From Don: Ever since we began our nomadic journey in September 2011 I have refused to stay in hostels – they were for young, exuberant, backpacker types who don’t mind scungy rooms, dirty kitchens, and bathroom floors that don’t bear thinking about. Nothing Alison said to encourage me to try hostels made any difference: that we could probably get a private room, that some hostels even have en suite rooms, that we’d meet more people, that we’d not be so isolated from other travellers, that it could be fun! Until, that is, we began looking into accommodation for our five-week trip around New Zealand. What we very soon discovered as we looked at listings on booking.com for Christchurch was that there was very little hotel accommodation available in late February 2015, due in part to some big cricket tournament that was going on at the time, and what was available was eye-wateringly expensive. So then I reluctantly began looking at hostels in Christchurch. The BBH (Budget Backpacker Hostels) online booking network provides descriptions and customer ratings of their hostels. I discovered that some highly rated hostels had rooms with en suite bathrooms – now I was interested.
I booked us into a twin room at the Chester Street Backpackers in Christchurch to give it a try. The hostel proved to be in an old, charming, well-maintained house on a quiet street. It had a large, well-organized kitchen with huge fridges plus lots of cupboard space to store other food items, and a lovely outdoor seating area. We had a good-sized room on the main floor with comfortable beds and clean bedding. All this for about $70 a night for a private room, with a bathroom down the hall.
From then on we tried to stay in hostels as often as possible, with only occasional forays back into hotel land. We soon discovered that modern hostel accommodation, in New Zealand anyway, can be just as good or sometimes even better than medium-priced hotels or motels, and at about 2/3 the cost of a similar room. Plus we could cook all our own meals in a spacious well-equipped kitchen instead of having just a microwave and a kettle in our hotel room.
Several hostels we’ve stayed in have offered free breakfast, another offered a wide range of free breads each morning, and two offered both free breakfast and free evening meal (soup or stew with bread). The only down side of cooking in hostel kitchens is the mess that other people sometimes leave behind them. As the sign in the Queenstown Nomads Backpackers kitchen said “Your mum’s not here. Clean up after yourself.” Interestingly, the greater the attention that the staff pay to the general cleanliness of the hostel, the better care the guests seem to pay. In general cleanliness was not an issue. I never did encounter a bathroom floor that caused me to flee in horror.
One of the big surprises about hostel life for me was just how friendly the great majority of our fellow hostel homies turned out to be, regardless of age. Our on-the-road social life suddenly improved immensely. I also have to admit there has been an inner shift in me since I wrote and published my Second Childhood post. There’s a willingness to be more open with others, and what you get back from others is usually a reasonably good reflection of what you put out. I guess I didn’t realize what we’d been missing out on. I’ve been very impressed with the hostels of New Zealand, and now I’m willing to try hostels in other countries.
From Alison: Call me old, and old-fashioned, and out of touch, but I honestly thought young backpackers travelling the world on a budget lived on pizza, beer and ramen noodles. I’ve been amazed and impressed by the amount of actual cooking that goes on in hostel kitchens. Plates piled high with salads, or vegetables, and not just the girls either. A couple of guys together making a meal of risotto with a side of corn on cob. I said to them that I thought young backpackers lived on ramen noodles, and they laughed and said you could only do that for so long. Another guy said it was fun to learn how to cook and to try new recipes. Lots of pasta being cooked for sure but always a great variety of things to go with it. Couples talking each other through how to cook different foods, guys following recipes on their iPads. Beef Stroganoff from scratch! Real cooking. Real meals.
I stayed in hostels a lot back in my twenties and have memories of having a great time, meeting lots of fellow travellers, partying, sightseeing, a couple of brief travel romances, and one, only one, memory of actually cooking a meal in a hostel. It was a joint effort in a place way out in the suburbs of Paris. We ate spaghetti bolognese washed down with cheap red wine. I’m sure I cooked many hostel meals in those days but that’s the only one I remember. Vaguely. These days we’ve established a morning routine of making breakfast and packed lunches before we head out sight-seeing or travelling for the day, and I think it may be a long time before I forget all the meals we’ve cooked together in New Zealand.
In most hostels we’ve met people of all ages, though definitely there has been a predominance of late teens and twentysomethings, but Queenstown was different. I call Queenstown “Adrenaline Central”. I’ll write more about it in a later post. Nomads Backpackers was full to over flowing with kids looking for adventure and the biggest adrenaline rush they could find. We were walking down stairs from our room one day and some older people walked past us on the way up. One of them said “Oh look! People over twenty!” We all laughed.
