Am I too old for a hostel?
Letter #17: Turns out I’m not, and the hostel experience has exceeded my expectations and provided me with the best popsicle ever.
I spent my entire adolescent and young adult life living with other human beings, from family to roommates. Having my own apartment—and my own hotel room—is my preferred way of living. But when the “Great Gili Air Bug Fiasco of 2023” occurred, and I sought refuge in a resort that killed my budget, I knew I needed to edit my future travel plans.
To make up for the extra money spent on PinkCoco, it was time I booked a hostel in the next spot. Canggu is a neighborhood where I’d received mixed reviews, being a busy party town full of digital nomads, but also the #1 place to be in Bali. To be honest, I was nervous about both booking a hostel AND being in the party town hotspot. And, again, I found myself pleasantly surprised by the whole situation.
I chose a co-working hostel after scouring reviews on where to stay. I had read that most guests at Tribal kept their heads down, working during the day, and that the environment wasn’t very social. But that it attracted an older crowd (me), and is brand new and clean. At least that gave me baby steps into the hostel world, and at $13 a night for a shared dorm room, I was willing to give it a try.
When I think of the term “hostel in Bali”, I picture a bunch of beautiful, young surfers in their early 20’s, stumbling into the room late at night and keeping me from my 9 hours of blissful sleep. I picture moldy bathrooms with standing water in the showers. I generally picture myself feeling very uncomfortable and regretful that I hadn’t opted for another boujiee hotel.
All these preconceptions were debunked at Tribal, which makes me more willing—even excited—to try other hostels during my trip.
I met a friend right away when I arrived and was unpacking my bag in the shared female dorm. Catarina and I went out for dinner, talking for several hours before finally paying the bill and heading back to bed. This was my understanding of the benefit of staying at hostels—how easy it is to make new friends from all over the world. Catarina is a native of Portugal, living part time in Switzerland and Bali. We just so happened to be the same age, and both with wanderlust and the desire to live an unconventional lifestyle. The following day I hopped on the back of her scooter as she was so excited to show me Clear Cafe, where we had an amazing, healthy breakfast, and went back later in the day for massages. In between, we did a little shopping, me on a hunt for a new bikini, her on the hunt for some island looks—the shopping in Bali is INCREDIBLE. Later we headed back to the hostel to lounge by the pool and read. Not a bad life, right?
That evening I met a couple more girls in our room. One a remote worker for Dell, based in Taiwan, and the other a Swiss native who just finished UX/UI bootcamp and has been living in Bali the past 4 years. Having friendly chatter with the girls around me helped me sleep more soundly that night. As much as I crave privacy and solitude, having familiar faces to speak with throughout the day, bounce ideas off each other, and share meals together, makes my trip feel so much richer.
I’ve also learned that by meeting other travelers, I can ask some of my timid “I’m new to this” questions.
“How does one workout when staying in a hostel?”
“Is driving a scooter in SE Asia as terrifying as it seems?”
“How does one travel for months on end without getting tired of living out of a suitcase?!”
Being with new friends helped me feel more comfortable with exploring this unknown town, where I would’ve otherwise been a bit intimidated by the stunning influencers and the tech workers that have the lifestyle all figured out. I would’ve stayed closer to home. Instead we zoomed around town, checking out different cafes and stores and met up with our friends for the iconic Bali sunset. I committed to renting a scooter the following week so I could hone in on a new skill and learn to overcome my fear of driving in this part of the world.
At night, the girls and I said goodnight and shut out the lights by 11. I meditated, caught up on texts with everyone I love that were then just waking up for the day, and snuck in a half hour of Netflix before I could no longer keep my eyes open. I slept 8 hours straight through and woke up to quietly put on my workout clothes for a morning run to the beach. I was feeling more confident about exploring on my own now. Bali doesn’t really have sidewalks and the roads are super narrow, like one lane roads in the US (except they allow 2 lanes of traffic, scooters, cars, trucks, parked cars, parked scooters, pedestrians, and dogs), so street running is a bit dicey. But I went anyway and admired all the surroundings, stopping here and there to ask for advice from locals on where to continue my route. As expected, SE Asia continues to amaze and surprise me.
That following Monday I booked another co-working hostel, Draper Startup House for Entrepreneurs. The hostel was 15 minutes west of Canggu and surrounded by local establishments, less catered to foreigners. Wow…what to even say about Draper. The accommodations aren’t as modern as Tribal, but the people make the place. Someone had said when you arrive and walk into the open air co-working space in Draper, “you feel like you’re walking into your own living room.” Everyone is so warm and welcoming, immediately inviting you to lunch at Gidiyon (an AMAZING and cheap local warung), and eager to share ideas and stories with everyone in the room. There is no cliquey-ness. It does not matter if you’re staying at Draper for 3 nights or for 3 months—they have a family vibe.
writes fondly about Draper here. It really solidified my new fondness of hostels, especially co-working ones. All these fascinating people, choosing an alternative lifestyle, everyone seemingly on a level playing field, just looking to enjoy life, take it easy, and keep it healthy. There wasn’t a party vibe, it was much more laidback with friends sharing suggestions for spirituality and self-improvement workshops, travel advice, and business ideas. I wish every city had a Draper promising the same high caliper of people that I met that week in Bali.I just booked another hostel in Hoi An, Vietnam, and one in Bangkok, Thailand, so stay tuned on whether or not I’m still young enough to hang in co-living spaces.
Quick Update: Ok, another unpopular opinion, I actually preferred Gili Trawangan over Gili Air! PinkCoco hosts an amazing sunset viewing with a DJ and fire dancer, and the party music dies down by 9pm (which also happens to be my bedtime). The island is more lively, more developed, with tons of shops, restaurants, and bars promising nightly live music. I borrowed a bike from the hotel and rode around the island to continue my hunt for both a bikini and a healthy lunch, admiring the numerous beach shacks openly selling magic mushroom shakes—which is shocking given Indonesia’s strict laws against drug use. I booked a snorkeling tour around the three islands—it was somewhat lackluster, but I did meet a young couple from Sweden, Anna and Anton, and had a great time getting to know them throughout the day and learning more about their culture in comparison to the realities of Indonesian life.
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Me too!!!
Such gorgeous pictures again. I’m a sunset addict! And beautiful how your bravery paid off!