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Darren Overby
interviewed by Anthony Qaiyum on September 28, 1995
"We get a lot of people at our hostel here in San Francisco that could certainly afford to stay in a hotel, but they'd rather not just be in a box with a television set."
Darren Overby is the author of the "Internet Guide to Hostelling."
Tripod: What is a hostel, and how did the idea of hostels first develop?
DO: Hostels, in their modern form, developed from a man called Richard Shirrmann -- he was a German school teacher who decided to start hostels in the schools there, in Germany. Ever since then, the youth hostel movement, as it's often called, has been progressing. Hostels -- the most basic definition is dormitory-style accommodation. But usually it includes common area, lounges and kitchen area, so that it gives the guests there a lot of opportunity to meet each other. So, it's a very communal environment and, also, educational in the sense that people get to meet people from all over the world. That really gives them some exposure to people and places that they might not have experienced if they had stayed in traditional lodging like a hotel or a motel.
Tripod: And aren't hostels usually cheaper, so that people who can't normally afford to travel, are able to travel?
DO: Yes. That's right. It does tend to be cheaper, because it's dormitory style -- all the facilities are shared. Here in the United States the hostel prices run anywhere from about $7-$20, depending on whether it's a rural or an urban area, which is unbelievable. Here in San Francisco, it's like $12-$14 to spend the night. But you'll also find that many people, for whom budget isn't a concern, stay in hostels these days. So it's not just for people who are trying to save money.
Tripod: It's the other advantages like the meeting people, right?
DO: That's right. We get a lot of people at our hostel here in San Francisco, that could certainly afford to stay in a hotel, but they'd rather not just be in a box with a television set. They'd rather be out meeting other people, and doing things, and having a good time.
Tripod: Do hostels usually offer organized activities, too?
DO: Some hostels do. Some hostels have programs where they'll do different types of things -- tours, tours of the area -- sometimes they're walking tours. They'll also do, sometimes, charitable events like beach cleanups. At our hostel here in San Francisco, once a month we go to the San Francisco Food Bank and help sort out food for different social service agencies. And those are, again, just kind of fun activities that you can expect to find in a hostel, because of the communal environment that they seem to foster.
Tripod: When I traveled to Europe last year, I noticed that there is a whole hostel culture -- certain people are definitely hostel people. They'll always choose to stay at a hostel. Can you tell me more about this culture and why it developed?
DO: Yeah, there is definitely a culture of hostelers. There's basically a couple different types of people in the hostel culture. There's the people who are maybe new to it, or just on a holiday at one time or another. But there's also a group of people who are out there hostelling, that are hostelling long term. They tend to travel for one and two years at a time -- traveling their way around the world and working in various places. They're really the serious long term travelers. And it's funny, because when you're in that kind of grapevine, or culture, you'll meet many of the same people in different hostels as you're traveling, because they're traveling as well. And because of that culture, also, you'll often find cross-correlations of people. You'll meet someone and get to talking with them and you'll find that you have a mutual friend that they had met in a hostel in Australia, while you're over in Europe. So there's definitely a culture of people who hostel their whole lives, for many of the things that I've just mentioned.
Tripod: Because of the dormitory style rooms, a lot of people have to be concerned with safety. How safe are hostels, in general?
DO: Most hostels, by and large, are very safe. They're safe, because it's a very select group of people that are actually staying there. Hostels will often screen out guests, so that they're catering to bona fide travelers versus local, low income residents. Most hostels do that, and they'll verify that a number of ways. They'll either require a membership card -- there's a number of hostelling organizations that offer membership cards -- or they may require some identification, like a passport, which says to them that you're actually an international traveler. By and large, hostels are a safe haven. Particularly in the urban areas, where it's all international travelers usually in the 18-30 year old range, although there are all different ages staying in hostels. Most hostels offer facilities, such as "safe keeping" for valuables. Most of the time that's free, and you can lock up cameras, passports, things like that, and put those in the safe keeping, so you don't have to worry about theft of those items.
There are certainly establishments that try to make themselves out as a hostel, and they're not, actually. They're not real experienced with it. That's why it's important for travelers to use an independently written guide book, that's actually been to places and had a look at them. The more information they can get as travelers, the less likely they're going to wind up in a place they might not be safe in.
Tripod: Is there a difference between hostels in a hostel association and private hostels in terms of quality?
DO: We find that hostel quality, in terms of service and facilities, varies across the board no matter what the hostel affiliation is. Nowadays we're finding that there are about 11 association of hostels -- that is, groups of hostels that have formed their own organization or network of hostels. In the hostels that we've stayed at, we've found that the quality varies regardless of the hostel's affiliation. There seem to be good hostels, and bad hostels, and hostels in between of all different affiliations. I think the main factor affecting the quality of the hostel is who's actually running it, rather than the association it's affiliated with.
Tripod: So, it goes back to your advice about checking out an independent source for information.
DO: That's right. Sometimes the hostel affiliations that are out there -- their interest is to get as many people to stay in their hostels as possible. So they'll try to make out their group of hostels as being the best quality or whatever. It's sales -- it's marketing. Whereas an independently written guide book is getting its income from the readers who buy the book, so it's in their best interest to provide the best information possible to the readers, in a unbiased and objective way. We find that those guide books provide the best information for travelers.
Tripod: Let's say I was going to Spain -- or wherever -- and looking for hostel information. Is there any guidebook, specifically on hostels, which I should have?
