Sunday, December 22, 2013
Saturday, December 21, 2013
Wetzler Guides: Meeting people in hostels
So you're traveling alone and staying hostels and you sort of want to kill yourself. There is a gnawing achy feeling in your heart that kind of makes you want to just buy a ticket home or go to Machu Pichu and sacrifice a goat amidst the ruins before plunging the knife into your own heart. But don't worry, and certainly don't do anything rash. Hostels can be the loneliest places on earth, but they can also be wonderful. You just need to meet people.
Wetzler Guides: Meeting people in hostels
Part #1: Hotel, Hostel, or Riitta's Couch
When you're traveling you have more or less three choices: stay by yourself, stay in a hostel, or couchsurf. Couchsurfing is a wonderful, wonderful option. It's free and you meet local people. However, one could make a strong case that it be called "Couch Dating", due to what people really use it for and for the amount desperate males on it that troll for potential hosts with less-than-desirable intentions (I of course exclude myself from this group). So that leaves you with two options: hotel or hostel. Staying in a hotel can be great. You have your own space and you can shut yourself in your room and read Game of Thrones or watch Sportscenter and forget that anything outside exists. This is permissible once a week, and only if the room is cheap. Otherwise you must stay in a hostel. Even if you don't feel like making an effort. Even if it means risking heart-wrenching loneliness.
Part #2: Choosing the hostel
Here you have basically two options: Google or Lonely Planet (or any other guide) (editor's note: I wrote this before I knew about Booking.com). Since I sort of hate Lonely Planet and it's somewhat expensive, I prefer the Google route. Just type in the name of the city and the word "hostel." Then click on the links to Hostel World and Hostel Bookers. These sites have made things incredibly easy. Basically you're looking for two things: that the potential hostel have a raiting higher than 90%, and that the "Atmosphere" rating be as high as possible. You want to meet people, so you don't necessarily care about the water pressure or how clean the kitchen is or whether or not the lockers have 15-pound padlocks on them. You want hostels with good common rooms, where people mingle instead of breaking off into little groups or gluing themselves to a device. Again, basically any hostel with an atmosphere rating of 90% or higher will be a good option.
Part #3: What's going on, bro?
Now comes the hard part: actually talking to people. At the hostel I'm currently at in Medellin, Colombia, I haven't talked to anyone. I'm feeling the loneliness a bit. I kind of want to run away. I kind of want to weep. I kind of want to bury myself in a 7 year bottle of Flor de Caña and light my arm hair on fire. But the key here is not to despair: I probably will meet people, I might just have to go outside myself a bit.
Here are some good ways to do it:
A) Go into the common room and set up shop. Start reading a book. Or just sit there and stare off into space. People are drawn to other people, so when someone comes and joins you can say "hi" and ask them the proverbial hostel questions (Where you from, bro? How long you been traveling, man? Where you goin' next, dude? Did you like Peru? I heard it's super lame.) This isn't the best option, but it's a good place to start. You also risk just chilling by yourself and not really doing anything that day. But whatever.
B) Approach a group of people and sit down. Just join a conversation. Unless they're Israeli, they're not going to shoo you away (I know this is an unfair generalization but Israeli travelers seem to be clique-y). In fact, they'll probably be stoked. They'll probably start talking to you. One of them might even ask you where you're from and after you say "Seattle" he'll say "Ohhhhhhh, Seattle, I went there three years ago. They have that market where they throw the fish, right? Or, "Ooooooohhhh, Seattle, really good music, right? etc etc
One thing I often say when approaching a group of people at a hostel is, "Mind if I join you?" I have never gotten an answer that wasn't a resounding "yes", and usually the conversation progresses from there. The sit down can be awkward, but it usually pays sweeping dividends.
C) Cook. The kitchen invariably has a convivial atmosphere. For whatever reason, people making shitty pasta together and listening to "Three Little Birds" on someone's speakers is the perfect recipe for conversation. It's a good place to meet people, but you'll have to be proactive. I don't recommend this option unless you're actually trying to save money or like cooking. If you're JUST trying to meet people they will sense your desperateness and you will be relegated to a lonely burner by yourself tending to your undercooked Basmati rice. In fact, the kitchen can downright suck. Girls way too proud of their homemade guacamole and little groups cooking together laughing at inside jokes and not interested in meeting anyone else at all. But it can also work well. There are always people and usually the close-quarters encourages interaction.
