have met can go on together. Typically you meet other small groups of travellers and latch on to them, or you bring a small group together that wants to do the activity.
However, the absolute best way to meet people when you are a scared newbie is through organised hostel activities. Daytime these are usually hikes, city tours, or some sort of adventure activity. At night - and these are by far the best - it's usually a bar crawl. As long as you can legally drink in the country you are travelling in you basically get invited to a party every night with a group of other young travellers.
Once you have been around the block a bit, and transformed into Mr Social, it is important to learn how to make the fun night adventures happen without relying on the hostels. The hostel organised stuff is merely a good start point. Often there will be nights where these sort of events don’t run, either because there’s not much nightlife other than the weekends in that city, or because there aren’t enough people in the hostel to make it worth it. If a bar crawl failed to take off I used to get the hostel rep to introduce me to anyone else that was interested that night and then suggest we should all go out together - has a pretty high chance of working. Often other people will just invite you out if you seem chill. Be chill.
3 day friends - a concept: This is a personal reflection I had about the people you meet when travelling. You are looking for friends, or a fling with a girl, that will last 3 days - and you enjoy it for what it is. Anything that happens longer than that or in the future is a bonus (and I do recommend hitting particularly fun friends or girls you slept with up again later on obviously). It's the average amount of time most people passing through will stay in a hostel and it's the shortest time I will give any city or spot worthwhile. I like to give places I enjoy at least a week of my time, and on average I will have rolled with at least two distinct groups on average during that week.
Short term travel companions: While I am not a big advocate of travelling with more than just one other person long term, I am definitely a big advocate for forming a short term travel group (usually for some sort of transport between places to visit, or a group to go see something worth checking out that is remote). This leads into another skill you will develop naturally when jumping hostels - judging character quickly and effectively, and therefore screening in the personality types you vibe with most. It's also the reason you need to force yourself to beat social fear. You can’t guarantee you will screen in the right people if you dont screen enough people. And you don't want to be stuck in a rental/dorms for a week with someone you can’t stand.
Locals: This will test your lack of social fear more than meeting people in hostels for sure. In hostels new people come to you, to meet locals you have to go out to them. Especially in smaller towns, I highly recommend leaning into the fact you will be exotic/a curiosity to them (particularly with local girls). This obviously varies a bit, a guy from LA passing through San Fran on a weekend might not be so interesting to a local girl. Try your best to start conversations with everyone. A few weeks of doing that it gets easy, and you start to really enjoy it.
Online dating while travelling: Andy is far and away the main resource for Tinder, read his guides first. Generally I advise being honest about your traveller status when firing up Tinder in a city you are passing through. Screen in the girls that like it. Also be honest about being in a hostel. You will still find girls that will meet you for a drink. Obviously you will need to make a move on the first date and propose either going back to hers or you figure out a way to have sex in the hostel (more on that fun problem solving later).
Girls: So maybe a few of you have essentially skimmed the post to get to this section or jumped here straight away. I implore you not to skip anything preceding this section. You will miss out on some truly worthwhile experiences if all you aim to do is torpedo into hostels in search of hot girls on their travels. However I do have some insight into how to approach this and also just practical information on the ‘how to’ of having sex in hostels.
To start with I don't believe in game/seduction at all. Lets get that out of the way. Good Looking Loser and Scotty solved the equation ages ago.
Look Good + Talk to Girls + Good Logistics = Getting Laid.
You directly make it clear to a girl you find her attractive. This screens out girls who aren’t interested for whatever reason (sexual availability etc) and screens in those that will potentially have sex with you. Learn to take rejection well and move on immediately - it's the number one area you can and should train with exposure therapy. Don’t do obviously stupid shit like start to be pushy/clingy after she said no, or worse get drunk and soppy over a girl that turned you down. Also in hostels it's better to make your intention known early because you can quickly become a 3 day friend to girls before you had a chance to say you liked her.
