Budget Travel: Why and how to hostel

by Brenda Yun on

Call me crazy, but if I were ever given the option between staying in an expensive hotel, a mediocre one for half the price, or a hostel for one-tenth of the price, unless I were bedding down in a really hot guy, I would take the hostel any night of the week. The reason: hostels are the most affordable option, allowing you to spend more on what really matters – the experience of traveling and exploring the world.

Let’s face it: with the economy as it is and our wallets thinning as they are, it’s easy to see the advantages of staying in a hostel, but it might be harder to actually follow through. As a single, independent young woman, I have no problem sleeping in a dorm – or even a cheap room of my own so long as I save myself the dough to spend on other travel expenditures. However, if you’re attached or have a family, there is little to no appeal to stay at a hostel, right?
Wrong. I’ve traveled long and far across the globe and pretty much only stayed in hostels, and I have met the most committed couples and families in these places who have made it work. They too understand the end value of cheaply bedding down for a night or two. Depending where you are in the world, you can save between $10-100 per night per person if you opt to stay in a hostel. You may be sacrificing 50% of comfort during the 8 hours you stay there, but imagine what you could do with the money you saved! My cousins often stay in dingy places and then dine in the best restaurants on the same vacation. Their philosophy: who cares where they put their heads at night so long as it’s in a (preferably safe and quiet enough) room? They’re still getting the same experience when the sun is up.

So hopefully I’ve tackled the “why” (why stay in a hostel) sufficiently. Let’s move on to “how.” There are so many different options available to travelers nowadays, so how do you find the best hostel for your needs wherever you are in the globe? In some parts of the world, searching for a hostel is as simple as a Google search. It’s the 21st century, the world is flat, and even if you’re traveling to the middle of nowhere, a good hostel will have some sort of information available to you somewhere on the world wide web. If you’re looking in a hostel in an urban center, if a hostel doesn’t have a website, it’s not savvy enough and it’s not worth your time. Opt for a place where you can see some photos and seasonal (if not specific) rates. Some hostel website even allow to reserve a room (for a minimal 10-20% processing fee) through the internet.

As for searching for hostels in certain parts of the world, like Latin America, it’s even easier with hostel networks like Hostel Trail, which provides photos and unbiased but honest reviews of hundreds of hostels scattered about Mexico, Central and South America, as well as some of the Caribbean. Hostelling International, Hostels.com, Hostel World, and Hostel Bookers are the best worldwide hostel networks, and are perfectly good places to start your search if you’re at a loss.

Perhaps the best way to find a great hostel in your travel destination is by word of mouth – gathering information from people who have recently traveled to where you are going. Some of my best experiences came straight from a friend who had just been to where I was going. If you get a good tip, ask for as many specifics as you can – even ask for names of people who work there or for worthwhile excursions.

In fact, many of the best hostels have a guestbook where travelers offer helpful tips for where to stay in nearby cities or where to eat or what to see in the town you’re in. The greatest thing about hostel living, is just how personalized travel can be. There are, of course, some pretty bad places, but others can really make your trip a memorable experience.

Unless you’re traveling during prime tourist times or in a big group, you will usually find a bed/room available for you. If there’s a contact number or email, feel free to use it. In third world countries hostels range between $5-10 a night (sometimes less!), while in first world countries you should expect to pay between $12-30 per night. Dorms are not half so bad either, just bring some earplugs, as your bunkmate may have a serious case of sleep apnea. Otherwise, have fun, and let me know if I missed any important tips!

Notes on that other Carnival, in Cologne, Germany

by Jeffrey White on

Most of the time you can find yourself in Cologne, Germany, and not really know why you’re there — that’s how relatively unexciting and nondescript Western Germany’s largest city is.

But say you find yourself on the platform of Cologne’s main train station at around 6 a.m. on a Thursday (this Thursday, for example). You’ve just arrived after a night journey and your eyes are trying to snatch some focus in the early morning darkness. You move through a constant clamor: screams, shouts, yawps , laughter. You see figures, more than you should for this hour, crisscrossing, boarding and alighting from trains. Further into the station the din grows louder, and you can see the people more clearly: Everyone’s in costume, and most are carrying crates of beer.

Welcome to Day 1 of Cologne’s Carnival (or Karneval in German).

This is a Carnival celebration that is not on many people’s radar screen, even though, with more than 1 million people annually in attendance, it amounts to one of Europe’s biggest street festivals, and certainly Germany’s largest after Oktoberfest in Munich.Officially, Cologne Carnival starts every year at 11:11 p.m on November 11. But it hits its full celebratory stride starting this Thursday, the beginning of the “crazy days,” and won’t end until next Tuesday — so-called Fat Tuesday, for all you Mardi Gras fans out there.