Noise! Yes, noise has been an issue, and not what you’d think, not from late night partying or generally rowdy kids. Pretty much universally we’ve experienced people to be quiet and respectful. It’s the endless radio noise that makes my ears bleed. Are people afraid of silence? Almost every hostel kitchen has a radio on all the time. Usually the volume is not so bad, but in every place it has been a commercial station, so a little bit of news, a little bit of chat, a little bit of mostly bearable music. In between that, all too frequently, come the ads. It’s the loud, rapid-fire, fake, ear-shattering voice urgently commanding me to buy something, that I find distressing. It’s early morning. I’m not really awake yet, peacefully trying to start my day with a little breakfast prep and I have this voice screaming at me. Energetically fractured. Frequently I would just turn the radio off. No one ever seemed to mind, or even actually notice. The resulting peace was blissful. My whole body would suddenly relax. The completely soulless hostel in Wellington had a TV in the kitchen-dining room. I turned that off more than once too. In the hostel in Taupo one evening we’re cooking dinner, and a guy came into the kitchen, placed a small cylindrical speaker thingy on the counter, plugged it into the outlet, plugged his phone into the speaker and suddenly there was music blasting out of it at mega volume. Wow. We were a little shocked. Not so much at the music, which varied, and some of it we liked, but at his lack of consciousness, and/or his sense of entitlement. At one time his friend turned the volume down but he turned it up again after a while. It’s the only time we’ve experienced a blatant disrespect for others.
Although I’d tried for years to persuade Don to stay in hostels, I admit that one of the issues for both of us was security. With a private room we can lock our valuables in our cases, and then lock our room, which is the same security we’d have in a hotel. I foresee many more hostels in our future. What’s a little radio screeching compared to all the other advantages like having a kitchen so we can make our own meals, and meeting people! We have something approaching an actual social life. Brave new world indeed.
All words and images by Alison Louise Armstrong unless otherwise noted
© Alison Louise Armstrong and Adventures in Wonderland – a pilgrimage of the heart, 2010-2015.
Hooray for you guys! The hostel I remember most fondly, as architecturally fabulous, friendly and ultra-clean was in the extraordinary 30’s designed city of Napier… wonder if you got there?!
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Thanks Deborah! No, we didn’t get to Napier. What we discovered is that 5 weeks in New Zealand is not nearly enough. We could easily have spent 2 or 3 months here, and I wish we’d been able to. We’ve been rushing from place to place a bit, and have definitely had to pick and choose.
Alison
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I love the photo 🙂
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Thanks 🙂
Says a lot doesn’t it?!
Alison
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welcome to the club of Hostel People, hehe… That’s not so bad staying in a non-hotel place, is it?
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Definitely not so bad. Better than that – mostly very good. In New Zealand anyway. We’ll see how it goes in other countries. Our experience is that generally Hostel People are great!
Alison
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I do travel, and always stay at the hostel. aside from the thoughts that i only use it for sleep anyway, i love staying at there because i get to interact with the other travellers. Cheers…
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There’s something to be said for occasional forays out of the old comfort zone, yeah? And I bet all the young people thought the two of you were the coolest people for having chosen to stay in a hostel. 🙂
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This was a very good comfort zone to get out of! I think *some* people maybe thought we were kinda cool, but perhaps not all. Whatever. It’s how life works. We had a good time, discovered a new way to travel, met some great people, and had some good conversations.
Alison
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A sense of nervousness regarding staying in hostels is not something that is limited to older travellers – I’m in my early 20s and I have only stayed in a hostel once. That was in Berlin and I was very nervous about it – I insisted that my friend and I share a private room rather than a dorm (because I am a total introvert and absolutely must have my personal space). The hostel turned out to be a great and cost effective place to stay – like you I really enjoyed the experience and would definitely do it again the next time I travel!
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I’m glad to hear you had a good time in the hostel in Berlin. I do have confidence we’ll find many other agreeable hostels, though from the comments of others it seems it can be a bit hit and miss. I totally understand your need for private space, and Don and I would never consider a dorm. But, as we’ve discovered, if we can get a private room it can be a really good experience.
