Aelfgifu Travels

Staying in a hostel for the first time?

See below some top tips of useful things to remember that you may not have thought of outside of the usual packing for a holiday.

1. Quick drying towels (microfiber ones pictured here). There often isn’t space in a shared dorm to hang your towel for a while to dry, so opting for one that dries almost immediately (and takes up very minimal space in your bag) could be a good alternative. Note: they are not great in terms of softness, as can be seen from the photo!

2. A lock and key or a combination lock. When going out for the day if you want to lock up valuables that you don’t wish to carry around with you in a city, there are usually lockers available in the hostel rooms but these will require a physical lock and key for them to be secure and these are not usually provided, so make sure to bring your own.
3. Reusable water bottle. If drinking tap water is not an option in your destination country (worthwhile researching this before your travels), hostels will often have filtered water available to drink – save money filling up your bottle at the start of the day to save buying it later on. 
4. Eye mask and ear plugs. Of course, when in a shared room – the likely occurs – people will snore, people will come in late and turn the light on or generally make noise. Make sure to not let this ruin your sleep by bringing some additional help.
5. Plug converter/adapter. I would also recommend an extra long lead due to the fact plug sockets are often further away from beds than a usual cable can reach. Note: this is based on a standard iPhone cable length of 3 feet. You can get cheap cables online that are longer at about 6 feet / 1.8 meters.
6. Flip-flops. If you’re not staying in a room with an en-suite/private bathroom, I would strongly recommend bringing shoes for the shared shower for hygiene purposes. There is more risk in wet communal areas such as swimming pools and communal washing areas to catch disease.

Stay tuned,

Aelfgifu