There is a particular scene where Good Looking Loser covers that has a lot of crossover with hostels. In this blog he covered the LA Party Scene which he experienced in his 20s:-
https://www.goodlookingloser.com/laid/index/an-introduction-and-misconception-about-party-club-game
The core takeaway: the easiest way to pull girls on a night out is to meet them at a pre-party first. Hostels just hand you this scenario with travelling girls, without you having to break into exclusive Hollywood social circles. Either the night out will be organised by the hostel, or you can tag along with a group that wants to go out, or you can organise something yourself with your winning personality. Whatever is happening typically there will be about 1-2 hrs of pre-party in the hostel. This is where you meet more new people, and hang with people you already met previously. It's the same as the breakfast scenario, except usually there is more alcohol. Then you go out, mess around in the city, and then you come back and potentially party after. Or a girl responded to you well and it's a different kind of after party. Fun times.
Definitely good to find some way of being alone with a girl who likes you for sure. Hostels are pretty communal so just isolate yourself with her however - on a night out it's pretty easy. Daytime you just invite her out for a trip just the two of you - if she does like you then she won’t care much what you are doing as the activity.
There's a catch though. Of the original equation above I don’t think it will come as much of a surprise when I say that the biggest obstacle hostels can pose is logistics. Afterall you’re in a dorm room…. and she’s most likely in a dorm room (note: girls will often be in girls only dorms - but the alternative is unisex hence why you will share with girls often too).
So you’ve met a chick, you made a move and she likes you too. You both clearly want to have sex.
What are the options?
Get a private room for one night: For a while this was the only route I took. I was more terrified a girl just wouldn’t agree to very public sex in a dorm room than actually having an issue with the situation myself. God damn this can get expensive. Private hostel rooms can really get close to what hotels charge. Don’t expect the girl to split the cost with you as well, I can’t recall any of the girls who knew I was getting it to facilitate sex with them offering to pay a share. This isn’t that sustainable an option but certainly worth it every now and again as a treat/break from slumming it in the dorms. You do run a slight risk here as you are betting against whatever percentage chance it is that the girl you are sure is DTF will back out at the last minute. This has actually not happened to me thankfully, I’ve either been the right amount of intuitive or the right amount of cautious.
Get comfortable having sex in a dorm: Actively tried to avoid this for the longest time. I wasn’t that comfortable either asking for or doing this until I was living in long term stays. Most likely because it's a lot more accepted in hostels where peeps are living there months on end. There is a shared understanding, and the nicer people will often give you the room so you can have fun. The tricks for going at it undercover(s) still apply in short term stays though.
1. Get a bottom bunk. Top bunks suck, and not just for the purpose of sex. Ask the reception if they can guarantee you a bottom bunk when you sign in. Not asking gets you nowhere.
2. Take advantage of an empty dorm when you know everyone will be gone for a while.
3. A towel up is your friend, just get her to quiet down a little.
4. At like 2am most of your roommates will just sleep through it.
5. Creaky beds you can usually dampen with well placed clothes wedging it against the wall etc.
6. Just don’t give a shit! Like many a young lad before you - the cool roommates won’t care, most won’t say anything to you. If you get a complaint it's rare you’ll be kicked out over this.
Find a private(ish) part of the hostel that's free: Not my style at all, but this is the source of many a great hostel story. The classic ‘I had sex in this place’ story. I’m not laying claim to any of these examples but I know they all happened; as in most cases I was friends with both parties. Frankly they are all testament to horniness, perseverance and ingenuity:-
Disused stairs (my longest running travel buddy spent an hour looking for somewhere with this chick, attempted eventually on some stairs that were closed for repairs. Got caught, ran away and then booked a private room for 150 euros)
The corner of a smoking area in full view of some French lads. They thought no one could see them but they didn't go far enough round a corner.
Toilets. A ton of these stories. Including a mate who banged a hostel receptionist in one and she claimed it was her ‘usual spot’.
Private shower rooms. One of the few I have done. If there is a private shower room with a lock its everyone's first shout in a pinch. Will often be taken, unreliable.
Staff room. A ballsy one for sure but surprisingly a regular story.
A nearby park. One of my better mates has done this with 3 different girls.
So that just about wraps up the how to suggestions on girls. Honestly Chris and DC7 gave girls that go travelling a dismissive rant on their podcast together. And I’d just like to retort that the best girls I’ve ever met and hooked up with have been met through travels. Often open minded, often less risk averse, often strong, persevering young women. They are all broke af though.