Alison
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The first photo is delicious! Hey…really good to hear Don’s voice again in your post! I’m hesitant to (no, quite adamant about not) staying in hostels, because I have money coming in. But if I were to quit work and travel and not have an income, I guess I would consider staying in hostels, if I could have my own room. I’ve stayed in some good hostels over the years, and some…not. They were all good at the time, though.
The photo of Don in the room is…well…very orange! Or is that the more chic…salmon? And blue! Does the room come with the clothesline, or you carry one with you? What other shoes do you pack along? Thongs? Sandals? None? Who irons that shirt Don’s wearing?
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Thanks badfish. We also will only do it if we can have our own room. The photo of Don is in Hogwartz Backpackers in Dunedin. We would recommend it except they have the MOST expensive internet in a country that has expensive internet. $50 per Gb of data!!!!! Breathtaking. The room really is that colour. Definitely orange, no salmon about it. And no over saturation from me 🙂
You just want all our personal details don’t you, since we’ve aired our laundry in public?!
We carry a clothesline (there’s actually a story to that but it’s not very exciting), and 7 pegs (don’t ask me why 7, I don’t know), Don had beach sandals, I have reef shoes, and canvas shoes and running shoes. No one does any ironing ever! Anything else? 🙂
Alison
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Only one thing: who gets to brush their teeth first? I was wondering about shoes, because when I pack, that is the biggest problem (except whether or not to pack my yoga mat). I still carry a nylon cord that I bought decades ago for hanging laundry (one of my well-loved possessions, really). I carried an even dozen “pins” as we call them.
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We really try to keep shoes to a minimum. Don has the shoes he’s wearing in the photo and beach sandals. And I have what said. Bought the reef shoes inHawaii (for $7) because I needed them there. Wouldn’t travel without a clothesline and pegs. Or duct tape.
A.
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I’ve stayed in hostels a few times. In Darwin, I think it was a YMCA, and we had a private room, storage facilities for luggage, kitchen etc. as you describe. It was good and clean. I was surprised at the number of grey nomads that were staying there, especially single women travelling alone. It would have made the travel experience for them much more friendly. We also stayed in a hostel in Melbourne – it was so close to the railway station and convenient. So I think hostels are good a lot of the time.
I so agree with you about the gratuitous radio – or TV blaring to nothing and no-one in particular. I too feel the stress draining out when it is finally turned off!!!
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The place in Darwin sounds great. Perhaps we’ll look into it – we’re going up there, and to Kakadu for a couple of weeks before we fly back to Canada. Of course the standard has varied throughout NZ, but overall they’ve been clean enough and comfortable enough. One even had totally matching and very stylish dinner ware, that matched everything else about the place.
Gratuitous noise blaring just about everywhere these days. Can’t stand it.
Alison
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I’ve seen plenty of hostel recommends and better-heeled people than me have used them but I’ve still been a little reluctant. I’m not always gregarious, is part of my problem, but next time the opportunity arises I will give it a shot. Wish it could be in NZ 🙂 🙂
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We’re not always gregarious either which is one of the reasons we insist on a private room. That way we can always get away from others when we need to. We will for sure try hostels in other countries. As long as we can get a private room and they have good references it seems like a good deal.
Alison
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Good on you. I’m 65 and hooked on hostels. I’m currently staying at one in Taipei (Space Inn) that’s fabulous. Have you encountered age restrictions? For example, at one hostel in Istanbul anyone over 45 couldn’t stay in a dorm and I ran into several in Taipei that excluded anyone over 45 or 50 altogether. Like you I find people quiet and respectful. Last night there were 7 of us in an 8-bed women’s dorm and it was so quiet it was like having the room to myself. I enjoy your posts immensely.
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Hi Anne, I just signed up for your blog. Especially looking forward to reading your piece about Istanbul – it’s on the list for us to travel to later this year. Taipei is also on our list (we have friends who live there) but not this year. We didn’t encounter any age restrictions anywhere in NZ. Good to hear your experience with hostels is so good – very encouraging for trying it in other countries.
Alison
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Excellent!! Look for a few posts on Taiwan in the next few weeks. In the meantime, I’d love to ask you a question about emergency medical insurance coverage and I can’t find an email address to use to send you an email. Much appreciated.
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I’ll email you.
A.
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This makes me want to try and stay at a hostel! I’m very reluctant to stay in one for same reasons as Don. ☺️
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Yeah, just do it! If an old man like me can let go of some of his prejudices, then surely a youngster like you can too. What have you got to lose apart from your preconceptions? :).
