For the three nights that we spent in Victoria, we stayed at a hostel called Ocean Island Inn. And there’s just smething with backpacker’s hostels. Wherever in the world you go, there’s a special kind of atmosphere in these places. And for me, they make me feel at home.
I think it’s from when I stayed at Loki Backpacker Hostel in Cusco, Peru. I went there with Jonna to see the Machu Picchu, but after that we were to split up. She would be going west to Lima, to catch a flight home, and I would be going back east across the Bolivian border to La Paz. Or, that was atleat what we thought. The day we were set to leave, there was rumours about a strike. I went with Jonna to the bus terminal and she got on the Lima-bound bus, safe and sound. But a couple of hours later, when my bus to La Paz was supposed to leave, the strike had broken out and I was told stories about how angry Peruvian farmers were throwing stones at passing busses. The bus drivers refused to leave the bus terminal.
So, I was simply forced to return to Loki and hope that they still had a bed for me there. I ended up staying four extra nights in Cusco due to the strike. At first, I felt panicky and scared, I was in this strange city all by myself and didn’t know for how long I would have to stay. But that feeling was soon exchanged into a feeling of safety. I was taken such good care of, by the hostel staff who, every night that I returned from the bus terminal, somehow managed to find me a bed, and by the other guests. There was a group of a couple of Americans, two Brits and a guy from Lima who kind of adopted me, as the helpless orphan that I felt like, and one of them was always around somewhere in the big hostel building for me to talk to, if I ever felt the need. I have nothing but strong positive memories from Loki in Cusco.
There is something with those kinds of hostels. In the way they’re built. The actual floor plan. There are so many places for people to meet, without it feeling forced. With the Loki hostel in Cusco, the places were the inner courtyard with all the hammocks, it was the kitchen, the common room/breakfast room/computer room, the bar, even the hostel main entrance and reception room. At the HI Hostel in Jasper, the big kitchen with ajoining common room with the big fire place and couches were just perfect for random after-ski conversations with fellow hostel guests (as my acquaintance with the guy who called me ‘honey’ proves). At Ocean Island Inn, most of the ground floor was made up of a big lobby-like space with couches, computers and magazines, a small bar and the kitchen and dining-room.
They are also usually furnished and decorated in a way to create a relaxed and cozy atmosphere. In Cusco, the walls were full of Andean art and textiles. In Jasper, the feeling was more of a hunter’s cabin, with dark wood and a some antique mountain equipment to decorate the walls. In Victoria, the theme was for some reason Indian (as in the country, not the indigenous peoples of the Americas). Masks and photos filled the walls. Which I kind of found a bit strange, since they have such beatiful First Nation art from the Island itself that they could have decorated with. But they had also painted everything in strong, distinct colours like purple and lime green. That I liked.
And I just felt at home immediately. Ocean Island Inn was a real backpacker’s hostel and it felt so homey. It feels safe to know, that almost whereever you go, backpacker’s hostels will be the same. Somewhere to meet fellow travelers. A place of refuge when the world suddenly feels far too big.
Katja Malmborg 