Some extra things:
Weirdos: There are going to be some weirdos. To be precise there are going to be some weirdos in the dorms you sleep in. Hostels attract a colourful cast of characters. I have shared rooms with homeless buskers, sex workers, drug dealers and ex gang members. I have also shared rooms with millionaires, doctors, rich kids, popular youtubers, models etc. The people you meet really run the full gambit. But the vast majority, especially in the big cities, will just be early to mid twenty-somethings who are trying to see the world as cheaply as they can. The extremes will not be the norm. You should enjoy what you can of them when you meet them though. My story of running into a rich guy - who was in a hostel for some reason - was in Vegas. The dude had hit millionaire status when bitcoin exploded back in 2017, he took me and another mate out to the Bellagio for bottle service at a club. Crazy fucking night, he dropped $40k.
Price is going to vary: I still have yet to really figure out why some places were so expensive (relatively speaking) and some were so cheap. Basic rule tends to be that competition drives the average dorm price down, so it explains why Miami has some of the cheapest hostel rooms in America. Big party towns tend to have good hostel options.
Cleanliness will vary: If this is an issue for you it will be a problem. Some hostels are good at keeping it fresh. Some really aren’t. I’ve stayed in a long term stay so unclean and disorganised that we may as well have been squatting in abandoned flats. I’ve seen the absolute worst and I survived it - for 2 months. But you aren’t me, so if this is something you know will bother you then I recommend you scout ahead using whatever info you can find. This is a big concern for a lot of travellers and it will usually be the number 1 issue among the bad reviews.
Screening online: There’s a lot of info online to allow you to screen hostels - but if you can I recommend actually visiting the hostel first before you book a stay there. My usual trick is to book 1 or 2 nights only and then scouting other local hostels in person if it's bad.
Security: Security for your personal items in hostels isn't great - always have a padlock, don’t travel with anything you couldn't cope with losing if you can help it. Other guests stealing my shit hasn’t happened to me much. I have lost more stuff in hotels - fun story lost a grand in cash. In terms of general security that depends a ton on the city in question. Most of them will have some sort of night manager. In terms of a non guest breaking into the hostel I’ve only experienced it once. And it was a drunk/or high homeless man who didn’t know where he was.
Q&A: I’m going to leave this section here for any questions that people have. I will answer in the responses but I will also retype them and add them here.
1. @AGF asked me on my log: Will the guide also include specific recommendations for hostels you liked the most?
So I think it's better to advise which cities had the best range of hostels in my experience. If you want a specific one off recommendation just PM me.
This is a full list of cities where I have stayed in hostels. My favourites are in bold:
Australia: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Sunshine Coast, Byron Bay
USA: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Vegas, Hawaii, Phoenix, Albuquerque, Austin, New Orleans, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Asheville, Nashville, Savannah
Europe: Brussels, Frankfurt, Munich, Salzburg, Linz, Bratislava, Budapest, Krakow, Prague, Berlin, Amsterdam
The standard in these cities is so good you will find it hard not to have a good time.
Vegas specifically I want to explain: I used the hostels as a way to avoid paying the price of the on strip hotels at the weekend. Went to hostels first, found some good lads to split hotel rooms with, went back to the hostels after they left and it was the weekend. Repeated the previous tactic again the 2nd week. Cheap, fun and crazy 10 days in Sin City.
And also, I love hostels.
To me they symbolise freedom from being tied down to one location, to a rent, to a small flat I was sick of seeing, to a stale social circle and to a shitty job I hated. For me they facilitated a host of new experiences in every brand new city I ventured to, and relationships with countless new people that I met along the way. Their existence, in no small part, enabled me to make the best decision I have made to date - quitting my career focused life path in a major European capital, and fucking off to see the world.
My experience
I have travelled around Europe and the US almost exclusively using hostels for accommodation. And since that period of adventure I have spent the last 2 years living in Australia - during which time spent several months in hostels on a long term basis.
