>>1105324
Old people can go to hostels without a problem. Just make sure to look at reviews in case it is some sort of designated party hostel.

>>1105331
From my experience, a lot of party hostels have a maximum age of 35.

Honestly, with hostels the cliché of 'you're only as old as you feel' does come into play. I've partied with people who were literally twice my age when I was 17/18. I've also hung-out with people who were 70+ years old and staying at the same hostel.

>>1105324
>is 31 too old for a hostel

of course not, jesus

have you ever actually BEEN to a hostel?

it's an all ages affair, literally there will be people old enough to be your gandparents hanging out in the common area

how else do you expect people to travel when they're old and on a fixed income?

>>1105353
i'm in europe, have travelled to a fair number of places, and have never seen 'old' people in hostels that have bunk beds and such

for budget travelling, usually they go to cheap hotels, as in b&bs
some drive around in caravans

>>1105353
>how else do you expect people to travel when they're old and on a fixed income?
They buy a motorhome.

>>1105353
I don't think it's that silly of a question. We've all been to a hostel and had to interact with "that guy". Luckily, "that guy" can be 28 or 70...it really depends on the person.

I'm usually pretty inviting of older people in hostels 'cause they tend to be interesting and are often shunned by younger people. But OP, don't worry...if you don't feel old, you'll probably be fine.

I get along great with 19 year olds...I just don't tend to find conversation all that stimulating. Party hostels don't do much for me anymore, but it usually just means it takes a little more alcohol to get into it.

How about addressing why you can't afford to stay in a private room at the age of 30? Perhaps do some self-improvement to fix that instead of traveling to be the creep in a room full of people practically half your age.

Sort your shit out m8.

OP I'm on a RTW trip and I'm 30, and I definitely don't look young for my age. I was worried about this too and even posted threads on here about it.

You'll get some conflicting responses to this because it really depends on where you go and what kind of hostels you stay in. I've been around SE and E Asia and I have never seen a hostel full of 18-22 year olds. Not once. For the most part it's been mid-late 20's, and in certain destinations (Myanmar), early 30's has been more common. But I also avoided "party hostels" and the party islands in Thailand because I saw them as being pretty lame.

Anyway, don't feel like you need to stay in hostels to have a good time traveling solo. Recently I've been staying in lower-end hotels and meeting girls on tinder to hang out with. Even aside from the sex I think it gives a more interesting experience to hang out with locals (hostels get repetitive).

>>1106345
Oh, and to be clear- I was worried about this before I left. On the road it's been a non-issue.

I'd suggest staying in a hotel and checking out some hostel bars if you want to hook up wtith party/travel companions.

The problem with hostels is that it can be really hard to sleep there.

Most of the old guys I've met in hostels are creepy as shit

I think most people are in this situation so the stereotype exists

>>1106337
Op here i think some of you are not getting what i am saying.

I am 30 have taken multiple vacations and stayed at mid tier to high end resorts and hotels. They are great but dont seem to lead to a communal hangout area that i believe a hostel does.

I am looking for an adventure and never stayed at a hostel. Most of the people that i used to hangout with are now getting married and having kids. So taking two months off to travel between having a family and a career is a no go.

I have been lucky to be succesful enough to afford at least a two month vacation.


I was looking at hostels to find like minded people like this anon:
>>1106345

So basically the question i guess im asking is:

Are hostels a good place to meet travelers who are looking for a bit of an adventure or is it basically just early 20s looking to party?

>>1106418
Both

Not all hostels are the same

Never too old for hostels mang

If you want to party, go party. If you don't, don't, that has nothing to do with age in my experience.

If you're going to stay in hostels, just be social, that's the main point of them besides the price (i.e. meeting people). As long as you do that, age literally isn't a factor.

That having been said, if you don't like partying, avoid obvious party hostels. You'll know them when you see them

>>1106418
30 y/o RTW guy again. Again this depends on which hostel you go to. Think about it this way - if you were in college and wanted to party, where would you go and what kind of hostels would you book? You'd book into either party hostels or the cheapest option available, and you'd pick destinations based on the party culture reputation.

