After over 1,000 air miles, just under an hour metro ride, and 20 minutes of walking I found myself stood staring up a tall, dark flight of stairs wondering for the first time, “What the hell am I doing?”
I had just arrived in Budapest. And what I was doing was beginning a job as a hostel receptionist.
I made it to the top of the steps and my life changed.
Confidence
Working in hostels offers the chance to learn that solo travel doesn’t equate to lonely travel, and that friendships can form easily on the road.
Not only did I feel part of a new family, one which stuck together through thick and thin, but I also witnessed solo travellers of all walks of life enter the hostel alone and leave with friends.
See more: How To Find a Hostel Job in Europe
Shameless first hostel job selfie from 2013…
Acceptance
The main theme of this blog is to show wannabe travellers the beauty of all hostels as mini multicultural melting pots. I’ve gone on about this before, and once before that.
You could be in the kitchen catching up on the news and reading about a war between two nations, and then look up and see residents of each nation sat across from each other comparing notes on the city.
Inspiration
The number of self-employed travellers (a.k.a. digital nomads) seemed to be growing at a rapid pace, and the way in which these travellers could pick up and work anywhere amazed me. All my working life I had either been chained to a checkout, a computer screen, or a bar… but more and more I began to see that life doesn’t have to be location dependent. Work doesn’t have to be location dependant.
In addition, with countless people walking in and out of the front door daily, the hostel common areas would always be brimming with story-telling. Some stories admittedly seemed a little more far fetched than others, but overall the atmosphere was one tingling with imagination, inspiration, and excitement for travel.
My new life: working from the rooftop of Equity Point Marrakech in 2015
Disconnection
After witnessing all that I’ve mentioned above, the time I spent dreaming of the dream job lessened and the time I spent working towards it increased.
It is one thing to be dedicated to spending every working hour on creating the role you want in life, but it is another to then find yourself completely disconnected from the way of life led by others who you once spent hours on the phone to, and now struggle to find much in common with. To my friends, waking up at midday would seem ridiculous when they have to be at the office at 9am, but then working straight through the night and falling asleep in front of their computer at 6am isn’t likely to be something they’ve experienced since the rush up to dissertation deadline at uni.
You also learn to say goodbye. Quickly. It’s all in the name; every one I’ve met in hostels has their own road to tread and travellers will alway travel on.
Connection
The result of all this, is an enhanced value that you will place on those real connections that changed you, whether it took a year, a month, or a few days. I also gained a far more thorough understanding of how I want my life to go and where I want to lead myself.
By focusing on goals, you manage to re-align yourself with others who have similar interests or passions with whom you can work together to produce positive, creative, and entirely unique futures. Which sounds pretty good to me…
Lots of love,