In fact, Cologne’s festival has much in common with other Carnival celebrations around the world, like Mardi Gras in New Orleans and the carnivals in Rio and Trinidad and Tobago. Historically, they are essentially Catholic celebrations ahead of Ash Wednesday, the official start of the Lenten season. In reality, of course, such revelry doesn’t seem very religious, but the celebrations all include the same basic ingredients: Costumes, parades, drinking and music (though I’ll admit, the Cologne Carnival lacks music with the same beat as, say, samba in Rio and is decidedly less sexy — see the video at the end of this post).

All throughout Germany’s Rhineland towns will be holding their own carnivals. Bonn, the former capital of West Germany, gives Cologne a good run for its money with its festival and one of the best ways to experience the party in this region is to divide your time between the two cities (they’re only 30 minutes apart).

This Thursday is known as Weiberfastnacht (Wieverfastelovend in the Cologne dialect), which translates roughly as “women’s day,” a day dedicated to the fairer sex, some of which seek to seduce male Carnival-goers by dressing in provocative, playful nurse and devil costumes, which traditionally means they are looking for some, em, attention. The following days feature small parades in the region’s various towns. Saturday night is a big night in Cologne, with several major carnival balls and an unofficial bar crawl through many of the pubs and breweries of Old Town.

Carnival’s biggest day is Rosenmontag, or Rose Monday, which features the festival’s major parade through Cologne, followed by street parties and an evening in the Cologne bars.

I find myself mentioning pubs and bars a lot. The few times I’ve been to Cologne Carnival, I’ve always thought of it as primarily a beer festival, one to rival Oktoberfest.

In this part of Germany, the traditional beer is Kölsch, a light, fruity draft that is notable in that it’s one of the only beers in Germany actually appellation-controlled: Only beer from Cologne can be called Kölsch (for Köln, Cologne in German). The same light beer brewed 30 minutes down the road in Bonn is known as Bonnsh.

I know Cologne Carnival is about much more than drinking. Still, it seems every year each day’s festivities ultimately come down to kölsch: That is, huddling with friends in a packed pub, dressed in something embarrassing (I was a cow one year; at right, a devil), plucking eagerly at tall, thin kölsch glasses (called stange) that are cradled by the 10 in a round wreath or kranz, and singing traditional Carnival songs at the top of your lungs, no matter how many times you’ve heard them that day:

Da simmer dabei! Dat is prima! Viva Colonia!
Wir lieben dat leben die Liebe und die lust
wir glauben an den Lieben gott und ham uch immer durscht!

Alaaf!

Budget Travel: Hotel deals at Hotwire

by Tom Johansmeyer on

How well do you handle the unknown? If you don’t have the stomach for it, avoid Hotwire. Now, if you don’t mind taking a bit of risk, you can save a fortune by using this website to book your next hotel in the United States (or a limited list of international destinations). I’ve used Hotwire several times, and the vast majority of my experiences have been great. The one that wasn’t (only one) had nothing to do with Hotwire; I was just disappointed with the hotel.

Hotwire is one of the many bargain travel websites that is fighting to carve out some turf on the web. Unlike the others, it delivers some amazing prices. You just don’t know where you’re going to stay until you pay for the rooms. Using Hotwire, you enter the city where you want to stay, proximity to neighborhoods or local attractions and the caliber of hotel you prefer. Star ratings are assigned to each property to help you judge quality, and they are based on Hotwire user feedback. As a reference point, the website does tell you the types of property that are commensurate with a particular rating. So, the process isn’t completely blind, but you still don’t know where you’ll hang your hat.

I used Hotwire three times last year to book hotels in Washington, D.C. I stayed at Capital Hilton, Hilton Washington and the Hotel Helix. My experiences were generally positive with all three.

At the Washington Hilton, I had to walk a lot farther than I expected from the subway station, which is apparently a common problem. The staff at the front desk saw my tired, sweaty face and said, “Yeah, most of the websites make the hotel seem a lot closer.” Immediately after that, he ran to get me some moist paper towels to help me cool off. The hotel itself was excellent, particularly at a discount of more than 70 percent. I also booked the Capital Hilton through Hotwire and had no surprises at all. Again, I saved more than 70 percent and was thrilled.

The Hotel Helix was a bit disappointing. In my opinion, it should have been rated a full star lower than it was, and I left feedback on Hotwire to caution future users. Hotwire itself wasn’t the problem. The rate was fantastic, and I was able to save some money on a trip with little lead time. But, I just didn’t like the hotel. Why do I say this? It happens, and you need to know that flexibility is necessary. Sometimes, you won’t be thrilled with your room. That’s just the risk involved with Hotwire.

Now that you know the good and the bad, let’s talk about money. It’s routine to save more than 50 percent of a hotel’s regular rate using this website (at least in my experience). Hotwire is able to do this by finding the unsold inventory at hotels around the country and bargaining for deep discounts. In the hotel industry, a room-night is a perishable commodity. If you don’t fill Room 437 on March 16, you can’t save it for later. Sometimes, it’s better to get something than nothing. Also, the hotels don’t can avoid implicitly devaluing their rooms through the blind process. This is the service that Hotwire provides to hotels … and to you.

