Hostel dorms are a haven for budget travelers and backpackers but when you’re sharing any living space with 4, 8 or more people it’s easy to get on one another’s nerves. Typically these feelings come about momentarily in the wee hours of the morning or night, kept silent inside each traveler as they move from one hostel to another. With just a moment’s worth of planning and without adding anything extra to your existing routine, you can make sure you’re not the most annoying person in the hostel dorm, or even annoying at all.
The Red Zone
Most of the trouble or frustrations people have with hostel dorms occur right before, after, and during bedtime. This is in fact when most people are likely to be in the hostel and disturbed sleep is usually the number one complaint people have. By taking care of all your basic backpacker needs – packing, showering, Skyping with mom and dad – outside of these times, you’re one big step closer to being a thoughtful and polite hostel-mate.
Hostel hours vary, but in my experience, between 10pm and 10am are the times when at least one person is asleep in the dorm. If you know your flight the next day is at 6am, pack the night before when nobody is around (before 10pm or whenever your dorm tends to be empty).
Aside from being much less noisy the next morning, you’ll also pack much more efficiently. You’ll find it easier to pack more quickly in ample light as opposed to stuffing everything in your bags by feeling around for stuff – saving yourself time from repacking your backpack that just won’t shut in the hostel lobby.
Try as you may, the sound of your own rummaging is never as loud to you as it is to other people who are probably trying to sleep. For your own selfish reasons as well, packing the night before removes many burdens from yourself giving you the opportunity to sleep for a few minutes more the next morning.
Pack up all of your gear the night before except what you’ll wear the next day. This is sound advice whether you’re leaving the next morning to catch a flight, tour, or are simply an early-riser. For those of you new to what a hostel is, the definition of “early” can vary quite a bit. In your particular dorm that might mean 8am or 11 in the morning. Either way having your clothes, toothbrush, and towel ready on top of your bags (in untied plastic bags if you use them) will have you up and out without waking a soul.
Follow The Light
You iPod, cell phone, or a mini flashlight are wonderful sources of illumination once the dorm lights have gone out. You can see that toothbrush you’ve prepared, make your bed, or grab your blanket to return to the hostel desk without creating a blinding light that wakes everyone up. Personally, I find the Verso clip-on reading light (made for Kindle and Nook), to be a bright, lightweight, versatile nightlight with its bendable neck.
In addition to the light, iPods and iPhones make great alarm clocks since their sound doesn’t carry too far and is low pitched. Any mobile phone with a vibrate mode also works well to get you out of bed without rousing everyone else.
You may be a light sleeper, an early riser, or the type of person who can snore their way through a nuclear war. Either way, letting your hostel-mates know can reduce their stress and help them adjust their packing and planning schedule so everyone in the room is more comfortable. That way they (hopefully) won’t forget their ear plugs or keep sloooowly trying to unwrap that plastic wrapper in the middle of the night.
Staying hostels for the most part isn’t like trying to sleep in the middle of a football stadium with hundreds of people shouting while you toss and turn under the spotlights…but you might make others feel like that if you’re not careful. As for you, some ear plugs and a sleeping mask as well as following this guide to sleeping in hostels can make each night more pleasant. By doing things you would anyway (i.e. packing) the night before you can effortlessly be the least annoying person in the dorm.
[photos by: nesta hostel valenica (hostel dorm bunk beds), Kristea (packed bags), Jeremy Brooks (toothbrush silhouette), safaris (Brisbane backpacker hostel), jasonfarmer (cat sound asleep)]