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Good on you, glad you had positive experiences overall! Yes, hostels in NZ are of a very high standard. Unfortunately, Wellington doesn’t have any real good ones and oh my, I avoid staying at Nomad’s! There are definitely better hostels in Queenstown, imo. BBH hostels are generally good and homey. Hopewell being my favourite, but I’ve come to absolutely love Bunkers Backpackers on Stewart Island.
Happy travelling!
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We had a great time at (Queenstown) Nomads, and met some good people there while cooking and eating meals, but we did have our own room with en suite so it was like being in a hotel but with communal kitchen and dining room. As it was we were very grateful to get any accommodation at all there, it was so busy. We had no idea NZ would be so busy in February, and in Christchurch we checked the weather for Milford Sound. We really wanted to be able to go on a sunny day, but of course it nailed down our dates for Queenstown. Nomads was the only one available.
BBH were generally good except for the breath taking cost of wifi at Hogwartz in Dunedin.
Alison
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Oh yes. Queenstown gets booked full quite easily; it’s such a popular spot. I’ve heard about more people running into that problem. Glad you could get a room at all and ensuite is really nice!In Queenstown I stayed at The Flaming Kiwi, which is quite nice and they have free unlimited wifi. Not my no. 1 hostel, but the manager is really friendly and helpful. It’s so disappointing when hostels charge a lot for wifi. Luckily, plenty of hostels provide free wifi. Hope more hostels will catch on with that ‘trend’!
Any other great hostel discoveries in New Zealand? Always interested in learning about good spots to stay at *for my next time* 😀
Hope NZ is treating you well.
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Our personal favourite was Globalvillage Backpackers in, of all places Greymouth. Not somewhere you’d really want to spend a lot of time though we did use it as a base to go see the Moeraki Boulders. The hostel was really beautiful.
We hardly ever encountered free wifi. We always had to pay something except for only one place (can’t remember where – maybe Nelson?).
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Good on you, mite! Anna and I went to the south island four years ago. We traveled around the island and always chose hostels to stay. We did like atmosphere that those hostels had: talking with backpackers, cooking, sharing of travel information…etc. (oh, how I miss them~ ).
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Hey Kenny,
Lovely to hear from you. Your experience with New Zealand south island hostels sounds similar to ours. I don’t think we’ll miss them the way you do, but staying in hostels has opened our eyes to the possibility of other types of accommodation to hotel/motel rooms. Best to you and Anna, and one day we WILL come and visit you!
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Don and Alison, this post has me thinking about doing the same when I get to New Zealand! My experience with hostels has been hit-and-miss so far… I booked one for a large group of friends in Lisbon but the staff messed up our booking, and sleeping in a dorm room with strangers was not the best experience. Some Italian guest even wanted to wake me up in the middle of the night to go partying. That said, a few weeks later the same friends and I stayed in a fabulous hostel in the Canary Islands. We met some amazing people and went on a memorable hike with the Austrian owner… I would happily stay there again!
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Wow, your Lisbon experience sounds awful, and the Canary Islands experience fabulous. So I guess hostels can be a bit hit and miss. Our experience in NZ has been all good enough, and some fabulous. The standard of cleanliness has been good, some rooms a bit tiny, but overall definitely a better deal than hotels that are so expensive. Well, NZ is expensive, period. You’re bound to meet some great fellow travellers.
Alison
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Although we haven’t started our nomad life yet, but your post me wonder what will be our travel style? as we all know that as we were older than most of the travelers we have different standards. I still don’t know how to convince Keith to do hostel. I guess I will just have to wait until we are there.
Thank you for sharing your New Life, and yes you both are very brave!
Nina ❤
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I think it does vary from country to country and I’d heard that hostels in NZ were really good so that prompted me to try once again to persuade Don. . Maybe eventually you’ll give it a try. It is good for preparing your own meals and for meeting people. Don’t know about brave. NZ is so expensive finally Don was willing to look at other options 🙂
Alison
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Another great blog Don and Alison – love the picture! We also avoid hostels mainly because we are light and noise intolerant (having lived in the country most of ours lives) and because when we travel we also find that we need some time alone in the evening without anyone else present. And I admit, we also harbour some of your past perceptions of hostels. We do however get a more personal “socialization fix” by occasionally staying with people through SERVAS and by staying with families through HelpX. Through this we have experienced the local culture and local foods. Wonderfully fulfilling!