My experience is entirely what shapes the advice in this article. If your personal plan is doing a week or long weekend somewhere via the hostels then I maintain most of this is still applicable. Just be aware I am writing this from a history of extended travel periods.
With regards to girls: To date I have slept with 10 different girls that I met in hostels, or pulled them back to a hostel for sex. 3 were retained to varying degrees. My estimate is I have managed to have sex in hostels some 30 or so times and I was mostly in dorm rooms.
I could and should have done a lot better to be honest. I have only been serious about self improvement and getting laid for the past year, and during that time I have mostly opted to live in a flat - either shared or on my own. The majority of my hostel lays occurred when I wasn’t close to being maxed out; in looks, style, social freedom and experience. I have followed the GLL concepts since 2014 when I found the site, but I had certainly not gone all in. Some good mates of mine have posted insane results from hostels. 2 in particular, that I still hang with occasionally, claim lay counts over 300 and I witnessed a lad (ex model as it happens) shag 6 girls in 5 days.
A big mistake: for half of my US travels I was staying faithful to a girl so did not attempt to get laid. I turned down some opportunities which I now regret and had to watch my friend clean up. To be precise I have been single for roughly 9 months of the time I spent living in hostels. I do not advise this travel style if you are in a relationship.
The two main different types of hostels: Short term only and long term stays.
I will be primarily talking about short term hostels. These I loosely define as somewhere you cannot stay for more than 2 weeks. It is the main experience I imagine most readers will have.
Long term stays I have only experienced in Australia, as it is an integral part of the backpacker culture. If you plan to stay in a particular city for longer than your hostel will allow then it is perfectly possible to jump between different hostels in that city, or sometimes the hostel will allow you to come back if you had a break from staying there for a few days.
The difference between the two can be night and day. You will find it easier to make friends in short term stays as the long term hostels encourage cliques among the residents. Those can be tricky to break into if you are only around short term, and residents may even be a bit anti-social to short termers. There will be long term specific advice dotted throughout this article as well though, so pay attention if you are interested or you are specifically coming to Australia/other countries with these hostels.
Why should you choose hostels over airbnb / hotels / sleeping in a rental / finding a girl to stay with / kipping in a bus station or ditch?
For this part I’m going to assume you are travelling alone or maybe one other travel buddy at most. You should opt to travel alone as well in my opinion, but that's a case for another article.
Vs Airbnb or Hotels: It is the inexpensive travel option. I have yet to visit a city where it wouldn't be cheaper to stay in the hostels vs hotels. Airbnb can be an option for sure if you have a travel companion but you will end up isolating yourself with that companion which has its own issues.
Vs sleeping in a rental: This is a different kind of travelling, it's certainly the right option if you are with a companion and there is a lack of hostels. Usually it's because you are travelling to see nature not cities, or in a country that is lacking in big towns and cities - like New Zealand por ejemplo. I do feel too isolated when I do this.
Vs finding a girl locally to stay with: If you are capable of doing this consistently then be my guest. I could see it causing potential drama and being a high risk way of travelling. I have met lads that used the couchsurf app and ended up sleeping with hosts, it didn’t come across that appealing to swap sex for somewhere to crash.
Vs kipping in a bus station or ditch: it sounds like you may have been lacking the appropriate funds to go travel in the first place. Try to avoid sleeping rough. I have slept in airports and greyhound stations before waiting for transfers, it's not enjoyable.
In general though why are they great?
Against the most obvious accommodation alternative, i.e. hotels or airbnbs, they are the more adventurous choice.
Continually choosing to stay mixed in with a large group of strangers in every new city will benefit your development as a person. They are for the most part safe in my experience, at least where I have travelled. And these places attract people with the same open and adventurous mindset that you should have. You will, after some practice at it, be able to build a cool, short term social circle - to go on adventures with in the city or famous area you have chosen to visit. And hopefully meet some cute, open minded girls along the way.
Additionally I have found it easy to make long lasting deeper connections with many of the travellers I rolled with. It's sick when you can rock up in their city, wherever that is, and drop them a message. More often than not they will come meet the guy the had a fucking good time hanging with on their own holiday/journey.
