josh

The fact that I'm even making reservations goes against everything I stand for, but if it comes to a choice between being spontaneous and ending up sleeping on the street, or planning ahead and having a room, I'll take the bed, thank you very much. Any preferences? Good/bad experiences?

Cheers!

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Will be in Germany first half of June 2006. Then Paris the 17th - 19th, Nice the 20th - 22nd, Florence the 23rd - 25th, Venice the 26th & 27th, and Bern the 28th & 29th.

Canadian Dude

I do a combo of both, I make a few reservations and all so do some fly buy night sleep stops. It will depend on how much security you need. I kinda like not knowing where I will be staying, it gives me a feeling of independnece...

I have slept in train stations and bus deppot before when I could not find a roof over my head. I even had to brake down and pay for an expencive hotel room one time. But all in all I have no regrets, I always made the best of it.

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"The father who does not teach his son his duties is equally guilty with the son who neglects them." Confucius
Support Travelpunk.com by Booking Your Hostel Here

GoKrazy

For me it all depends on where I'm going and when I'm doing my travel. If I know I'll be a in a high trafic tourist area in the heigth of summer then Igo ahead and book a bed. If I'm traveling off season somewhere I know won't be busy then I don't bother. It's all about your traveling style and your personal comfort level.

Another factor for me is time - if I'm in a hurry and I want to do as much sight seeing as possible and I KNOW I'll only have a day and a half in the given city I will most definately book a room in advance. This way I don't waste any time looking for a place to crash once I arrive. I simply go to my hostel, ditch my backpack and head out to explore. I think of it as a timesaver!

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"Growing old is manditory, growing up is optional"

Canadian Dude

And in my bias, and from experience I use the Travelpunk.com hostel reservation system...

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"The father who does not teach his son his duties is equally guilty with the son who neglects them." Confucius
Support Travelpunk.com by Booking Your Hostel Here

Tadpole

Travelpunk.com reservation site.

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"Sundace, I can't help you now."
~Butch Casady

~transgirl~

Hostels.com is much better than this site in that it lists tons of hostels available for each city...at least in the US and Canada I've found that. This place listed only a few in comparison! But these boards are much better than hostels.com

urOZm8

When I do book a bed I'm patriotic and use Travelpunk!

ev

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bluepea

Booking through here also helps support this community. This is all I use.

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~~ Jamie ~~
You give me the most gorgeous sleep That I've ever had And when it's really bad I guess it's not that bad




Have some general questions such as whether or not to get a rail pass or how much money you'll need? Visit here!

First time travelers/travelers with a lot of questions - this forum is for you![b]

omisan

I do my research on other sites that have booking (BUGeurope, Hostelz) since they have more complete user reviews than HostelWorld-based gateways, but I do my booking through TravelPunk. Get more info, and support your local backpacka community. Get the best of both worlds!

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¿Donde esta Omid? Omi-san wa doko desuka? Ou est Omid? Wo ist Omid?

Find out @ http://omidabroad.blogspot.com

bellelass

I either dont plan ahead and just show up, or I book through tpunk. Support your community and all that.

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"All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible. This I did."
-T.E. Lawrence, Seven Pillars of Wisdom