This is more of a DON'T for common rooms..

but do NOT keep rambling on with your buddies about how awesome Manchested United is at 5am in the hostel common room, right next to dorm rooms where people are sleeping.

This is probably why some hostels kick people out of their commons rooms past a certain hour...

I don't have anything specific to add, BUT there is one general rule to live by when staying in a hostel.

~BE the kind of roommate that you would WANT to have! If YOU wouldn't appreciate your roommate waking you up at 4am because he lost his key, don't do it yourself. If YOU would want to smack someone if they woke up at 5:30 in the morning, turned on all the lights and decided to pack their bags (noisily!!) then don't do it yourself....

Get the idea?? It all comes down to basic respect and treat others how you would want to be treated. Kinda goes back to what you learned in Kindergarten.

I totally rely on my ipod whilst travelling. I use it as a light, for reading and for looking for shit in the dark, and then i use it to wind down before bed, whether watching something on it, or just listening to tunes. and often just listen till i fall asleep. works particularly well for when theres snorers or noisy people.

On a completely unrealated note I just got offered tickets to go see ManU next week. I'm not a soccer fan but a trips a trip and I promise not to say a word about the game afterwards. :D

These tips definitely help me, I'm a first timer to hostels and Europe this summer so I greatly appreciate all of these tips!

But also I'm curious, after my study program in Galway I plan on going to Dublin then London, but I'm not sure if anyone from the program are willing to go with me. I don't really mind being alone because I've traveled alone before but is it possible to find people in Galway or Dublin willing to travel with me or accepting me to travel with them? I was just wondering if this was something common/acceptable.

Thanks

:cheers:

it's very common and very acceptable! you'll find that backpackers tend to move in very similar ways, when staying at a hostel, i reckon about 70% of the people you meet are either going to the same place you're planning on going to next, or going to the place you just came from. make friends with people in hostels (if you're not sure how to go about that, buying someone a drink, sharing a packet of chips, just being generous is the top way to do this! backpackers are poor and love getting given stuff!) and the topic of your travel plans will come up quickly. most people are open to the idea of traveling together!

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

sorry but "packet of chips"?? so funny!!!

?
should I have said... chips in a packet?

It's "bag of chips" here in the US.

Haha.

I'll be the impartial adjudicator here. Aliz is correct everyone else is wrong.

haha, we say bag of chips too... i guess we're just versatile-er and have big vocabularies! (I totally ruined that argument by using the 'word' versatile-er, didn't I?)

and thanks Adam... you can impartially adjudicate anytime ;)

Your all wrong, the vessel is not important it's just 'chips' :)

Wait - are chips chips in Ireland or are chips french fries?

wtf is going on?! No wonder I can't master another language, i can barely speak English!

Ooooh now I'm confused.

I would never call a bag of hot chips a pack, but "crisps" do come in a pack.

Fair thread hijack.

American English - Potato Chips
Other (?) English - Crisps
http://www.bnrglobal.com/Toms/images...tato-Chips.jpg

American English = French Fries
Other English = Chips
http://www.officialpsds.com/images/t...es-psd8992.png

Naw man, you're talking to aliz who is from australia, not england! They're quite similar to north american english in many ways ie) they say soccer and not football, chips & not crisps, etc. but as I'm sure you'll know they also have ther own little words that no one else in the world uses....

Chips are french fries in Ireland.

Crisps are potato chips, or in Ireland you can ask for Tayto.

Huh....somehow I never noticed that when I was in Australia... Who else calls it soccer?

hehe, the extra fun thing is, in australia we call 'crisps' - chips. and 'french fries' - chips. hahahaha. i guess if you really want to differentiate between the two you could say chips and hot chips. and yeah we say soccer... I guess cause we already have like 3 other games we refer to as football (rugby, rugby league, and AFL) or footy if you're speking reall australian... heh this topic has gotten weird.