Having stayed in 40+ hostels, it can get tiring very quickly, at first it's easy to be impressed at seeing so many different people in one location, but eventua

Having stayed in 40+ hostels, it can get tiring very quickly, at first it's easy to be impressed at seeing so many different people in one location, but eventually I started feeling like everyone was the same, with the exception of someone here and there. I do agree that off-the-beaten-track is better, location really defines the profile of the majority of the travelers you'll meet there, such as the european party trail(Amsterdam-Berlin-Prague-Budapest) where you're more likely to meet people who just want to get wasted(and hit on 'locals' if they are men). Not to mention the universal adoption of smartphones, cheap data tourist plans, google maps and trip recommendations at your palm, more often than not, if I'm stepping into a hostel common area I'm more likely to see a bunch of zombies glued to their phones before deciding to hit some of the top 5 recommendations on TripAdvisor, it also makes it more difficult to start conversations in a place where that was way more natural just a few years back. These days I'm only staying in hostels for the monetary value which is still way cheaper than most Hotels or AirBnBs, trying to stay in dorms that have no more than 6 beds, I end being one of those who is just staring at their phones and doesn't really engage with other travelers(I do believe this is the majority of hostel guests these days). I'll get a hotel for the comfort every now and then. I guess living in a backpacker destination made me a bit bitter about backpackers in general.