🌎 How staying at hostels made me a more confident person

Body Image

I remember being in high school and folding up my jeans and wearing them underneath my basketball shorts during PE because I didn't want to change in the locker rooms.

When I was 18 I spent a year traveling all over Europe, staying at hostels, sleeping in trains, planes and even parks on occasion. At the beginning of the year, every time I changed, I was so careful to bring my clothes with me to the shower area and always be decently covered at the hostel. I felt embarrassed to change my clothes in front of everyone. As the months passed on, again and again I witnessed people of all sizes shapes and colors changing in front of everyone in the room. They didn't care one bit what anybody else thought.

It finally dawned on me that it probably wouldn't be that big of a deal if I did the same. I timidly began to undress in the center of the room, surrounded by strangers on bunk beds, Nobody batted an eye. It was liberating.

I remained uncertain about the whole thing at first, but after a while it wore off and eventually disappeared altogether. I finally arrived at the point where I looked back and said to myself, "What was I thinking?"

Now I'm still not quite the type that sleeps naked at the hostel, but at least when it comes to changing clothes, or taking a shower, I don't think twice about my cheeks showing for a moment or two. At the end of the day, your hostelmates have likely already seen it all.

Starting Conversations

I feel like I used to wait for people to approach me to talk. Now, if I have anything I want to talk with someone about, I just go up to them and start talking. Sometimes I gloss right past the introduction and just say "Hey have you been to XYZ place, how was it? do you have any tips?"

Other times, it's just a simple "Hi, I'm Joe" -- It's amazing how far this can get you. I've wound up with offers of everything from food to rides across town just because I broke the ice at the hostel. Other travelers are wonderful.

My point here is that while other people are always around the hostel, I think that more often than not people don't talk because they feel somehow like it's more polite, or that they are going to be bothering you if they start talking, even if you're just relaxing in bed and lowkey would love a good conversation.