Not too long ago, BootsnAll got a couple of fun (not to mention informative) articles from writer Amy Heading, both of which were about staying in hostels. We decided to feature them in the BootsnAll hostels articles section, but we wanted to make sure you didn’t miss them.

The first article Amy sent us, published this morning, is called “The 10 Hostel Commandments,” and it had a few of us in the office groaning under the weight of unhappy hostel memories. Anyone who has had the pleasure of staying in hostels frequently while traveling is bound to have a deja vu moment or two while reading it – because the transgressions Amy has highlighted in the article are (sadly) not uncommon enough.

Some of our favorites include:

• Commandment 6: Thou shall not have sex in the dorm room – This is a big no-no, and (as Amy notes) applies to more areas of a hostel than just the dorm room. Hostel bathroom sex isn’t out of the question, but keep your intimacies out of the common room or – heaven forbid – the hostel kitchen.



• Commandment 1: Thou shall not play thou’s guitar for us – You might be a fantastic guitar player, but that doesn’t mean everyone around you wants to hear you play or sing at that very moment – especially if it’s late and/or someone’s watching TV. Bringing a guitar on a backpacking trip is a bit on the odd side anyway, but even if you didn’t bring your own there are far too many hostels that seem altogether too proud of the guitars they have on hand for guests to have impromptu concerts. Do we really need hostels to be encouraging this kind of behavior? We’re all for musical expression, but maybe it’s best kept in coffee houses, bars, and the like – and not the hostel common room.
• Commandment 8: Thou shall not steal food from the communal hostel fridge – We know, it’s tempting (especially when no one is looking), but it’s also an assholian move of the first order. Yes, you’re on a strict budget – we understand, really. But the thing is, the other people at the hostel – the ones you’re stealing from – are on a strict budget, too. So eating something that isn’t yours from the hostel fridge is akin to swiping part of someone’s travel budget, plain and simple.

Amy’s article is designed to be funny, to be sure, and it’s definitely amusing – but it’s also likely to bring back some unpleasant memories for you if you’ve shared a hostel with anyone who has disobeyed any of the 10 Hostel Commandments she has outlined. And, to paraphrase an old saying, if you don’t remember anyone doing any of these things at any hostel you’ve ever stayed in, then you might be the guilty party!

Be sure to click over to Amy’s article in the BootsnAll hostels section to read all ten commandments, and then – for good measure – pass it along to anyone you know who has broken one of them!

photo by colm.mcmullan