DO: There's not any one specific guidebook that contains just hostels. There's a number of guidebooks that contain hostelling information. In Europe, there's "Let's Go," "Lonely Planet," "The Berkeley Guides," "Rough Guides." So there's a number of different guide books there. And all of those guide books are good for their own reasons. When you go to a bookstore, you'll see that each of them have a slightly different emphasis. Some guide books have an emphasis on history and culture. Some have an emphasis on practical information -- you know, getting from the train station to the bus station. And others have an emphasis on current events -- what's happening nowadays. So it's really up to the traveler to pick the guide book that's best for them.
Tripod: Do you have to make reservations ahead of time?
DO: We find that many hostels don't accept reservations. The reason is, it's very difficult for them to know how many beds they'll have on a given night. Hostelers tend to be very spontaneous in their travel plans. They don't book an itinerary and know ahead of time, where they're going to be staying. On a given day, they might say, "Okay, I'm going to stay another night here at this hostel." This makes it difficult for the hostel, because they don't know how many beds they're going to have available on a night you want to come. However, some hostels do, because, particularly larger ones in urban areas, know that they're going to have a minimum number of beds everyday, just because of the amount of people they have staying there. You might be able to make reservations with those hostels. In addition, some of the hostelling affiliations have reservation networks that you can sometimes use, and, in some cases pay for a bed at one hostel in one city, before you get to the next city. And when you get to the next city, that's already been paid for.
Tripod: Do you have any advice for the first-time hostel traveler?
DO: Yeah. A couple things. Pack lightly. I know it gets overused. It's said all the time. And I almost have stopped saying that advice, because I think most people have to learn it on their own. I know I did the first time I went traveling. But also, get a backpack that fits really well. Most places you go should let you try on the backpack with weight in it, so that you can actually get an idea of how it fits. You'll be carrying all of your life possessions, while you're traveling, in that backpack, so it's important that it fits well. There may be some people who disagree, but most hostelers that I've met find that backpacks are far easier to carry your things in than a suitcase. There are some people that prefer the suitcase, but by and large, hostelers, because they don't have baggage quarters -- they're not taking a lot of private transportation, they're usually on public transportation -- and they're carrying their backpack with them -- it's real important that it's comfortable. That's a big part.
Other things would be to keep copies of valuable documents, credit card numbers if you're carrying any, passports, all of those things, and keep those back at home before you start to travel. Also, keep a second copy with you in a separate place from your backpack. Have the other things in some place like a money belt, so that if anything does happen, you have assurance that you have a copy in two different places, so that it makes it easy to deal with those sorts of things.
Tripod: Can you tell me about yourself? About how you first got involved with hostelling, and what you're doing now?
DO: The first hostel I ever stayed in was on Magnetic Island off the coast of Queensland, Australia. I had gone over to the island to go scuba diving with a friend, and we missed the last ferry back to the mainland that night. So we said, "Oh -- what are we going to do?" And it turns out that we had met some people that we were diving with that day, and they said, "Why don't you stay in the hostel here?" This was probably about ten years ago. I had no clue what a hostel was at that time, and then came to meet all of these people that were traveling for a year or two years at a time -- many of them had just graduated from the university and were just taking year off -- and just immediately was attracted to the whole concept. Later I booked a one way ticket from the United States over to Europe and spent a year in Europe. During that time I worked in a couple of different hostels over there, and at that time was going through my first life crisis of "What are you going to do with your life," and decided to start a hostel, because that seemed to be the most satisfying thing. So, together with my partner, I came out to San Francisco, and we started our hostel out here, which is called "Pacific Trade Winds Guest House," which is a dormitory style guest house. So it's a smaller atmosphere than many of the urban hostels, which tend to be quite large.
Tripod: Can you tell me about your "Internet Guide to Hostelling"?
DO: "The Internet Guide to Hostelling" is an Internet magazine of hostelling and budget travel. It contains news about what's happening in the world of hostelling. It contains something called "World Wide Hostel Guide" which contains, currently, about 3,000 hostels in 109 regions worldwide. That guide is growing as we get more and more information. We, at one point, hope to have every hostel in the world listed in that guide, regardless of their affiliation. Because there are so many different affiliations, in the world today, of hostels -- it's hard to get information about all hostels from one source. There's also a guide to budget guidebooks, which includes information about the various guidebooks out there that have information about hostels and hostelling. There's a transportation guide, that's kind of in it's infancy, but what we hope to include there, is information about budget transportation, backpacker tours, which tend to serve the hostel-type traveler.
Tripod: So when I asked about sources earlier -- it sounds like you're actually one of the best sources for hostel information.
DO: Particularly for people who have Internet access. The one limitation of "The Internet Guide to Hostelling" is, you can get lots of information about hostels before you travel -- you can print out as much of it as you want -- but as of now, the technology doesn't exist to bring that around with you while you're traveling.
Tripod: Hopefully that will exist soon.
DO: Yeah. Actually, in a newsletter of "Lonely Planet" they wrote an article where they envisioned a future where travelers will carry around little hand-held computers that have satellite links to access the Internet. So maybe in that time -- I don't know how far into the future that is -- then travelers will be able to take "The Internet Guide to Hostelling" with them.
If you're ever in San Francisco, you can stay with Darren and his hostel co-owner Kim Dahowski at:
Pacific Tradewinds Guest House
680 Sacramento St.
San Francisco, CA 94111
(415)433-7970Or email darren at: [email protected]
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