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We’re both also light and noise sensitive, and need our privacy which is why we would only stay in a hostel if we can have a private room. And if it has en suite so much the better. The kitchen noise can be a bit much at times, but we could always retreat to our room when we’d had enough. We’re not good with staying in other peoples’ homes. Somehow we never get to feel quite comfortable with that, unless it’s family, or very close friends, though I can see how a homestay would be very enriching and a good way to really connect with the local culture.
Alison
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This is a great boost for the PR of hostels. Your room really looks clean, roomy enough, and more than adequate. And, if the price is right and it meets all your needs, that’s the way to go for my penny. This would make a good travel magazine article because there are probably many adults who’d love to travel but the rooming costs are prohibitive. Happy day to you both. 🙂
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The photo of the room was definitely all you say – clean, roomy enough, and more than adequate. It was not the smallest room we encountered – that would be the room in Auckland fortunately for only one night. We hardly had room to turn around. Still it was clean, quiet enough and the beds were comfortable. Maybe I’ll turn it into an article – I can think of a few places that might be interested.
Thanks Paulette, happy day to you too ❤
Alison
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Sounds fun!! Do you find that when you do want some time to yourselves, it’s hard to find? I just worry that, as older travelers ourselves, we’d get “peopled-out” and want to get away…
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Hi you two,
We too get “peopled-out” very easily, but we had no difficulty finding privacy in any of the hostels we stayed in. We just went to our room and closed the door!
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I love my privacy, I confess. So I have avoided hostels all my life, even when traveling as a young person. I like the laundry line in the room with Don, however. 🙂 –Curt
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I too love my privacy, and it took many years of travelling, plus the eye-watering prices of hotel rooms in New Zealand, to persuade me to give hostels a try. Now I appreciate some of the benefits of hostels, though I still prefer a nice two-bedroom motel suite (our current abode in Whitianga) when it comes available as a free upgrade. I’d never want to stay in a dorm room, and neither would Alison.
Now that our laundry line has been revealed to the public eye, the truth must come out: we carry our own length of clothesline and 7 pegs to hang our washing in our room when the weather is bad or when a hotel’s laundry prices are exorbitant. The only time we’ve run into any problem doing this was at the backpackers we stayed at in Dunedin, where the woman running the place got all bent out of shape when we hung washing in her new deluxe en-suite room.
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It’s a tough one, Don. I know there are adventures to be had by staying at a hostel in terms of meeting and mixing with people, but I am the type of person who can put on a backpack and disappear into the woods by myself for a week and be totally happy. Or work on a book. As for laundry, good for you. Peggy and I have mastered the hang it in a shower routine. –Curt
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I’ve stayed at countless hostels over the years and yes, some of them have been so wonderful–a great place to meet both young and older people, an opportunity to sit down around a table, share a bottle of wine and tell interesting stories. There have been, however, some hostels that unfortunately turns into a drunk tank. Haha. I’m glad you, Alison, were pleasantly surprised!
Jess 🙂
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Good to have your input Jess, just so we know not all experiences will necessarily be wonderful 🙂
However it has so far been plenty good enough for us to keep hostels in mind for the future when making bookings. It was fun meeting people, and we liked being able to prepare our own meals. We were definitely pleasantly surprised.
Alison
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Yeah, I spent nearly six months in hostels in NZ and every one of them was wonderful. I can’t say the same for many places in Europe unfortunately. 😦
Have you been to Wanaka Lake yet? That’s my mom’s favourite place in New Zealand. My family planned on moving there when I was a child, but it never happened. Love that country! 🙂
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We loved Wanaka! Gorgeous country that reminded us very much of the Okanagan in BC Canada where we used to have holidays.
A.
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So glad you’re enjoying NZ! I’m not sure you’ve convinced me about hostel living, but I’m guessing that, of all countries in the world, NZ would be likely to have the very best hostels. Looking forward to hearing more about your stay in Middle Earth.
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We’re *loving* NZ – 5 weeks is not nearly enough time here! We could have easily filled 8 or even 10 weeks. The rep of NZ hostels had reached me so that’s why I tried again to convince Don to try them.
Stories of Midddle Earth to come, but a couple more about Oz first.