At this point I basically have a global network of people that I can go bounce between on my way round. I'm not saying you couldn’t build this without hostels - many of us are globally networking through the forums for instance - but I think it’s a great learning curve for young guys who need to learn networking skills. Especially if you want to do it fast and in a non-forced sort of way.
Finally it will 100% get you comfortable meeting and hanging with girls if that is something that you struggle with or have little experience of. And potentially you will get over the paralysing, oneitis causing effect hot girls can have on the more inexperienced - because you will have to share a dorm room or two with a hot chick. Typically when you see girls on travels and/or share space with them, it's hard for them to present as well as they can on say instagram. Also you spend more time with them and realise they are just people, most of them are pretty fucking cool too.
Who is this aimed at?
Younger guys primarily - as in the 18-25 range. I 100% consider travelling to be a viable option for those in this age range that are focused on self improvement, or merely just enjoying their formative years. Now this isn't to say I’m telling older guys not to use hostels, but it will be harder for you. One of the reasons being many hostels have age limits (often designated as youth hostels). There are reportedly hostels in the larger cities aimed at older travellers but I have not stayed at any to date.
Younger guys will more naturally fit into the usual crowds that show up to hostels. And if you are just out of education and lacking in funds then hostels are basically a necessity if you wish to travel.
This is also specifically aimed at guys with good English. I can’t really emphasise this one enough. It is the international language as far as travellers go. Even in countries I have visited where it is less spoken (Eastern Europe) the travelling community is dominated by young English speakers. And it would hamper your ability to connect with people if you can’t understand the conversations happening. Caveat to this one is that I have not experienced travelling as a non english speaker so this is observation based.
Finally if you have maxed out your looks (at least to above average) and have the ability to approach, this already puts you head and shoulders almost all other male travellers. It's certain that a guy that has his shit together by the standards of GLL or KYIL would absolutely clean up in hostels.
The How To Do It part
Booking: Hostelworld is a good app for finding and booking hostels easily - it's what I use. You can also do it via booking.com and any other site of that ilk too - sometimes there will be better deals on those. These sites also have rate and review sections which is a nice bonus. I trust the ratings/reviews on hostelworld more because it's a niche app used mostly by travellers whereas booking.com is more normie ridden.
Checking in: It’s better to always ensure you show up in daylight hours and when the reception is open. Not all receptions are open 24 hrs. Generally you will need to provide a passport at check in - if you are a native of the country check the hostel isn’t international only beforehand as well. Passports can also be left as collateral if you are having payment issues on arrival.
Travel Light: As light as you can manage guys. Hostels do not always have great storage and if you are travelling with a couple of big suitcases you are gonna find dorm rooms where even that will max out the available space. After your essentials (i.e. toiletries, electronics, chargers, a week's worth of underwear and socks, footwear etc) you should only need like 2-3 decent outfits for going out. You should pack hiking gear too, which could feasibly double as gym wear if you want to visit gyms while travelling. My wardrobe is pretty minimal (but stylish) most of the time anyway. I don’t recommend taking any more than one large backpack worth - a 35L-45L one in terms of capacity plus a smaller one for day trips. Beyond just a lack of storage its best to stay as mobile as you can too, hostels have a habit of making you move rooms if you extend or complain about a room.
Making travel friends: Confession time. I was terrified that I would be unable to connect with people and make friends when I first left the UK. I had booked a return flight from LA with 3 months between landing and return (the length of a tourist visa), and I had a recurring fear that I would be stuck in a hostel room in LA for the entire time on my own.
In essence the process is exactly the same making friends from a more stable location, except easier. You have to force yourself through the awkwardness and fear you feel to talk with people and form instant connections that all humans are capable of. It's easier because the sheer number of opportunities you have to meet new people is way higher in hostels, and they are all trying to make travel friends as well (for the most part).
What do you talk about you ask? After a while you realise you have the same intro conversation with everyone: where are you from? Where are you going? Where have you travelled before? What are you going to get up to in this city/area?. It's really simple small talk anyone can do and the main subject is travelling itself for the most part. Get a couple beers down you first if you have to but make sure you introduce yourself to people and start these small chats. Pro travel insight: names are always the last thing that comes up in these beginning conversations. Not sure why, guess no one really cares what your name is.