The deals vary. If you are looking for a great room during peak season, you’ll probably be disappointed. But, if you have reasonable expectations, they’ll probably be exceeded. On a recent search, I found hotel rooms for under $150 in downtown Boston for mid-March (at a property given 4 ½ stars). I also found sub-$100 rates in Paris (four stars) and London (four stars, as well) for the same period.

After you book one of these great deals, don’t forget that you have an obligation when you get home. Just as you read the reviews before taking your step into the unknown, many will follow you. Help them out as others helped you. Hotwire will send you an e-mail asking for your feedback on your stay. All you have to do is click the link and complete a brief survey.

Do it.

You can go as long or short as you like, but people will read – and rely on – your review. If you have booked a room using Hotwire, you probably will again, and you’ll read the reviews. So, participate in the process. It’s what you want everyone else to do.

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Tuesday Travel Trivia (Week 17)

by Aaron Hotfelder on

Welcome back to Tuesday Travel Trivia, the Web’s most difficult ten-question, travel-related, weekly trivia quiz. Let’s just pretend there are other competitors for that title.

Congrats to trivia regular Eva, the winner of last week’s brutally hard round, who answered an impressive six out of ten questions correctly.

Think you can replace her as champ this week? Check out the following ten brain-busting questions and leave your answers in the comments. Come back next Tuesday for the answers. No Googling, would-be cheaters!

  1. Which two European countries are the world’s largest producers of wine?
  2. Which car rental company features the advertising slogan “We Try Harder”?
  3. Khmer is the official language of what Asian country?
  4. To expatriate is to leave one’s homeland in order to live abroad. What similar-sounding word describes the process of coming back to one’s native country after living abroad?
  5. Ecuador uses one of the world’s most well-known currencies. What is it?
  6. Which two countries resumed sending mail back and forth to each other earlier this decade after 50 years of refusing to do so?
  7. The Kentucky Derby is held on the first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs in what city? (No points for guessing the state, Captain Obvious.)
  8. Name two guidebook publishers whose names begin with the letter “L”.
  9. If you’re traveling with your child on an airplane and circumstances force you to use oxygen masks (sorry for the morbid question), whose mask are you supposed to put on first: yours or your child’s?
  10. In what Central American country can you find the towns of Hopkins, Placencia, San Ignacio, and Dangriga?

Check out the answers to last week’s questions below the fold…

  1. Anthony Bourdain’s best-selling book Kitchen Confidential warned restaurant patrons from ordering fish on which day of the week? Answer: Monday
  2. Which non-bordering country is closest to the continental United States? Answer: The Bahamas
  3. Which US airport has been the country’s busiest for at least the last ten years? Answer: Atlanta’s Hartsfield Jackson International Airport
  4. In Spanish, what second-person, plural pronoun is used almost exclusively in Spain and not in the rest of the Spanish-speaking world? Answer: Vosotros
  5. Fill in the name of a northern European city to complete the lyrics to a song from the 1952 film Hans Christian Andersen: “Wonderful, wonderful __________ / Friendly old girl of a town / ‘Neath her tavern light / On this merry night /Let us clink and drink one down.” Answer: Copenhagen
  6. What were the names of the two main characters in Jack Kerouac’s On the Road? Answer: Sal Paradise and Dean Moriarty
  7. Which travel blog provoked a reader backlash this past summer by setting its focus on the Hamptons? Answer: Gridskipper
  8. If ever you’re in the mood for sitting in a chair and watching grass grow, follow the crowd to the largest public park in Paris. What is the name of this “Garden”? Answer: Luxembourg Gardens
  9. What’s the name of the world’s largest passenger jet? Answer: A380
  10. What is the significance of the order of this list of world nations? Monaco, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Tuvalu, Jordan, Nauru, Congo (Kinshasa), Slovenia, Togo, Iraq, Belgium. [Thanks to Jeopardy champ Ken Jennings for this question.] Answer: They’re listed in order of smallest coastlines.

