Don't Be a Bad Backpacker - Proper Hostel Etiquette

If you've ever stayed in a multi-person hostel dorm room, then you know how important good manners are. Having a bad hostel roommate can literally ruin part of your trip, causing you lack of sleep due to any number of environmental factors. Of course, sleeping in a room with seven or 9 other people, it's not possible to have a perfect night's sleep, but hostel dorm rooms can also be havens of generally bad behavior.

Read on to find out if you are guilty of any of these hostel no-nos.

Crinkling plastic bags. Oh my word. If I had a dime for every time someone woke me up by crinkling a plastic bag in a dorm room, I would probably be wealthy. Using plastic grocery bags seems to be a favorite among backpackers - probably as a money-saving technique - but crinkling plastic bags at 3 am when you are about to leave to catch your early morning train is bad behavior. Either step outside to dig around for your deodorant stick or get it out the night before!

Strewing your things. Figuring out where to put all your things in a hostel dorm ain't simple, I know. But strewing it around the entire room as if it were your private hotel is not the way to go. Common common courtesy stipulates that you ought to use half the space beneath the bottom bed for your rucksack, plus part of your own bed for hanging things. Strew as much things as you want on Top of your own bed, but keep it to that.

Turning the lights on. I'm not sure when exactly the lights go off in most hostels, simply because most hostels don't have specific "lights out" rules. However, the basic idea is - if it's past 10 pm and you open the door to a dark room and there is someone asleep in your dorm, never turn the lights on! Most hostels now equip each bed with its own reading light. If you must - use that.

Getting jiggy. Do I need to say much more?

Dressing/undressing. Hostels have bathrooms. Use them. If you are a pro at getting dressed or undressed under the covers, then by all means, have at it. But if you can't pull your pants up or de-bra yourself without flashing everybody, please get naked in the privacy of a bathroom stall.

Hanging your towel on a stranger's bed. A lot of backpackers hang their towels to dry at the end of the bed, and that's fine, so long as it's your bed. Don't assume that, just because the people in the next bunk over haven't used the space at the end of their beds for drying, that it's fair game. It all comes down to keeping your stuff to your own space.

Being a bad drunk. Yep, I've "slept" through a drunken crazed lunatic blubbering and vomiting all night in the room. Not an experience I care to re-live and not one that you ought to re-enact. Simple rule: don't get so drunk that you're going to get unwell, and if you do have to get sick, get to the toilets 1st, please!

Moving other people's things. This one appears quite clear, but you would be surprised how many times I've come back to my bed, only to find a shirt moved or a pair of shoes shoved under the bed. Luckily, a lot of hostels are starting to install lockers in each room, so you have a place to stow your stuff. But if you don't check in to a place that has them, don't touch other people's things, even if they've violated one of the rules above. Wait 'till they come in and ask them to move their stuff.

Stealing. Do I need to explain any further? Don't be a jerk.

Having stinky shoes. Okay, I realize that some individuals have a foot condition that they can't control, and I am not trying to hound on you for your physical problems. But it doesn't take much effort to be mindful of your smelly foot problem and consider leaving your stinky shoes outside the door of the dorm room, rather than letting them reek up the air inside where everyone is resting.

Snoring. This is another ailment that, for many people, can't be helped. And gentle snoring is some thing that many people in a hostel dorm could ignore, but if you are a one of those goose honkers (and you know who you are), really?look at getting a private room - for everyone else's sake. 'Cause that's just not fair.