D) Drink/eavesdrop. I'm putting these two together just because I'm sick of categories. The drinking one is obvious. Usually when you drink you become more outgoing and that beautiful Belgian girl in the corner who formally looked unapproachable now looks like your platonic friend Sarah with the mole on her cheek who you could never imagine being nervous around. Plus a lot of times at night people will go out to drink, and you can join them and drink Club Colombia and make feeble attempts at salsa dancing. Or they play drinking games, and you can join in on Ring of Fire or Kings Cup and yell "six is for dicks" at the top of your lungs and laugh gleefully even though inside your soul is dying.
Eavesdropping also works. "You're from Seattle, too? No way. Small world." "I actually just came from Panama on the boat. I can give you guys a cheap option if you want." Eavesdropping is many times impossible to avoid and actually fairly easy to do without being creepy. But it's even easier to do WHILE being creepy, so be careful. Lurking next to a group of lithe Swedish girls and stealing glances at their perfectly toned thighs is not really eavesdropping, and in some countries might even be illegal. So play it cool. Don't force your way in. The name of the game is casual.
So now it's time for me to put my money where my mouth is. I'm at a hostel in Medellin, I don't know anyone, and it's not going to happen unless I make at least a little bit of an effort. Time to go outside and feign reading a book on the patio or lie in the hammocks and hope someone comes to join me. Or tend to my undercooked Basmati rice. Haven't seen any Swedish girls, yet, though......
Wetzler Guides: Meeting people in hostels
Part #1: Hotel, Hostel, or Riitta's Couch
When you're traveling you have more or less three choices: stay by yourself, stay in a hostel, or couchsurf. Couchsurfing is a wonderful, wonderful option. It's free and you meet local people. However, one could make a strong case that it be called "Couch Dating", due to what people really use it for and for the amount desperate males on it that troll for potential hosts with less-than-desirable intentions (I of course exclude myself from this group). So that leaves you with two options: hotel or hostel. Staying in a hotel can be great. You have your own space and you can shut yourself in your room and read Game of Thrones or watch Sportscenter and forget that anything outside exists. This is permissible once a week, and only if the room is cheap. Otherwise you must stay in a hostel. Even if you don't feel like making an effort. Even if it means risking heart-wrenching loneliness.
Part #2: Choosing the hostel
Here you have basically two options: Google or Lonely Planet (or any other guide) (editor's note: I wrote this before I knew about Booking.com). Since I sort of hate Lonely Planet and it's somewhat expensive, I prefer the Google route. Just type in the name of the city and the word "hostel." Then click on the links to Hostel World and Hostel Bookers. These sites have made things incredibly easy. Basically you're looking for two things: that the potential hostel have a raiting higher than 90%, and that the "Atmosphere" rating be as high as possible. You want to meet people, so you don't necessarily care about the water pressure or how clean the kitchen is or whether or not the lockers have 15-pound padlocks on them. You want hostels with good common rooms, where people mingle instead of breaking off into little groups or gluing themselves to a device. Again, basically any hostel with an atmosphere rating of 90% or higher will be a good option.
Part #3: What's going on, bro?
Now comes the hard part: actually talking to people. At the hostel I'm currently at in Medellin, Colombia, I haven't talked to anyone. I'm feeling the loneliness a bit. I kind of want to run away. I kind of want to weep. I kind of want to bury myself in a 7 year bottle of Flor de Caña and light my arm hair on fire. But the key here is not to despair: I probably will meet people, I might just have to go outside myself a bit.
Here are some good ways to do it:
A) Go into the common room and set up shop. Start reading a book. Or just sit there and stare off into space. People are drawn to other people, so when someone comes and joins you can say "hi" and ask them the proverbial hostel questions (Where you from, bro? How long you been traveling, man? Where you goin' next, dude? Did you like Peru? I heard it's super lame.) This isn't the best option, but it's a good place to start. You also risk just chilling by yourself and not really doing anything that day. But whatever.