At the beginning due to social fear I would predominantly make friends with my roommates. This had the obvious drawback of relying on being put with good roommates.
As I gained more confidence I would chat to new people wherever you can find them - hint it’s the communal areas. The tv rooms, the kitchen, the smoking area, the dining tables or the pool if there is one. Breakfast is the best in my opinion for that, most hostels have a free breakfast of sorts and little in the way of table space to accommodate the hungry, broke backpackers that need this. From meeting in this way the best thing to do is propose some sort of sightseeing or traveller activity that you and whoever you have met can go on together. Typically you meet other small groups of travellers and latch on to them, or you bring a small group together that wants to do the activity.
However, the absolute best way to meet people when you are a scared newbie is through organised hostel activities. Daytime these are usually hikes, city tours, or some sort of adventure activity. At night - and these are by far the best - it's usually a bar crawl. As long as you can legally drink in the country you are travelling in you basically get invited to a party every night with a group of other young travellers.
Once you have been around the block a bit, and transformed into Mr Social, it is important to learn how to make the fun night adventures happen without relying on the hostels. The hostel organised stuff is merely a good start point. Often there will be nights where these sort of events don’t run, either because there’s not much nightlife other than the weekends in that city, or because there aren’t enough people in the hostel to make it worth it. If a bar crawl failed to take off I used to get the hostel rep to introduce me to anyone else that was interested that night and then suggest we should all go out together - has a pretty high chance of working. Often other people will just invite you out if you seem chill. Be chill.
3 day friends - a concept: This is a personal reflection I had about the people you meet when travelling. You are looking for friends, or a fling with a girl, that will last 3 days - and you enjoy it for what it is. Anything that happens longer than that or in the future is a bonus (and I do recommend hitting particularly fun friends or girls you slept with up again later on obviously). It's the average amount of time most people passing through will stay in a hostel and it's the shortest time I will give any city or spot worthwhile. I like to give places I enjoy at least a week of my time, and on average I will have rolled with at least two distinct groups on average during that week.
Short term travel companions: While I am not a big advocate of travelling with more than just one other person long term, I am definitely a big advocate for forming a short term travel group (usually for some sort of transport between places to visit, or a group to go see something worth checking out that is remote). This leads into another skill you will develop naturally when jumping hostels - judging character quickly and effectively, and therefore screening in the personality types you vibe with most. It's also the reason you need to force yourself to beat social fear. You can’t guarantee you will screen in the right people if you dont screen enough people. And you don't want to be stuck in a rental/dorms for a week with someone you can’t stand.
Locals: This will test your lack of social fear more than meeting people in hostels for sure. In hostels new people come to you, to meet locals you have to go out to them. Especially in smaller towns, I highly recommend leaning into the fact you will be exotic/a curiosity to them (particularly with local girls). This obviously varies a bit, a guy from LA passing through San Fran on a weekend might not be so interesting to a local girl. Try your best to start conversations with everyone. A few weeks of doing that it gets easy, and you start to really enjoy it.
Online dating while travelling: Andy is far and away the main resource for Tinder, read his guides first. Generally I advise being honest about your traveller status when firing up Tinder in a city you are passing through. Screen in the girls that like it. Also be honest about being in a hostel. You will still find girls that will meet you for a drink. Obviously you will need to make a move on the first date and propose either going back to hers or you figure out a way to have sex in the hostel (more on that fun problem solving later).
Girls: So maybe a few of you have essentially skimmed the post to get to this section or jumped here straight away. I implore you not to skip anything preceding this section. You will miss out on some truly worthwhile experiences if all you aim to do is torpedo into hostels in search of hot girls on their travels. However I do have some insight into how to approach this and also just practical information on the ‘how to’ of having sex in hostels.
To start with I don't believe in game/seduction at all. Lets get that out of the way. Good Looking Loser and Scotty solved the equation ages ago.
Look Good + Talk to Girls + Good Logistics = Getting Laid.