Alison
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Hi Don and Alison,
Have you ever tried airbnb for an alternative to hotels? We like to use that agency, and have found lovely lodging both in the US and in Asia. One lives in a more personable space than hotel rooms, one usually has access to the host’s kitchen, and we have made many nice connections with our hosts and hostesses.
We did have one bust in Bangkok, but even that turned out okay in the end, because we got our money back, and the host even agreed to pay for our service fee, in the recognition that the place really was not acceptable.
The only downside is that airbnb charges your VISA account with the full amount upfront, which doesn’t seem quite right to me, but that’s their policy.
Will you be coming to Whidbey this summer? We’d love to see you again and swap travel stories! We’re back from our three months in Asia. It was an amazing journey, and now we are happy to be back at home in our own digs. No more clothes lines across the bedroom! 🙂
Tanya
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Hi Tanya and Lee,
We’ve never tried airbnb, mainly because we like our privacy too much, and would feel obliged to chat to our hosts if we were staying in someone’s home.
We are hoping to come to Whidbey for the Summer Long Dance this year, but don’t have any dates yet, though it usually takes place over the July 4 weekend. We’d love to see you both again, and swap travel stories.
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We are also very private people, Don, and this has never been an issue. You can specify whether you want a room in the house of the host or a separate unit. If you stay in the house of the host, they just go about their business and let you do the same. Most are also available for local information and / or the occasional friendly chat if the guests feel so inclined, but nobody has ever bothered us with their presence or their need to talk. Also, you can rent whole apartments and houses, and never see your host again after you’ve checked in.
Anyway, let us know when you come to Whidbey, and let’s try to work out a little time together. We would love that.
Stay well,
Tanya
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Thanks for the new airbnb information Tanya, that’s really helpful. We’ll keep in touch about getting together when we come to Whidbey.
Regards,
Don
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A couple more tips: after you’ve put in your destination and dates, you have a first filter where you can specify “entire place”, if this what you want, or shared space, etc. That eliminates a whole bunch. Then there are additional filters, where you specify # of rooms, # of beds, etc. …. also which part of town or city. And when you start zeroing in on a place that looks interesting, scroll down to the very bottom and you’ll see the location …… not the exact address, but the neighborhood and street. That’s very helpful when booking in bigger cities, and I have discovered this feature fairly late in the game.
Now you can go and play! 🙂
It really opens up a whole new range of reasonably priced and often very lovely lodging.
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Thank you! We’ll try again. Don says he’s looked before and just remembers that there didn’t seem to be any cost saving particularly than with renting apartments through other sources. If we’re in a place for a week or more we get an apartment. Otherwise we’re looking for privacy, ie our own space, not having to juggle the use of a kitchen in someone else’s home. However you and pagedogs have said enough that we obviously need to look at again.
Alison
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I echo Tanya. We love airbnb and VRBO/homeaway. A wide variety of places are available–much nicer and cheaper than hotels but more private and less risky than hostels.
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Thanks for your comments re airbnb and VRBO/homeaway. We’ll certainly check them out in future. Staying in private rooms in hostels felt no more risky to us than staying in a hotel room.
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I didn’t mean risky as in dangerous, but rather that hostels can be a hit or miss experience. With airbnb and VRBO you have a pretty good idea of exactly what you are getting. I think you will like them! Good luck.
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Thanks for clarifying. We have looked at both in the past, and they didn’t seem to fit our needs at that time, but as I said to Tanya it’s clear we need to look again. Many people have especially mentioned airbnb over the years. Maybe we’re just too fussy 🙂
Alison
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Although we still prefer renting apartments for our longer visits we’ve stayed in BnB’s, shared apartments and hostels several times during our travels and, for most of our stays, we’ve had a positive experience. It’s great to be able to meet new people, make new friends and the tips we receive about places to visit as well as how to get around, etc. are invaluable. I’m enjoying reading your posts from this part of the world – such an amazing place! Anita
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Yes, we also rent apartments whenever we’re in a place for a week or more. Not a big fan of BnB’s as they tend to be expensive. We stayed in some beautiful ones back when Don was still working. I think we could do shared apartments for a couple of days but not longer than that. One of the things we did love about staying in hostels, that we forgot to mention in the post, was all the tips we got about places to visit, and gave out a few of our own too.
Glad to hear you’re enjoying the Antipodean posts. Thanks!
Alison
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Hi Alison and Don,
Being fellow “older” nomads like yourselves, we have tried all sorts of accommodation options, in Asia and in Europe.