B) Approach a group of people and sit down. Just join a conversation. Unless they're Israeli, they're not going to shoo you away (I know this is an unfair generalization but Israeli travelers seem to be clique-y). In fact, they'll probably be stoked. They'll probably start talking to you. One of them might even ask you where you're from and after you say "Seattle" he'll say "Ohhhhhhh, Seattle, I went there three years ago. They have that market where they throw the fish, right? Or, "Ooooooohhhh, Seattle, really good music, right? etc etc
One thing I often say when approaching a group of people at a hostel is, "Mind if I join you?" I have never gotten an answer that wasn't a resounding "yes", and usually the conversation progresses from there. The sit down can be awkward, but it usually pays sweeping dividends.
C) Cook. The kitchen invariably has a convivial atmosphere. For whatever reason, people making shitty pasta together and listening to "Three Little Birds" on someone's speakers is the perfect recipe for conversation. It's a good place to meet people, but you'll have to be proactive. I don't recommend this option unless you're actually trying to save money or like cooking. If you're JUST trying to meet people they will sense your desperateness and you will be relegated to a lonely burner by yourself tending to your undercooked Basmati rice. In fact, the kitchen can downright suck. Girls way too proud of their homemade guacamole and little groups cooking together laughing at inside jokes and not interested in meeting anyone else at all. But it can also work well. There are always people and usually the close-quarters encourages interaction.
D) Drink/eavesdrop. I'm putting these two together just because I'm sick of categories. The drinking one is obvious. Usually when you drink you become more outgoing and that beautiful Belgian girl in the corner who formally looked unapproachable now looks like your platonic friend Sarah with the mole on her cheek who you could never imagine being nervous around. Plus a lot of times at night people will go out to drink, and you can join them and drink Club Colombia and make feeble attempts at salsa dancing. Or they play drinking games, and you can join in on Ring of Fire or Kings Cup and yell "six is for dicks" at the top of your lungs and laugh gleefully even though inside your soul is dying.
Eavesdropping also works. "You're from Seattle, too? No way. Small world." "I actually just came from Panama on the boat. I can give you guys a cheap option if you want." Eavesdropping is many times impossible to avoid and actually fairly easy to do without being creepy. But it's even easier to do WHILE being creepy, so be careful. Lurking next to a group of lithe Swedish girls and stealing glances at their perfectly toned thighs is not really eavesdropping, and in some countries might even be illegal. So play it cool. Don't force your way in. The name of the game is casual.
So now it's time for me to put my money where my mouth is. I'm at a hostel in Medellin, I don't know anyone, and it's not going to happen unless I make at least a little bit of an effort. Time to go outside and feign reading a book on the patio or lie in the hammocks and hope someone comes to join me. Or tend to my undercooked Basmati rice. Haven't seen any Swedish girls, yet, though......
Monday, December 16, 2013
Merry Christy-mas
I am extremely happy to be in Panama right now. I already feel like I'm in a different country. I already feel like I'm close to Columbia. Or at least closer. The only thing between me and Bogota and lonely Christmas right now is a six hour bus ride to Panama city, a couple more bus rides, several boat rides in gut wrenching vomit inducing waters, and a few more buses in Colombia. I'm practically there. I can already taste the pony Malta and feel the cool air of Bogota, though that might just be the air conditioning of the department store where I'm killing time in Panama.
I love Panama. I used to hate it and actually I might still hate it but right now I love it. It's cheap. They use the dollar. If you're not in bocas Del toro there aren't many tourists. And most importantly: it's close to Colombia.
I still have no idea how I'm going to get to Colombia, aka whether I'm going Caribbean or Pacific. The Caribbean seems to be cheaper and easier, plus if I go that way I'll have to go to Medellin and thus see Christy, a girl from a grocery store who I went on a date with in 2007. We sat in the park drinking pony Malta and when I tried to kiss her she turned away. But then I walked her to the metro and she said "when will I see you again? " and I said "I'm going to Bogota tomorrow" and that was that. The one that got away. El amor de mi vida, as far as girls from grocery stores go. The girls in Colombia are on a level of their own, though. You see garbage collectors that take your breath away.
Anyway, my phone is almost out of battery. The next post will probably come from Panama city.
Hasta entonces.
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