You directly make it clear to a girl you find her attractive. This screens out girls who aren’t interested for whatever reason (sexual availability etc) and screens in those that will potentially have sex with you. Learn to take rejection well and move on immediately - it's the number one area you can and should train with exposure therapy. Don’t do obviously stupid shit like start to be pushy/clingy after she said no, or worse get drunk and soppy over a girl that turned you down. Also in hostels it's better to make your intention known early because you can quickly become a 3 day friend to girls before you had a chance to say you liked her.
There is a particular scene where Good Looking Loser covers that has a lot of crossover with hostels. In this blog he covered the LA Party Scene which he experienced in his 20s:-
https://www.goodlookingloser.com/laid/index/an-introduction-and-misconception-about-party-club-game
The core takeaway: the easiest way to pull girls on a night out is to meet them at a pre-party first. Hostels just hand you this scenario with travelling girls, without you having to break into exclusive Hollywood social circles. Either the night out will be organised by the hostel, or you can tag along with a group that wants to go out, or you can organise something yourself with your winning personality. Whatever is happening typically there will be about 1-2 hrs of pre-party in the hostel. This is where you meet more new people, and hang with people you already met previously. It's the same as the breakfast scenario, except usually there is more alcohol. Then you go out, mess around in the city, and then you come back and potentially party after. Or a girl responded to you well and it's a different kind of after party. Fun times.
Definitely good to find some way of being alone with a girl who likes you for sure. Hostels are pretty communal so just isolate yourself with her however - on a night out it's pretty easy. Daytime you just invite her out for a trip just the two of you - if she does like you then she won’t care much what you are doing as the activity.
There's a catch though. Of the original equation above I don’t think it will come as much of a surprise when I say that the biggest obstacle hostels can pose is logistics. Afterall you’re in a dorm room…. and she’s most likely in a dorm room (note: girls will often be in girls only dorms - but the alternative is unisex hence why you will share with girls often too).
So you’ve met a chick, you made a move and she likes you too. You both clearly want to have sex.
What are the options?
Get a private room for one night: For a while this was the only route I took. I was more terrified a girl just wouldn’t agree to very public sex in a dorm room than actually having an issue with the situation myself. God damn this can get expensive. Private hostel rooms can really get close to what hotels charge. Don’t expect the girl to split the cost with you as well, I can’t recall any of the girls who knew I was getting it to facilitate sex with them offering to pay a share. This isn’t that sustainable an option but certainly worth it every now and again as a treat/break from slumming it in the dorms. You do run a slight risk here as you are betting against whatever percentage chance it is that the girl you are sure is DTF will back out at the last minute. This has actually not happened to me thankfully, I’ve either been the right amount of intuitive or the right amount of cautious.
Get comfortable having sex in a dorm: Actively tried to avoid this for the longest time. I wasn’t that comfortable either asking for or doing this until I was living in long term stays. Most likely because it's a lot more accepted in hostels where peeps are living there months on end. There is a shared understanding, and the nicer people will often give you the room so you can have fun. The tricks for going at it undercover(s) still apply in short term stays though.
1. Get a bottom bunk. Top bunks suck, and not just for the purpose of sex. Ask the reception if they can guarantee you a bottom bunk when you sign in. Not asking gets you nowhere.
2. Take advantage of an empty dorm when you know everyone will be gone for a while.
3. A towel up is your friend, just get her to quiet down a little.
4. At like 2am most of your roommates will just sleep through it.
5. Creaky beds you can usually dampen with well placed clothes wedging it against the wall etc.
6. Just don’t give a shit! Like many a young lad before you - the cool roommates won’t care, most won’t say anything to you. If you get a complaint it's rare you’ll be kicked out over this.
Find a private(ish) part of the hostel that's free: Not my style at all, but this is the source of many a great hostel story. The classic ‘I had sex in this place’ story. I’m not laying claim to any of these examples but I know they all happened; as in most cases I was friends with both parties. Frankly they are all testament to horniness, perseverance and ingenuity:-
Disused stairs (my longest running travel buddy spent an hour looking for somewhere with this chick, attempted eventually on some stairs that were closed for repairs. Got caught, ran away and then booked a private room for 150 euros)
The corner of a smoking area in full view of some French lads. They thought no one could see them but they didn't go far enough round a corner.
