The first ever hostel

 Whenever I tell people at home or even sometimes here in the UK, that I live in a hostel, they are astonished and can't really imagine what it's like. Especially in Germany where the concept of hostels is relatively new (apart from the classic youth hostel) it is very hard for my friends and family to understand why I choose and like this kind of life (most of the time). I am not even sure, if I chose it or if it cose me. It just happened and I am okay, quite often even happy with it.



It all started in Ireland in January 2005. I had spend the last couple of months of 2004 as an Au Pair in Ireland in Co. Claire somewhere in the middle of nowhere. There was no shop, no pub! and the next bus station with a regular bus was 2 miles away. Apart from my host family I had little contact with the locals and spend almost every night in front of the telly and was terribly lonely. So when Christmas came the family and I decided to part ways. I would go home and spend the holidays with my friends and family and come back three weeks later to move in with the only friend I had in the near by city of Limerick and find a job and do my own thing.



There was just the little issue that I was not officially registered at Silvina's (my friend) flat and the office that gives out the PPS numbers (Social Security Number which is the one legal requirement I needed to work in Ireland) needed a proof of address from the landlord. The good thing was that I had a friend in Galway who is also German and had moved to Ireland 2 years before me and I knew he'd be able to help me.



 So I phoned him up and he told me to come to Galway and we'd take care of it together. And that was the first time I sat foot into a backpacker hostel. I am not even sure, if I stayed there this time around, I may have even stayed at my friend's house but it was then that I decided to stay in Galway not in Limerick.

Galway City Centre

Why you ask? First of all Galway is just such a wee gem of a city. It is directly on the coast, you literally walk 5 minutes from the main shop street to the beach, there are buskers (street performers) everywhere and there is just such a lovely alternative scene that I really loved. Limerick on the other hand is rough, pretty ugly and just not very friendly. But the moment when I finally made my decision was when I was sitting at the office to apply for my PPS number again. While I was sitting there and waiting for my turn a guy came in and like in a rom-com or a romance novel, I just knew, he was special and that I wanted him. I know how this sounds, but there is really no other way to describe it. Seeing him made me move to Galway and into the hostel, since it was the cheapest accommodation in town and my friend didn't have enough space to let me stay at his place. I knew I might not even see "my guy" again, but there were so many other great people and so much going on that made me sure I'd be happier in Galway.

the hostel back then

The hostel as it turned out was a dump, but I loved it. It occupied the three top floors of a four story building, with the common areas on the first floor and the dorms in the two top ones. It had a total of 58 beds with 8-10 beds in each dorm, a kitchen, a dining room and a TV room. That doesn't sound so bad, does it? But the condition the hostel was in... there was always something leaking, sometimes it would drip in the TV room, the water from the bathrooms came running down the bottom stairs, because some pipe was leaking and for a while you couldn't use the kitchen sinks because the whole kitchen would flood. Nobody liked going into the backyard where the bins where located because there were rats, probably from the canal that was flowing past the back of the building. I think that was one also of the reasons why the shops below the hostel were abandoned. The showers and toilets were gross with mold everywhere and no proper toilet paper dispensers.

that's how things got fixed

The manager lived in the hostel and got payed 40 Euros a day cash in hand and was only around a few hours a day. There were no locks on the doors and only one lock with with a code on the front entrance. (By the way I looked it up online and it seems in much better condition now...)

two of my room mates

But even though the building was in really bad condition some of the people I met there will stay with me forever. I don't exactly remember all the people I met since I went back a few times and people came and went. But I remember I really quickly moved into room No. 6 which had the coolest people in the hostel. Most of them were Spanish speakers (Argentinian, Bask, Catalan, from Andorra and a guy from Italy who also spoke Spanish). There were also a bunch of Polish people in the hostel, a French men, a guy from New Zealand and many more. And even though we were all from VERY different backgrounds and there for different reasons, we were one of these typical dysfunctional hostel families. We lived, partied, worked and even fought together. I learned my first bits of Spanish, I started making money with busking, I improved my English quite a bit and I learned so much about myself.

 There is only one person out of all of these people that I am still in contact with and that's because he also lives in Edinburgh now but I still remember a lot of people from back then and so many special moments that would never have happened had I not moved into that hostel. I even met my mystery guy from the office again. But I am not sure I'll ever share that story...

a life of goodbyes

Life as a traveler is beautiful. The things you see and learn and the people you meet... it's hard to describe, if you have never traveled. Your mind has to open up, if you want to enjoy the ride, otherwise you just keep comparing what you see and do to what you already know and can't appreciate the fact, that although something is different it can also be good, especially when it comes to people. Because everyone has a different cultural socialization, not only depending on where they or their parents come from but on many different factors.

