So far I'm in the third hostel of the trip. Despite this Ive already noticed a definite trend of people who always seem to be in hostels. Here are a few examples...
The old guy
For some inexplicable reason (or the recession) there seems to be at least one old guy who is staying at the hostel on a business trip. Although friendly, they have an aversion to noise and a tendency to spew out dodgy advice. Case in point: The guy on the bunk above me in New York. He gave me what seemed like fantastic advice on the first day regarding Ice skating. He told me that there was a large ice rink away from central park that was half the price of the main one and had a much better atmosphere. Now, alarm bells did start ringing when he claimed to have been in charge of the design of the ice rink, but I did at least expect the Ice rink to be there...
On the noise point the same guy did have a (rather hilarious) go at the manager of the hostel for making too much noise one night. The thing that amused me most was that I was in bed and wasn't being disturbed at all. Maybe he had his ear horn in?
The Aussie
Its a well known and proven fact that in any given hostel in any given city in the world there is an Australian backpacker. Despite a tendency to call me a pom these guys are usually good fun - and also love to drink! As yet I'm still waiting to meet one who likes cricket so I can talk about/rub in that we won the ashes (probably a good thing after this this).
Despite blatant prejudice on my part (as seen previously on the blog) having the aussie in the hostel means theres someone who you can instantly get chatting to. Its good to have someone else who finds the traffic lights and the tax system disorienting.
The Lazy Traveller
The lazy traveller is someone who has come from however far away to see the world. Only to spend 90% of their time in the hostel. I get up in the morning, have a nice chat with them and head out for the day. I come in after Ive done whatever for the day and they are sitting at the computer on facebook. I ask them what they did, and they reply 'nothing yet! Just been chilling out a bit'
Now admittedly Ive not met anyone that bad yet, but some people do spend a large amount of time (and days) not seeming to do anything. I appreciate people move at different speeds but it does seem a bit pointless to go all the way across the world just to sleep your way through the trip. There's a girl where I am now (Washington) who I'm pretty sure hasn't seen any of the sites/memorials in 3 days, and that's the reason she's here!
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Before anyone else does, its also worth pointing out that I seem to be at every hostel I go to. Whether I count as a stereotype or not is a different matter...
ReplyDeleteI had the "laziness" problem when I lived in Paris. I just found myself sitting in my room all the time watching movies on my laptop. I attribute it partially to nervousness about wandering a strange city alone. It's one of my biggest regrets and I've tried to learn from it, be a bit more daring!
ReplyDeletewhat? But your so confident! you always seem to look up these fantastic things and throw yourself into them - like the sushi course when I first met you. I know how you felt though - I was terrified when I got here Id be too afraid (and in my case incompetent - Im famously a bit useless) to see much of the place. It must be worse when everyone speaks a different language to you as well
ReplyDeleteAll Australians love Cricket and if they say they don't, then they're lying. Compliment them first on the recent whitewash against Pakistan then when their guard's down, go in for the killer Ashes blow.
ReplyDeleteWith regard to lazy people in hostels, I think that comes down to a lax schedule. Good to hear you're getting around (so to speak).
Dude my ashes put down is now patented: I ask 'Hey, do you have the time?' then a pause while they respond, then 'do you have the ashes?'
ReplyDeleteOld Father Time - he on the weathervane on the top of Lord's - he's got the ashes. Don't gloat too much. We were atrocious in the last test against South Africa.
ReplyDelete