Travel
HOSTELS
34
and Their Ability to Unite International Travellers
In June 2022, I embarked on my first-ever backpacking adventure from the North to the South of Thailand. Slightly naive to the fact that my backpack was literally half my size and packed full to the brim with TikTok recommended travel ‘essentials’, I set off from Bangkok to Chiang Mai to spend two nights at an elephant sanctuary turned hostel in the jungle. Here, I met a wonderful group from the midlands, a confident Dutchman, and a crazy Chilean couple (who had DIYed a bong out of bamboo and spent the majority of their time permanently high – cannabis had been legalised in Thailand a week before I arrived). We spent two nights together in an open-air hostel with just a wool blanket and moth-holed mosquito net for protection. Experiencing the Thai jungle at night is something I will never forget. The sounds, the breeze, the air. It’s all very unnerving – honestly, it felt like we were participating in the opening scene of a horror film. But being surrounded by this welcoming group of strangers made it all feel somewhat normal. We stayed up late chatting about our travels, future plans, and what we would do when we returned home. Writing about it now makes it seem like some kind of fever dream. After being dropped back to Chiang Mai bus station, we all went our separate ways. To me, this is the beauty of staying in hostels with other like-minded travellers. You share pieces of yourself with others; if they have similar plans maybe you’ll travel together, or maybe you’ll just share a life experience with them before continuing on your route. The transient nature of hostels and their ability to bring people together (even briefly) is unmatched. I would pick a grubby hostel over a budget hotel any day! Words by Olivia Griffin Design by: Soyal Khedkar