Now realize that the vast majority of the world, and the vast majority of interesting places (to me at least) are not party destinations. I doubt there are more than a handful of "party hostels" full of 18-22 y/o drunk people outside of Europe, the US, and Thailand.

Just a note on the "one last adventure" mindset - you might find the idea of settling down very difficult after you do this sort of thing. Personally I think it'll take me several years before I'm ready to settle into a single place and get married now.

I only have experience from hostels in CZ rep and Poland but I would never think about someones age. Hostels are a great way to meet people.

>>1106335
This.

I've met my share of cool and interesting 50 and 60-somethings in hostels. A few weirdos too, but plenty of young teenage weirdos too for that matter.

I'm 31 myself and although I can afford hotels or AirBnB (which I tend to prefer these days), I still stay at a hostel maybe once a year or so. More when I'm travelling for pleasure, and if solo (sometimes with the gf). I've never felt 'old' or out of place, and still met people older than me. I just tend to skip the pub crawls full of 18 year olds and find the group of 20 or 30-somethings and go out for drinks or whatever.

If I stay at a hostel, I tend to take the smaller rooms though. I can't stand any rooms with more than 4-6 beds, and don't feel the need to slum it that hard.

>>1106812
What are things like in the non-party hostels in Eastern Europe and the baltics in summer? If it's all college kids on break I'll probably go to S America instead.

>>1106337

Bit of a cunt, ain't ya?

>>1105324
make sure its not a kids hostel
private room, not dorm bed
if there are some college kids in the hang out area looking at you like "dude, you're old" as you talk to the people closer to your age, then buy a case of Bud Light or the local equivalent and say "it's for whoever", offer it to everyone and then make it clear that people can help themselves. Let them drink the shitty beer and leave them alone.
You can buy college kids off cheaply. And then you're the cool old dude rather than the weird old dude.

>>1107220
If anyone's looking at you like you don't belong there, fuck them. They aren't the type of people you'll want to talk to anyway. But in 6 months of travel as a 30 y/o I have not encountered that situation a single time.

>>1107154
It depends which cities you go to? If you go outside of the capitals you'll likely get many somewhat empty hostels. If you go to major cities you'll find people of all ages who travel to experience the cultures and see the sites. I wouldn't say it was all young people, in fact I think it was mostly people somewhat older, 30-something year olds.

>>1107286
Indeed.
I only got that vibe once. I would have been 29.
There was a group of 18-19 year olds who were new in town, brought over together through some "work overseas for 6 months" cheap labour employment scam. More boys than girls.
When they showed up on the deck of the hostel where I was drinking with a buddy and some other people (again, more boys than girls) we said hello to them, just to be social. Some of the girls were chatting back enthusiastically and I could see the 18 year old boys were thinking "we had competition from each other before we saw these dicks". They weren't rude or anything, I could just see they weren't happy about seeing us. We needed to do a beer run anyway so I just brought back a case of cheap shit for the kids and told them to have at it and after that the atmosphere was awesome.

>>1105324
Depends entirely on the hostel, in my experience. There's those where I felt old at 27, and there's those where I felt young at 29. Avoid the party hostels, and you should be fine. Also, be aware that certain countries attract certain age groups.

>>1107350
I think the absolute cut-off is 28 years, 2 months, and 6 days

>>1105358
I was in Lisbon and stayed at a hostel with a really mixed crowd. Was eighteen back then and there were 70 year olds there as well as people my age. Though I think the older people don't tend to stay in dorms.

I had a three hour conversation with a 73 year old guy at a hostel. I dropped the whole party thing and all because he was honestly the most interesting person I have ever met in my life. Just do you.

>>1105324
I stayed in X-Base in Auckland and there was a guy who was at least 65 in my room.

It really depends on your attitude. The 30sh guy who goes "you know, i could afford a room at the hilton but im here for the fun" and then complains if you make a little noise at 12pm is just out of place. But a 31 yo dude i met with my 20yo mates was a great drinking pal and overall very interesting person, we were partying for 5 days together