Budget Hostel Accommodation
And Other Cheap Places to Sleep

Budget hostel accommodation is plentiful and that's a good thing, unless you're swimming in money.

You'll have plenty of choices, from cheap hostel beds to university and government-run dormitories.

If you're seeking peace and serenity, why not stay in a monastery?

Whatever you decide, you're probably looking for the same things: a safe haven, a bit of quiet, a reasonably low price, clean showers and beds, and nearness to food.

The good news is that there are many other kinds of accommodations.

You may end up in unusual accommodation like those offered by adventure packages, ranging from camping to sleeping in a rondavel to spending time in a yurt or teepee.

I once spent a week in a rural village in Zimbabwe's Lower Zambezi River Basin, researching a story on water scarcity. The only available accommodation in this scorching, dry area was an open-air circular thatch hut facing the savannah, with a wide entrance that didn't close. I tried to seal it off with a rusty metal barrel but I still felt it was low enough for a lion to jump over. For several nights I slept intermittently, trying to keep myself inside (and everything else outside). These would qualify as adventure accommodations, but perhaps you're in the market for something tamer!

Yet part of the fun of solo travel is not quite knowing where you'll end up or who with - a local family, a religious congregation, a friendly charity, a research station... As you travel the world accommodation will differ, and that's part of the adventure.

A good alternative to budget hostel accommodation are the free hospitality networks and couch surfing types of organization. A number of these networks, some of them exclusively for women, provide long-term travelers with free accommodation, either with membership schemes or by putting women in touch with one another through web listings.

If hostels or couchsurfing aren't your thing, you could stay in private homes and get to know local people better. As I traveled through the Baltic states for several months, I stayed with families in three countries. While you do pay a fee (usually quite modest) for these homestays, you'll sleep in someone's home and share part of their lives for a few days. Often your hosts may speak a few words of English, and will provide a welcome contact point to local life.

If you're well organized and staying put for several weeks, you could become a housesitter - just imagine housesitting in London, in a wonderful central flat, or why not a beachside house in Australia? After months of slogging it, you alight on the doorsteps of a wonderfully clean house or appartment, with hot running water and a fridge, a wardrobe for your meager belongings, perhaps a washing machine... House sitting gigs aren't all that easy to find but when you do, it's a wonderful way to stay in one place for a time, soaking up local culture and language for weeks or even months.

Budget hostel accommodation may be your mainstay on the road, but who says you shouldn't live it up once in a while if you can? Sometimes, it's good to avoid cheap hotels and be pampered. When I was backpacking around the world, I made sure I spent one night each month in a 'good' hotel - one with hot water, a firm mattress, my own bathroom, and preferably a buffet breakfast with pancakes and maple syrup to fulfill my cravings for western food.

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