Road Trippin’: Hostels

Oh boy…

So everyone that knows me knows that I’m a bit of a, how shall I say it…I’m a prissy. Look, I like nice things. I like expensive foods and four-star hotels and large plasma TVs for my high-def DVDs, X-Box 360, Wii, digital cable, etc. I like nice clothes and comfortable furniture and Old World Wine. It’s just how I am…

So I was thinking about my hotel situation. You see, this trip is going to be expensive. Anyone who’s ever been to Comic-Con knows that I’ll be spending at least a grand over the four days in San Diego alone (including the return flight home, of course). Combine that with the rental car, the gas, the food, entertainment money, and the hotels for the 8 days I’m driving to the convention and, well, even I have my limits.

Even the cheap hotels would be $40-$50 per night and I’ll be staying on some highway away from the city, most likely. Getting bedbugs. So I looked into camping – if I’m going to be away from the cities I might as well have some fresh air and friendly neighbors. But it’s just not worth it – it’s like $25-$30 a night for a campsite and I’d have to actually, you know, buy camping equipment. Oh – forgot to mention – I’ve never been camping before.

So I decided to look into hostels and I was amazed to find that they actually exist in America.

So I booked hostels for my overnights in Knoxville, Memphis, and Flagstaff. Four of the eight nights will cost me $15-$17 and all I need to do is share a room with several dudes.

Ok – there’s the practical thing again. I’m saving some dough. Probably around $40 a night for those four nights. And I get to do it while staying within the city limits. Awesome!

But, again, there’s also the real reason I should be doing this. Why lock myself up in some hotel room where I won’t meet anyone? Isn’t the point of this trip to meet folks, have an adventure, and hear some stories (so I can steal them)? I need to put myself in a position to do that…

I’ll be staying at the Knoxville Hostel, the Pilgrim House Hostel, and the Grand Canyon International Hostel. I looked into hostels for my nights in Albuquerque and Santa Fe but there seems to be only one place available in both of those cities and the reviews are mixed but the bad ones are…well…fucking frightening.

Never stayed at a hostel before. No idea what to expect. The best part is that staying in a hostel for four nights will loosen up my budget a tad for the other four nights. Maybe I’ll stay at a Days Inn!

My hotel in San Diego is gorgeous. There’s always that. I can go back to being my shallow self once the driving is done.