You’re loud and crude. Not everyone wants to hear the latest details of the guy/girl you tried to pick up at the bar over the weekend, nor do they want to hear you screaming across the room to your “best mate” that he’s a c***. I get it – you live in a hostel, but unless you’re on set for the latest Animal-House-set-in-a-hostel-movie, then refrain from using offensive language while shouting across the courtyard. Hostels are not all filled with you and your best lads from uni; a lot of older, budget-conscious travellers stay at them.
You’re unaware. Of other people’s space, of the rules, of the culture, of other people in general. I’ve been woken up on countless mornings at 5am by someone slamming the door. I don’t mind door-slamming, it’s the 5am I mind. On the flip side, being loud at 2am is another one. There is a reason for silent hours, and you’re one of them. You will go far in life if you are aware of what’s going on around you.
You’re messy. I see it every. single. day. The kitchen is a wreck, even though there are signs that say “clean up after yourself,” “put your dishes away,” and so on. It’s not that difficult, people. And if you – god forbid – don’t know HOW to do dishes, ask. This is a good life skill to learn. Same goes for your room. You’re sharing a room with multiple other people, whom you don’t know, and you’re going to hang your laundry over every available surface? Yeah, nah.
You expect the world to revolve around you. The other week, there was a woman staying in my room. I’d put her age at late 40s, not to say that there’s an age limit for living in a dorm room at a hostel, but she acted as though we inconvenienced her any time something happened in the room. The first night I met her, I had my little phone flashlight on and it was aimed at my bed, my stuff. She was behind me. The lights in the room were off – it was probably 11pm. And she asked me to turn it off so she could CHANGE. Two days later, she flipped out at 7am for breakfast not being out, and proceeded to wake up the entire hostel screaming, bitching about the dishes not being done (which is why brekkie wasn’t out), the “drunks” the night before (us, and not drunk), and how she was going to have to go to the grocery store now. I’d been at work for eleven hours the day before and was not happy, nor were the people she dragged out of bed. If you want things like fancy breakfast, then stay at a hotel where the continental breakfast is included, or a b&b where they make it for you.
Addendum: you’re picky. You want a gluten-free breakfast? Or a breakfast earlier than the stated times? See last sentence in above paragraph.
You’re disrespectful of another culture/upbringing. This one. Oh, this one. In my mind, you can’t discriminate or make fun of someone for their ethnicity, country of birth, or gender: these are aspects of our lives that we literally cannot change. You could make a joke. And it could be funny, once, twice. But when someone asks you to stop mocking them, you should stop. You might have been born in one of the best countries in the world, you might have had all of the privileges afforded to a white male in your country. But that does not – never, ever – give you the right to harass someone until they cry… especially when they have said repeatedly that they don’t respect/support/agree with the person/law/government that you’re making fun of in the first place! I wish our world was more tolerant of other cultures. I wish that people who travel are the people who get voted into offices across the globe, not the people with the deepest wallets and smallest minds. And maybe, in time, that will happen. But for now, just…. be nice. Be respectful. You just might learn something.
What have you seen in hostels? Share your worst story in the comments below!
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