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The Benefits Of Staying In Hostels

“Aren’t you afraid someone is going to steal all of your stuff?” “What if you get murdered in your sleep?” “People there are just so… dirty.” “You’ll end up with bed bugs!” “Haven’t you seen that movie?!” I have heard it all, every negative remark regarding hostels. People think that hostels are dirty, smelly, unsanitary and unsafe. Stained bed sheets, bed bugs, filthy bathrooms; the list goes on. Thankfully, they never stopped me from trying it out myself. When I was planning my first trip, hotels didn’t even cross my mind.[...]

Asia, Tips, Planning and Packing, Travel

10 Things You Will Learn After Traveling in Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia has a special place in my heart and I think it always will. When I first decided to try out traveling, I told myself I wouldn't return to a place I had visited before until I had gone to all seven continents. Well, this summer I went back to Thailand for a second time. And during that trip I started to try to plan how I could get myself back there next summer. There is just something about that area that draws you back again and again. It could make you stay forever. Southeast Asia has also taught me many things. About myself, life, other cultures.[...]

Tips, Planning and Packing

Packing for Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam.

“Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.” - Maya Angelou Well, today is the day! In eleven hours I will be stepping on a plane that will take me away to Thailand, alongside a friend that I met last year at the beginning of my first year of university. The weeks leading up to travel are some of my favorite weeks. They are rushed, stressful, and exciting. Paperwork is being done, photocopies are bei[...]

Tips, Planning and Packing, Travel

17 Unspoken Rules Of Staying In A Hostel

There is not a single person alive who can say that their favorite part about staying in a hostel is the quality of sleep. For me specifically, attempting to sleep in a hostel is always a struggle and I usually have to resort to wearing headphones or earplugs and an eye mask. While every traveler is different and their opinions about hostel etiquette will differ, I've compiled a list of the main rules of staying in a hostel that, in my opinon, are the most important. While not many declares them, they are certainly an unspoken code of hostel living, and should b[...]

Tips, Planning and Packing, Travel

The 5 Biggest Mistakes I’ve Made While Travelling (and How To Avoid Them)

I'd like to think that I'm a well-seasoned traveler, but I'm really not. At eighteen years old, I spent five months backpacking around Europe to see Ireland, England, Scotland, Wales, Paris, Amsterdam, Prague, and the majority of Italy, and now at twenty years old I went to Thailand for a mere three weeks. However, I do think that these experiences have made me consciously aware of things that I should and should not be doing while in a foreign country, alone. I know I shouldn't keep my money all in one place, that I should keep my bag close at all times, make mu[...]