Toilets. A ton of these stories. Including a mate who banged a hostel receptionist in one and she claimed it was her ‘usual spot’.
Private shower rooms. One of the few I have done. If there is a private shower room with a lock its everyone's first shout in a pinch. Will often be taken, unreliable.
Staff room. A ballsy one for sure but surprisingly a regular story.
A nearby park. One of my better mates has done this with 3 different girls.
So that just about wraps up the how to suggestions on girls. Honestly Chris and DC7 gave girls that go travelling a dismissive rant on their podcast together. And I’d just like to retort that the best girls I’ve ever met and hooked up with have been met through travels. Often open minded, often less risk averse, often strong, persevering young women. They are all broke af though.
Some extra things:
Weirdos: There are going to be some weirdos. To be precise there are going to be some weirdos in the dorms you sleep in. Hostels attract a colourful cast of characters. I have shared rooms with homeless buskers, sex workers, drug dealers and ex gang members. I have also shared rooms with millionaires, doctors, rich kids, popular youtubers, models etc. The people you meet really run the full gambit. But the vast majority, especially in the big cities, will just be early to mid twenty-somethings who are trying to see the world as cheaply as they can. The extremes will not be the norm. You should enjoy what you can of them when you meet them though. My story of running into a rich guy - who was in a hostel for some reason - was in Vegas. The dude had hit millionaire status when bitcoin exploded back in 2017, he took me and another mate out to the Bellagio for bottle service at a club. Crazy fucking night, he dropped $40k.
Price is going to vary: I still have yet to really figure out why some places were so expensive (relatively speaking) and some were so cheap. Basic rule tends to be that competition drives the average dorm price down, so it explains why Miami has some of the cheapest hostel rooms in America. Big party towns tend to have good hostel options.
Cleanliness will vary: If this is an issue for you it will be a problem. Some hostels are good at keeping it fresh. Some really aren’t. I’ve stayed in a long term stay so unclean and disorganised that we may as well have been squatting in abandoned flats. I’ve seen the absolute worst and I survived it - for 2 months. But you aren’t me, so if this is something you know will bother you then I recommend you scout ahead using whatever info you can find. This is a big concern for a lot of travellers and it will usually be the number 1 issue among the bad reviews.
Screening online: There’s a lot of info online to allow you to screen hostels - but if you can I recommend actually visiting the hostel first before you book a stay there. My usual trick is to book 1 or 2 nights only and then scouting other local hostels in person if it's bad.
Security: Security for your personal items in hostels isn't great - always have a padlock, don’t travel with anything you couldn't cope with losing if you can help it. Other guests stealing my shit hasn’t happened to me much. I have lost more stuff in hotels - fun story lost a grand in cash. In terms of general security that depends a ton on the city in question. Most of them will have some sort of night manager. In terms of a non guest breaking into the hostel I’ve only experienced it once. And it was a drunk/or high homeless man who didn’t know where he was.
Q&A: I’m going to leave this section here for any questions that people have. I will answer in the responses but I will also retype them and add them here.
1. @AGF asked me on my log: Will the guide also include specific recommendations for hostels you liked the most?
So I think it's better to advise which cities had the best range of hostels in my experience. If you want a specific one off recommendation just PM me.
This is a full list of cities where I have stayed in hostels. My favourites are in bold:
Australia: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Sunshine Coast, Byron Bay
USA: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Vegas, Hawaii, Phoenix, Albuquerque, Austin, New Orleans, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Asheville, Nashville, Savannah
Europe: Brussels, Frankfurt, Munich, Salzburg, Linz, Bratislava, Budapest, Krakow, Prague, Berlin, Amsterdam
The standard in these cities is so good you will find it hard not to have a good time.
Vegas specifically I want to explain: I used the hostels as a way to avoid paying the price of the on strip hotels at the weekend. Went to hostels first, found some good lads to split hotel rooms with, went back to the hostels after they left and it was the weekend. Repeated the previous tactic again the 2nd week. Cheap, fun and crazy 10 days in Sin City.