Our all time favorite is home exchange… Can’t be beat for a no cost great way to live in someone’s home and neighborhood, especially in Europe! However, when we can’t arrange a home exchange we look for other comfortable and affordable options!
We just left Portugal where we had both a home exchange and used hostels. Portugal is known for its terrific hostels and man, it did not disappoint! We had amazing experiences and super comfy private rooms in both Lisbon and Faros….both times for around 40 euros! wow, a bargain, and in Lisbon really it felt like a boutique hotel in a great neighborhood, which just had the name “hostel” and low price to go along with it! Highly recommend…almost all hostels there offer private room options!
http://www.greenglobaltrek.com
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We can’t do home exchange of course since we have no home to exchange. Thank you for the Portugal info! Good to know.
We’re currently looking into VRBO for Darwin – Don thinks he’s found some possibilities. I seem to vaguely remember we’ve used VRBO in the past for apartments – I’m pretty sure it was in Mexico. So, we just keep searching all the different possibilities.
Alison
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Sounds worth trying Don. We have so far leaned towards apartments over hotels. Had no idea hostels offered private twin rooms!
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Meant “apartments over ‘hostels’.”
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Well, as you can tell, I’m sold on hostels, at least the ones we stayed at in New Zealand. Twin rooms with en suite bathroom, plus big kitchens at 2/3 the cost of a motel room: can’t be beat. We still tend to choose apartments, though, if we’re staying in one place for a week or more.
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Good for you too! I love the sheer variety of hostels, and best love ones with mismatched furniture and tons of personality.
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Yes, we loved the variety too, and most had tons of personality and a real ‘at-home’ feel. Really comfy living rooms!
Alison
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You two have the most interesting, full and fun filled life, still open to all sorts of new experiences. You have my admiration, respect & friendship! Travel on wayward son (and daughter)! Never stop!
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Thank you so much Cindy. Not planning on stopping any time soon 🙂
and we’re open to (most) new experiences.
Alison xox
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Don and Alison, your stories are so inspiring! I am looking forward to reading all about your new adventures!
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Thanks so much Agness. Lots more adventures to come 🙂
Alison
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Allison and Don, I love reading your adventures. I am in awe of your decision to chuck it all ( the stuff that owns us!) and experience life. You have inspired me to take the first step. I am planning a trip to Thailand. My husband wants to try Intrepid tour and I want to try it own our own! We only have three weeks to stay there. Hoping it will get him to see that we can do some extended travels. I would really like to try a hostel… meet new people and gather tips. Safe travels, Joni H
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Thank you so much Joni. When the time came, when we made the decision, getting rid of all the stuff was easy. Well it took some organising, and there were times we felt we’d never get through it all, but emotionally it was easy.
We travelled with Intrepid in Egypt and highly recommend them. They are a good tour company and it is very easy travelling in that all the details are taken care of for you.
On the other hand travelling independently has many advantages, and believe me in Thailand it will be easy. There have been so many tourists in Thailand for so long now that the path is well worn. You’ll always find someone who can speak English when you need it. I don’t know about the quality of hostels there but you can find out online I’m sure. I’d be surprised if there were not really good hostels in the main tourist centres like Bangkok, Chiang Mai, and some of the resort islands.
A word of warning – for any place you travel to – never carry open bags, or a bag just slung over your shoulder, or resting on your lap. Never have your passport with you when you go out for a day sightseeing. Be aware of your surroundings and leave your valuables at home. I know it all sounds like common sense but seriously the number of stories out there of people who’ve been robbed in broad daylight is astonishing. Even us. In a moment of excitement Don put his daypack on the ground between his feet while watching a dance at a festival in Mexico. When the dance ended and he looked down his backpack was gone. I’m not saying all this to scare you. It applies to wherever you travel and whether you take a tour or travel independently. In every country we’ve been to there are always those on the lookout for a chance to take advantage of the tourists.
Good luck with your planning, and happy travels. Thailand is a fabulous country.
Alison
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This brought back some wonderful memories of living in NZ and working in hostels in Christchurch and Blenheim. It was a welcome surprise to me once I re-evaluated my budget and realised just how lovely some of the backpackers were
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So glad I brought back some good memories for you. We loved NZ and stayed in hostels for just about the entire 6 weeks we were there and loved them. It must have been fun to work in a hostel.
Alison
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