Hostel Checklist

Tick-tock, tick-tock. It's 3 am, and you're finally just about to fall asleep. You've been awake for the past 24 hours, because there's a 8 hour time difference in this new country, which makes it 11 am back home. Or is that 7 pm? Is it daylight savings time back home? Do they have daylight savings time in this new country? What time is it really? What is time? But you don't really care, because all this math is making you sleepy...and you're just about to fall asleep...

Then SNAP! Suddenly your hostel room crammed with 6 bunk beds and 9 other sleeping people is filled with sunshine...no wait, it's not sunshine, it's 3 am- it's the glaring overhead lights. You lean over the side your bunk to see what the problem is. Two girls in mini-skirts are frantically digging through their bags looking for a hairbrush to prepare for their evening out. They quickly snap the lights back off, but it's too late. You're wide awake and dreading another 24 hours with no sleep.

This could have all been prevented if the girls had remembered one thing: a flashlight.

To prevent making immediate enemies with your roommates in your next youth hostel, and to cope with other problems like lost shoes and moldy shower floors, here’s a checklist of things to bring:

Sleeping

• flashlight
• sweatshirt (those dorm rooms can get really cold)
• sleeping mask
• iPod/ear plugs (to drown out the sound of people talking)
• travel alarm clock

Shower

• s-hooks (to hang things on the shower/bathroom door or on the side of your bunk bed)
• reusable folding tote bag
• plastic bags
• travel towel
• flip-flops
• toilet paper

Other

• travel locks (some hostels provide lockers with no locks for your valuables)
• plug adapter (check your voltage ratings on your electronics to see if you need a power convertor instead)
• clips (to attach shoes/other easily misplaced items to your suitcase)

And, as a bonus, most of these things will fit nicely inside a plastic ziploc bag:

Travel towels are an  important thing to remember, as most hostels do not provide free towels. Choose a towel that dries easily and folds up small to save space in your suitcase. I like Eagle Creek Travel Towels because they last many years and come with a black drawstring bag to stuff your wet towel in. The X-Large size is big enough to wrap around yourself and walk down the hall, but it takes up more precious packing space.I would recommend the medium/large size for infrequent or short-trip travelers and the x-large for those moving to a foreign country or those planning on spending an extended period of time in one place.

Also, don't forget to bring toilet paper. Many places in the world provide free toilet paper, but you don't want to book the one hostel that doesn't have it. It may result in fruitless trips to nearby markets trying to figure out the local word for "toilet paper" while you resort to stealing napkins from the upstairs restaurant in the meantime. Bring a large roll for trips to places such as India, where toilet paper is a rare commodity, and bring a small pack of tissues for places such as France, where you think there will always be toilet paper, but you can never be 100% certain.

Finally, reusable folding totes are your new best friend. You can use them for everything, from an impromptu shopping bag to a last minute carry-on filled with souvenirs. My favorite use it to fill it with clothes while you're taking a shower, and hang it on the back of the shower door/curtain using an s-hook. There's nothing worse than accidentally spraying all your clothes with water, dropping them on a wet floor, or even worse, dropping them into a toilet. And they fold up so small! An organizer's dream come true!