Last Updated on November 14, 2019

When travelling alone, staying in hostels is the best way to meet people.  Usually, you will have great room-mates who you might team up with to explore the city you’re in and they usually become some of your lifelong friends.

Here’s a quick guide on how to make friends in a hostel!

Choose a lively hostel with good reviews

There are loads of hostels that have great facilities and that are fun and lively!  You need to choose a hip and social hostel otherwise you may find yourself in a room alone with no one to explore the city with!

Stay in a dorm room

Probably the most obvious step ever, but to make friends you actually have to have people in your room!  Shock!  Sometimes smaller dorm rooms are better because instead of 12 people, you might have 6.  A smaller room of people means you can usually get to know them better.  Plus 12-bed dorms are flipping annoying.  I once stayed in a 20 dorm room and I was on the third level of beds.  Which meant climbing over 2 people, trying not to fall a million meters to the ground and while not showing my knickers!

Don’t be shy!

When you first move into your room say hello to everyone, be friendly and ask them where they are from.  That is usually a good question to start a conversation with.  Also don’t be one of those bitches that seem to think they are too good for anyone and doesn’t need any friends.  No one likes ‘those’ types of people.  Rant over.

Ask your hostel if they host any type of events or tours

This can be a good one because usually hostels organize good social events or free walking tours.  My hostel in Las Vegas hosted a different type of party every night including a limousine and free alcohol night.  I stayed in a few hostels that would do free walking tours so you could get to know the city a little better while making friends.

Say yes!

If someone asks you if you want to do something with them, always say yes to new opportunities!  If you don’t like them, then say no next time?  Simple.  If you never seek, you will never know. This is one of my top tips on how to make friends when travelling alone.

Be social

Hang about in the common areas because usually other fellow lonely travellers will hang out there too.  Don’t just hang out in your bed all night because the chances of you making friends isn’t going to be high.  Include yourself in pool games, relax and have fun!

Be open-minded.

Travelling opens your views of everything in life.  Don’t be narrow-minded because of someone else’s beliefs, dreams or culture.  Let it all go and just be open-minded about people.  One of the rules of travelling is to learn new things and by shutting certain people out, means you are just shutting down the chance of some cultural education.

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness”  – Mark Twain

Let me know of other ways to make friends in a hostel down below!

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• Backpacking Albania: The Best Hostels in Albania
• The Most Shocking Hostel Stories From Around The World

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