| It's a strange and funny feeling when you realize | | | | be a myth. In Venice, we made our reservations |
| you're on your own. It hit me as I dragged my feet | | | | months in advance...and still paid 80EUR a night. Not |
| through Heathrow Airport in London, watching a | | | | exactly budget-friendly. Cheap hostels may be out |
| friend of mine run back and forth between luggage | | | | there, but they certainly require much more digging |
| pick-up and security. We had been on the ground for | | | | than one would think. |
| minutes before someone had lost his wallet on the | | | | That's where homestays come in. Just as hostels |
| trip. The incident had pickpocket written all over it. | | | | have presented an alternative to expensive hotel |
| The crowd of people and the commotion of the | | | | travel, homestays are the alternative to hostels. Ideal |
| airport made for the ideal pickpocket scenario. We | | | | for students, homestays are hosts who exchange |
| were collectively stunned. I had heard about them | | | | free or reduced price stay for work. This could be a |
| from plenty of people I talked to before the trip, but | | | | couple hours teaching a language, watching children, |
| didn't expect our group of six would be pinched right | | | | or even working on a farm. Homestay exchanges are |
| off the airplane. Pickpockets are to Europe what tap | | | | also an option, in which two people swap residences |
| water is to Mexico: the "go-to" travel warning from | | | | with one another. Yet as a student, I doubt anyone |
| people who insist on giving you pre-trip advice. | | | | from another country would be interested in |
| Pickpockets may be a concern abroad, but chances | | | | dormitory life. |
| are your money won't be stolen out of your back | | | | Homestays are ideal for locations that may be |
| pocket. It will be snatched from overpriced | | | | difficult to arrange trips to, such as more rural areas |
| restaurants, attractions, and accommodations. Nearly | | | | of Asia, South America, or Australia/New Zealand. |
| everything you come into a purchasing contact with | | | | Not only is the cultural experience be heightened as |
| has the possibility (and probability) or costing you | | | | opposed to urban hostels and run-of-the-mill travel |
| more than it should. Some friends and I stopped at | | | | attractions, it's a fraction of the overall price. Food |
| what appeared to be a small hotel to use the | | | | and lodging combined were by far the biggest |
| restroom, and we were diverted to the bar. We | | | | expense of my trip this summer, and if I could have |
| purchased soft drinks for the right to relieve | | | | eliminated both, all that's really left is flight. And |
| ourselves and could not believe the tab when we | | | | alcohol. |
| emerged. Three cokes, 27EUR. | | | | Hostels simply aren't what they used to be. As they |
| A 9EUR Coca-Cola may be steep, but in relation to | | | | steeply rise in price due to crowding in typical |
| most of the hostel prices we encountered, it was | | | | locations, travelers looking for the cheapest options |
| nothing. Hostels have always been the stepsister of | | | | need to broaden their horizons. What's more |
| hotels; providing younger travelers with cheaper bare | | | | authentic and cost-friendly than free room and board |
| bones accommodations. Yet everywhere we | | | | in exchange for a little more than a small favor? |
| traveled, the tale of the discount hostel seemed to | | | | |