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10 tips to respect dormitory life (and be appreciated)
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Sleeping in a dormitory rather than a private room is one of the best ways to travel on a tight budget, meet new people and experience memorable adventures.We run into strangers who become friends, we chat to the neighbour bunking beside us, and we share laughs and life lessons. Though the relationships may be fleeting, some of them will make up our best travel memories.
On the other hand, between the midnight DJ, the two-in-the-morning person dorm-mate noisily unpacking, and the neighbour who thinks their video call is a podcast, dormitories can also be a test of patience. Staying in a dormitory may require you to keep calm and carry on. But not only do hostellers have stories about annoying dorm neighbours, some of us have been one ourselves! We hereby share with you some of the most common aggravating situations, along with a few tips for cohabiting in peace. Namaste.
Travel checklists usually include sleep masks and earplugs – two of the tiniest items of them all. Read on for confirmation why these are a great idea!
The unpacker
Most of us fill up our backpack more than we planned, and many of us have ended up having to dig our way through it, until it seems like it will explode on our bed. But a good dorm-mate shouldn’t spread their stuff all over the dormitory, turning the dorm into a battlefield. Slaloming between dirty socks and charging cables is not yet an Olympic sport! One excellent solution is to get a locker and organize your stuff for easy-picking there.
The two-in-the-morning plastic bagger
Ah, the dorm-mate with plastic bags that go scritch scritch in the middle of the night! This is the kind of person you hear before you see them. The sound of a plastic bag opening and closing is fully anti-ASMR. Nobody has ever said a plastic bag lulls them to sleep. Again, a locker may come in handy!
The dormcaster
Some late-nighters return to the dormitory after midnight in the middle of a passionate discussion about their treks in Nepal, as if they’re being interviewed in a podcast. We all know people with no filter who are ready to share their journey at any time, anywhere. They’re the reason earplugs are a tiny but essential item to pack when dorming it.
The blinder
Going to the washroom or looking for a charger at three in the morning can happen to anybody. With your fingertips, a flashlight or a telephone light, you can usually manage to find these items. But if you turn on the dorm lights, you’ll be sure to attract stares colder than the bathroom floor. If you believe that any kind of attention is better than none, go for it. Or keep a flashlight within reach. This is why a sleepmask is a small but essential item to pack with your earplugs!
Early birds vs. night owls
A morning person? Good for you! Arriving late through no fault of your own? It happens. Whatever your internal clock, dorm-mates should come and go like churchmice. Everybody has stories about a doorslammer, a suitcase-dragger or a Facetimer who regularly updates their mom as if she were there in the dorm too. A dorm is a place where early birds and night owls flock together, so we must respect one another’s different habits.
The olfactor
After a long journey, nobody comes home smelling like roses, but some dorm-mates turn the shared space into a post-game changeroom. Others don’t use the hostel showers as much as they could. Sharing a dorm means sharing all our senses, including smell! Conscientious travellers keep the lights, the sounds and the scents on the down-low.
Headphones for all
Dormitories are meant for sharing stories. But you may not always be in the mood to hear the full narrative of a recent break-up or the details of all the jobs somebody worked in Australia. Bring headphones not just to listen to music in the daytime, but for music at night when you’re not into chatting.
The midnight DJ
Headphones leak, however. Others can often hear the little clikc-click-click of bass from a pair of AirPods as you groove to your own beat. The DJ is for the hostel bar. Conscientious travellers keep the volume to a reasonable level.
Snoring and other unconscious communications
If you bunk beside a snorer, there’s really nothing you can do. Plus, who knows, you may make noise in your sleep too! Again, earplugs or headphones are the solution.
Sociable, but respectful
For some people, the line between sociable and invasive is slim. Different people – and even different cultures – have different ideas about appropriate personal space. Some like to chat until two in the morning, while others like to read themselves to sleep. It’s up to all those who share the dormitory to be a little more vigilant about the desires of others.
To sum up, dormitories are full of roommates you had no part in choosing. If everybody applies some common sense rules and an extra dose of conscientiousness, then hostel life can offer frictionless, heartwarming moments with people from all over the world.
We wish you sweet dreams at our Saintlo hostels!
Nomad Junkies