Galley Gossip: A question about packing (it’s all about the shoes!)

by Heather Poole on

Dear Heather,

Love your blog and your web site! I laugh all the time. I usually only fly once a year for a cruise, but when I do I always see people doing what you write about and I laugh. I also try to remember to do and not do what you write about. I’ve never had a bad experience with flight staff or any flight for that matter. I’m about to go on vacation and I do have a question about luggage. With all the restrictions on checked luggage, I’m trying to make the most of my carry on bags. I’ve called the airline and they refer my questions to TSA and TSA refers me to the web site or the airline (talk about run around), but some answers are not on TSA or the airline’s web site. For instance – can hair dryers, flat irons and travel irons go in your carry on? My usual carry on fits nicely in the overhead compartment, but how big of a bag can I fit under the seat? (I’ll be on a Continental 757-200 and 737-900 ) Trying to keep the weight of my checked bag down, I would like to use a bigger under the seat bag for shoes and such. The 3-1-1 rule is that per person or per carry on? I try to book a hotel near shopping so I don’t have to transport toiletries, etc. but I also hate packing that stuff in my checked bag for fear they would leak (I wrap them well and seal them in zip locks and cosmetic bags but you just never know). Any information you can give me would be helpful. Thanks and keep up the great blogging. I love it.
Debbie

Dear Debbie,

First of all, I’m glad to hear you like my blog. I’m even happier to hear you’ve never had a problem with a flight staff or on any flight for that matter. You’re one of the few.

Hair dryers, flat irons and travel irons can go inside your carry on luggage. Though I must ask why you are hauling a travel iron along with you on a trip? Do you really want to lug that thing around and then spend your precious time ironing on vacation when you could be relaxing on vacation – in wrinkle free clothes? Isn’t that what vacation is for? Relaxing. Not ironing. Personally, I’d rather not iron, and that’s why I wear the navy blue polyester dress when I’m working. However, whenever I do bring along something that must be ironed, I just hang it up in the shower and let the steam take care of the wrinkles. Now if you must take the iron with you, I guess I should tell you about a pilot I know who sprays his uniform shirts with starch before packing them inside his suitcase. He said it works.

I’m sorry to hear you’re getting the run around from the airline and TSA, but my guess is TSA is telling you to go to the airline website because every airline is different and has their own set of rules about how much luggage you can bring on-board and what it will cost to check each piece of luggage. I bet the airline is sending you to the TSA website because their rules are different from the airlines rules in regards to what you can and can not take through airport security. Me, I’d play it safe and leave the liquids at home, like you said, check one bag (if it’s too large to bring onboard with you) and take a smaller bag on the airplane.

Because you sound concerned about your bag fitting under your seat, it sounds like your bag may be a wee bit big. Just so you know, my crew tote-bag doesn’t always fit under the seat in front of me. It all depends on the airplane and how much I’ve managed to stuff inside my tote. While most of the time my bag does fit under the seat without a problem, I have had an issue on the 737, but all I had to do was take out a few books, the big bottle of water I had bought in the airport terminal after I passed through security (don’t forget to purchase yours!), turn my bag on its side and give it a good shove. Whatever you do, do not over pack and make sure that the bag going under the seat in front of you is squishable.

Packing for a long trip isn’t easy, but it doesn’t have to be hard, either. The tricky part, if you’re a woman, is figuring out which shoes you’re going to take with you, because when you’re a woman it’s all about the shoes. Am I wrong? Shoes take up too much space in the bag. That’s why I’m going to tell you to leave all those shoes you’ve packed in your smaller bag at home. I mean do you really need all of them?

Now I’m not the most fashionable person on vacation, but I do manage to have a good time and look okay doing so. The key is picking out only two pairs of shoes (a nice pair and a walking pair) to take with you and then coordinating all your outfits around them. If you’re smart you’ll be able to wear both pairs of shoes with most of your outfits. Whenever I’m going on a long trip, I pack two pairs of nice pants and two pairs of jeans (or cargo pants). When it comes to my shirts I always stick with basic colors – black, white and maybe even brown. That way I’m able to mix and match all my pieces which creates even more outfits. I use colorful accessories to dress it up or down.

See that photo over there on the right? Those are my shoes. That’s what I wore in Italy – a beat up pair of slip on canvas shoes and a pair of black boots. I made sure to wear the boots whenever traveling because my walking shoes took up less space in my bag. (Shove a few pairs of socks inside the shoes to save even more room.) Of course I packed everything for my ten day trip to Italy inside my crew luggage – a rollaboard and a tote-bag -that’s it. No need to check bags. Don’t forget, less bags equals less stress. You want to have fun, right?

The only reason I was able to make it through those ten days in Italy with only one suitcase and a tote-bag was because I rolled my clothes tightly, which resulted in me being able to pack even more clothing, I found a laundromat in Venice, which allowed me to get to know the locals and feel like a true Venetian, and I only took two pairs of shoes, which made it possible for me to get it all in one rolling bag, which is why I was able to swing my tote over my shoulder and carry that one very heavy bag up the Spanish Steps in Rome as if I were super woman in black boots.

A word of advice; If you can’t carry it (or lift it) by yourself, don’t pack it, don’t take it, otherwise you may not enjoy your trip. I had to learn that the hard way.

Hope that helps, Debbie. Enjoy your cruise! And make sure to take me with you next time.

Heather Poole

Have a question? Email me at Skydoll123@yahoo.com

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