4 ms·

1. When I was 16 I couldn't afford a slurpee at 7-11 2. I had to stay in the UK (London) for weeks a few times (looking for work) and you can stay in a hostel

1. When I was 16 I couldn't afford a slurpee at 7-11 2. I had to stay in the UK (London) for weeks a few times (looking for work) and you can stay in a hostel for around 20 pounds a night, get a boris bike/bus or walk for like 5 a day and shitty food for less than 10 a day. Not exactly a 'fun vacation' but it's also one of the most expensive cities in the world. 3. What an arbitrary unit to measure wealth in. That's like asking how many pairs of jeans can you afford - well, are they from the thrift store or are they from the Armani Exchange?

fapjacks 7y ago
Well, I'd say anybody that can't find a fun vacation staying at a hostel in Europe and walking around the middle of pretty much any city must surely have no imagination and/or also hate life in general.
- loblollyboy 7y ago
  I was hating life in general
  - fapjacks 7y ago
    Sorry :( When or if you figure this out, please do a Show HN.
- kumoflow 7y ago
  Or they don't like that? I don't take 'vacations' per se. When I travel I like to go with a goal, let it be snowboard for a week or surf for the weekend in a nice spot, or just stay at a 5 star hotel drinking gin and tonic by the pool. Any kind of city 'vacation' for me is hell. Hate it. Did many before, still hate them. Go see the Mona Lisa or some natural lake? bleh. Boring. Rather be at home drinking gin and tonic in my sofa doing nothing all day. (to be fair, I lived in many countries, moved house and cities (and countries) pretty much every year. I've seen most of Europe has to offer (and didn't like it) and now nothing is better than just living near the sea. Spending some quality time with local friends and go surf or to the gym.
  - ghostbrainalpha 7y ago
    Just because you have a "goal" of drinking gin at the pool of a 5 star hotel doesn't mean you aren't taking a vacation. You are just better at traveling than most people.
- xamuel 7y ago
  Seriously, hostels are the most fun way to visit any first-world country (if you're young, at least). Meet new people every day, with an obvious instant common topic to talk about. Super easy to schedule ad hoc adventures with your fellow hostellers. As compared to a hotel, which will generally be just like every other hotel in the entire world, and you might as well have just gone to a hotel in your home city. Or the usual tourist traps, where you'll compete with a giant mob of people too busy checking off items on their checklists to chat or adventure. The only way a non-hostel vacation makes any sense is if your #1 goal is to post selfies to make yourself look rich and successful.
  - thfuran 7y ago
    >As compared to a hotel, which will generally be just like every other hotel in the entire world, and you might as well have just gone to a hotel in your home city. What? If I'm trying to see the Louvre, a hotel in Paris is hardly interchangeable with one in, say, Chicago. >The only way a non-hostel vacation makes any sense is if your #1 goal is to post selfies to make yourself look rich and successful Or really any goal that isn't "hang out with strangers and sleep in uncomfortable beds". You seem unreasonably certain that what you want is the only thing any sensible person could possibly want, which is utter nonsense.
  - whamlastxmas 7y ago
    I like privacy, cleanliness, comfort, and I often need to be left alone to recharge after a long day. It makes sense for me to not use a hostel and I don't use any sort of social media.
  - loblollyboy 7y ago
    I agree that hostels are fun for the reasons you said, but I've also gotten bed-bugs, I have shared a bunk with a dude who snored so loud he put ear plugs in his own ears. I have been in a hostel with two scary ass dudes from a favela or something, luckily I wasn't the young, female solo-traveller they kept hitting on - literally: "kissy kissy?" There are a million reasons to NOT stay at a hostel.

fapjacks 7y ago

Well, I'd say anybody that can't find a fun vacation staying at a hostel in Europe and walking around the middle of pretty much any city must surely have no imagination and/or also hate life in general.

loblollyboy 7y ago
I was hating life in general
- fapjacks 7y ago
  Sorry :( When or if you figure this out, please do a Show HN.
kumoflow 7y ago
Or they don't like that? I don't take 'vacations' per se. When I travel I like to go with a goal, let it be snowboard for a week or surf for the weekend in a nice spot, or just stay at a 5 star hotel drinking gin and tonic by the pool. Any kind of city 'vacation' for me is hell. Hate it. Did many before, still hate them. Go see the Mona Lisa or some natural lake? bleh. Boring. Rather be at home drinking gin and tonic in my sofa doing nothing all day. (to be fair, I lived in many countries, moved house and cities (and countries) pretty much every year. I've seen most of Europe has to offer (and didn't like it) and now nothing is better than just living near the sea. Spending some quality time with local friends and go surf or to the gym.
- ghostbrainalpha 7y ago
  Just because you have a "goal" of drinking gin at the pool of a 5 star hotel doesn't mean you aren't taking a vacation. You are just better at traveling than most people.
xamuel 7y ago
Seriously, hostels are the most fun way to visit any first-world country (if you're young, at least). Meet new people every day, with an obvious instant common topic to talk about. Super easy to schedule ad hoc adventures with your fellow hostellers. As compared to a hotel, which will generally be just like every other hotel in the entire world, and you might as well have just gone to a hotel in your home city. Or the usual tourist traps, where you'll compete with a giant mob of people too busy checking off items on their checklists to chat or adventure. The only way a non-hostel vacation makes any sense is if your #1 goal is to post selfies to make yourself look rich and successful.
- thfuran 7y ago
  >As compared to a hotel, which will generally be just like every other hotel in the entire world, and you might as well have just gone to a hotel in your home city. What? If I'm trying to see the Louvre, a hotel in Paris is hardly interchangeable with one in, say, Chicago. >The only way a non-hostel vacation makes any sense is if your #1 goal is to post selfies to make yourself look rich and successful Or really any goal that isn't "hang out with strangers and sleep in uncomfortable beds". You seem unreasonably certain that what you want is the only thing any sensible person could possibly want, which is utter nonsense.
- whamlastxmas 7y ago
  I like privacy, cleanliness, comfort, and I often need to be left alone to recharge after a long day. It makes sense for me to not use a hostel and I don't use any sort of social media.
- loblollyboy 7y ago
  I agree that hostels are fun for the reasons you said, but I've also gotten bed-bugs, I have shared a bunk with a dude who snored so loud he put ear plugs in his own ears. I have been in a hostel with two scary ass dudes from a favela or something, luckily I wasn't the young, female solo-traveller they kept hitting on - literally: "kissy kissy?" There are a million reasons to NOT stay at a hostel.