There is nothing more relieving than walking into a roofed dwelling while travelling. But the type of dwelling could make all the difference. And for the student traveler, hostels are the way to go.
Hostels are the perfect instigator for meeting new people when you travel. Student travelers especially should dive head first into hostels.
Where Airbnb is like staying at your well-off second cousin-in-law’s house, hostels are like crashing at your cool uncle’s flat.
Airbnb, an accommodation company that thrives on sharing spaces around the world, has slowly crept into the spotlight. Airbnb preaches from their crisp, indie aesthetic. The company’s website features short clips of travelers chilling out in their shared spaces around the world with the watermark “Belong Anywhere” neatly placed in the center of the homepage.
In other words, it’s fancy. And overrated.
I decided to try out this new accommodation phenomenon this summer while hopping around Europe for a couple of weeks. Setting up and booking my Airbnb package didn’t take longer than twenty minutes. After you create a minimal profile, provide an identification card or passport for verification and jot down some notes about yourself the globe is literally yours.
Over 40 million people have used Airbnb. Airbnb is available in over 190 countries and includes over 1.5 million listings. Founded in 2008 in San Francisco by Joe Gabbia, Brian Chesky and Nathan Blecharczyk out of Gabbia’s apartment, Airbnb’s goal from the beginning has been to connect people through sharing and experiencing people’s homes from around the world.
Impressed yet? Don’t get too excited.
The company stands on its reviews. Once you’ve left your Airbnb, you’ll be notified via email how many days you have left to review your host. And review you must. What keeps the system of sharing places so secure is from the ratings each host receives after he or she is reviewed.
But hostels not only provide authentic hospitality from locals, sometimes free booze and offers for pub crawls and tours, they breathe rustic, down-to-earth cordiality too.
Yes, my Airbnb in West Berlin had a cat named Penguin and a mezzanine apartment covered in ivy. My Airbnb in Lidl came with complementary cheese and wine from my host. And my Airbnb in London came with an iPad.
But my hostel in Morocco was in a canyon and had an ancient silver jeweled hookah set up on its roof.
Student travelers may feel safer staying at a five-star rated hosts’ loft, but hostels are where you meet people from all over. The more you travel, the more you realize that the good people you meet are what ultimately keep you safe on a trip.
Hostels are glorious cesspools of all kinds of travelers. Airbnbs limit the amount of people you meet abroad. You are with one person or one couple usually very briefly. Airbnb hosts like to give you space and let you explore on your own.
Sure, you might wake up in a twelve-bunk room to three Spaniards in their Calvin Klein’s. And showers could be the size of broom cupboards. And you might be woken up at 3:00 in the morning to rowdy Australians.
But to really grasp the essence of student travel, whether you’re a travel veteran or a first timer, choose the fun, old-fashioned route, not the clean, new option.