Okay, this sounds adventurous, right? Yes, even I was lucky and not in danger, it actually was quite exciting. In spring 2017 there were some terror attacks in Great Britain and we had also some trouble going on in the Hostel I stayed.
When you read about how to write about travel writing, it is often mentioned, that nobody wants to read about the problems you had during traveling and to keep the writing bright and shiny. As you maybe already saw, I am not writing like that. All the mistakes I made, all the trouble I found, it made my traveling adventurous and helped me to grow. There will be some posts, where I talk about what to see and what to avoid but I don’t like to do that in general. Mostly because I personally don’t find such posts interesting. That’s why I share this part of the travel with you.
Let’s start with some more words about the hostel. It was rather small and on top of a pub and opposite of a night club. Since holiday season still was ahead of us, mostly long-term inhabitants who work in London and some solo-travelers like me were staying in the hostel. The atmosphere was quite nice, I felt like in a family. You saw each other in the mornings and evenings, spent some time together and talked about the day. Also I made friends with Maria* and Inez* on my first day and Maria is not only an inspiring woman but also a very open one who makes friends easily. Since I felt comfortable quite soon I also opened up easily and started to talk to others. Like I mentioned in a previous post, this travel was a game changer.
But somehow that hostel or better the inhabitants had quite some trouble and as I heard it didn’t stopped after I left. Like I already mentioned in an earlier post, traveling solo can be dangerous for a woman. This time I wasn’t in focus of a mans attention but my friend Inez. She was still quite young and from another continent. She was traveling alone through Europe at that time which I still find amazing. I think she wanted to stay a month in London, but I am not sure of that. When I met her she was already there for some days. Like I already mentioned, in the hostel weren’t many people so soon you knew the regulars and started to talk with each other. She did so too but one of the guys took being nice the wrong way. He asked her about her Instagram and sent her weird messages over that, also one afternoon he stand in our dorm uninvited. We went with her to the reception of the hostel and told them about that. They reacted quickly and throw him out. She was still worried because he knew her whereabouts but I think he stood away from her after that.
The reaction of the staff was very important for me, which is why I would go back there anytime, even it was next to a night club and on top of a pub. Over the years I had very different hostels and I was happy with them most of the times. Reason for that is that when I book, I take some time to compare, look closely on the pictures, read some reviews. It is not about how many good reviews a place have, but how people describe it and if they use attributes I value and what they don’t say. If it is only about that the hostel is in a good spot, with good connections than maybe you only go there to sleep and shower and stay anonymous. It’s like the place was so exchangeable that the only thing the writer of the review managed to think of is the good connection. If that is what you want, have fun, but if you like me and want to meet new people, maybe this is not your place. When I see there is a nice common room with a cozy sofa, a hammock and a lot of pillows I probably prefer that to the one where you only see that cheap metal chairs you know from the school cafeteria. But as you can learn from Inez story, it is also important to have trustworthy staff nearby. Unfortunately most of the times you won’t find out before you’re there. Some reviews mention the staff but not all and since this is based on sympathy you can have a total different experience with the same staff (especially when they work with volunteers who change on a regular base but also it can be that the reviewer had a different focus than you have). The good thing about traveling alone is, that you are more flexible. When you don’t like a place or the staff you can just come and go for sleep and shower or when your budget allows it you can find a new spot. (Actually you should always have enough budget to make adjustments during your travels.) In most cases you’ll know if the staff is good immediately. How do they great you? Are they happy you’re there? Do they take time to show you around, explaining everything, give you more information than expected? Is there someone around all the time or only for check-in? Do they invite you to activities in the hostel (are there activities)? There are some more things you should reconsider when you want to sleep in a hostel, but I’ll tell you about that another time.
Another day a group arrived in that hostel and I realized quickly that they were germans. Most of them were so unsympathetic (they complained all the time about everything… but to sleep for that price in London you maybe should have guessed that this is not the Ritz) that I didn’t wanted to connect with them at all. Two guys were nice and actually interested into meeting other people, so they ended up talking with me and my friends. I remember that one of them had some trouble with speaking english but was trying hard to do so, so I helped with translation. I developed a little crush on him and flirted with him, but he doesn’t seem to be interested. Me complaining about that too my friends after too much cider was surely a funny drama for them. Surprisingly back in Berlin I ran into him some weeks later. He was there with his girlfriend… which explained why he wasn’t answering my flirting in London. Oops!
As you can see, in that hostel I experienced a lot of excitement of its own. I actually know there were more stuff going on, but I don’t remember all the details and I don’t want to make something up. More importantly it was the first time I connected with people on my solo-trips. The solo-travels before were showing me the freedom of traveling alone and give me the space for needed reflection. But they were also lonely, so I couldn’t do it on a longer period without missing my friends and family. Of course in 2017 wifi helped with that too, but making friends in that hostel showed me a new potential of traveling. And on my last night, being surrounded by friends was helping with the shock we all experienced.
It was May 22th, my flight back was on the next day. At some point of the evening we got the news that there was an explosion at the Ariana Grande concert in Manchester. The rest of the evening and the next morning we spent a lot time watching the news and talking about the attack. Between Manchester and London are 340 kilometres, which felt like nothing in that night. It was the first bombing in Great Britain since 2005. In March of 2017 there was a vehicle and knife attack so the terror threat level changed after the bombing to “critical”. For me it meant to go to the airport early, since I reckoned it could take more time for security check. In the end I nearly came late because the bus stuck in traffic and the airport was much bigger than expected. (Me and airports are a story full of discomfort and hate. I got a bit more relaxed over the years but I tend to overreact a lot there. Maybe I’ll tell you about this another time..)
Two weeks later, the terror threat level was lowered to severe again and I save back home, when there was another vehicle and knife attack. When I saw the pictures and read the articles I felt quite sick. It happened at London Bridge, where I spent a lot of time during that last trip, so when reading where the truck was driving and where the attackers run around I could see myself wandering there. I reached out to Maria and Inez to find out, if everyone from the hostel is okay and luckily they were and the hostel gossip still running. It reminded me a little bit of a telenovela to be honest, but I liked that.
I wished I could give you some advise about that experience or some wisdom. Truth is, you can’t avoid terror. Even if you stay at home. Six months before that there was the attack of Anis Amri on a Berlin christmas market while I was in the theatre. There are regions where terror happens more often and where the danger is bigger, but we live in times where it can happen everywhere and sometimes it is even hard to realize that it is in midst of us already (here I think about right extremist terror which is often declared as one-crazy-man job). Terror will always leave you feeling helpless and afraid, this is what the terrorists want to achieve. It couldn’t stopped me from traveling and neither it should stop you. But please, don’t be reckless. Check travel warnings on your federal foreign office website before traveling and when it is a country with higher level of danger keep an eye on the news before and during your stay. As I mentioned in previous posts keep your family and friends updated. When you don’t like to write them everyday, tell them your Instagram-account or use the WhatsApp-or Facebook-Status and upload a photo every day. Include it into your routine. For example when I was in Bologna during lockdown I sent my mum everyday a picture of my food. I made a lot of pictures of cooking anyway and at least once a day I sit down while eating. To take some minutes than to sent her a picture was very easy. Even for me and I forget to call my family very often. 😉
*You probably guessed it already but of course I don’t use the real names of people I met traveling, due of respect for privacy. And I have to admit, some names I don’t remember. Especially when I didn’t stayed in contact with the persons after that travel. I do will sent the ones I still have contact with the link to the post, so they can read it, since they’re part of my story.
Travel, learn, share, repeat... 