I think for a lot of travelers this is a natural process and they end up with friends from all over the world. And just by hanging out with people from other countries you can learn so much about the culture and the history of other countries. These are the kind of lessons no book, no teacher, no school could ever teach you.

And with some of these people you become really good friends. You travel with them for a while or share a dorm, you meet them at the kitchen table of your new hostel or the pub crawl and meet up again the next day or you might have surfed their couch or you're both working at the same shitty bar, because you ran out of money. No matter how you've met and how long you've known each other but with some of them you click in a beautiful way that makes you smile just thinking about them. It doesn't even have to be in a romantic way. You just love hanging out with them and getting to know them. And you become friends, like the best of friends. Friends you never ever would have met, if hadn't gotten on that plane and left home to go on an adventure. And for a while these new friends are part of that adventure.

But since you, maybe even both of you are on the road it means that you will part eventually. It's just the way it is as a backpacker. You move on, to see new exiting places and meet new people. And you have to say goodbye to the people you've met. Sometimes that part seems to be hardest when you're  traveling. You wish you could just shove your new friends in your backpack and take them with you but the only way you will be able to stay in contact with them is through the internet. I hate to say it, but thank god for Facebook. Over time you lose contact to them. Their faces become blurrier in your mind and the moments you've shared are not as clear in your memories as they once were, eventually you even forget some of those people. 

But a few of these friendships and relationships might last. I know a few people that have met at one hostel or another and they are still friends, still talk online, skype a lot and visit each other every now and then, even though they are continents apart. I know people that have become lovers, are still together and even might get married and have children one day - or already have. Some of these people are from the same country, some are from different continents, but somehow they have found a connection despite all differences... they would have never met, if they hadn't been traveling.

There are a lot of people I have met along the way and had to say goodbye to over the years and there will be many more. Sometimes it is brutal, because they've really become loved ones. And I wonder what they are up to now and if I will ever see them again, if they ever think of me...

the music should groove your bones

I just got out of the shower and was about to get ready to go to a wee free festival, just a 10 minute walk from my house(yeah... hostel). So I thought I could listen to some music that would get me in the mood.
Back in 2006 I lived and studied in Germany and had just moved into a new flat with a new flatmate and it turned out we were rather perfect for each other. We were so similar! Same hair, same body type, similar clothing. My mom even asked, if I had been cloned. At some point, one would say what the other one thought and we even invented our own secret code.
But also a very similar taste in music. From some old school goth stuff to the singer/songwriter stuff I was into at the time.
In fact, before going to Uni I had spend a couple of months in Ireland and I fell in love with the country and its music scene. I still keep going back every now and then.
So back in our flat I would play my favourite bands and singers all day long, to the point where she knew them, too. Because I was missing Ireland a lot, we kept going to an Irish pub in our town and two Irish boys were playing every weekend, and we became kind of their fans. They must have thought we were nuts, well they weren't far off.
Around the same time the singer of a German punk rock band died. I had not exactly been friends with him, but since we lived in the same city we ran in to each other here and there. And it hit me hard! So we bought a bunch of their CDs at a car boot sale I think. We listened to them a lot, too.
It's crazy thinking about this time now. It feels like it's a million years ago but on the other hand a lot of memories are still fresh and they are very precious.
I know that I have not always been the best friend. In fact I have been a proper bitch in a certain situation. And I still think about what would have happened, if I hadn't been. But I guess you can't change the past, so I try to go with the good stuff. And I am very glad, that I was forgiven.
Anyways.... the playlist I stumbled upon on my search for upbeat music was a playlist of a bunch of our favourite songs. And as I was listening I got in a really good mood, started dancing in my wee room and all the memories came back to me.
It is a real gift to a soundtrack to that time.

And here is the playlist:
The Bates - Donna Clara
Declan O'Rourke - your world
Mund - July
John Byrne - (I am sorry, I don't know the title)
Roesy - Naughty Girl (Beyonce)
The Frames - Finally
The Verve - Bittersweet Symphony
Juliet Turner - Toxic (Britney Spears)
Paddy Casey - Sweet Suburban Sky
Brian McGovern - Scars
John Byrne - You'll Never Know
Declan O'Rourke - Sarah
Mundy - Healthy
The Bates - Ich bin nicht verliebt
Bell X1 - Like I love you (Justin Timberlake)
Myself - Go back (yes, I used to make music....)
The Bates - Immer weiter