Everyone needs a hostel companion for an adventure. Someone who has got your back and who can remember the way home if you suddenly lose the run of yourself (which can happen to the best of us) and you forget where you are. Most of us just find these special people by chance. To speed up this process, we decided to create a new Hostel Companion Application questionnaire that you can give to people that might be interested in tramping off around Ireland with you.
1. Do you hostel a lot?
A. I’m in a hostel now.
B. As often as I can.
C. If everyone else goes, I suppose I will go too.
D. Hostel is not a verb. It is a place. For poor people.
2. How important is privacy to you?
A. I am an open book.
B. What do you want to know?
C. It pays to be prudent.
D. None of your business.
3. Do you like talking?
A. I could talk for Ireland.
B. I like long free-flowing discussions about life, the universe and everything.
C. I prefer listening.
D. No.
4. There is one table left with strangers at it. What do you do?
A. Sit down and sample their food.
B. Say “Hi” and ask if I can join them.
C. Sit down. Eat quietly.
D. Go outside and eat. In the rain.
5. What is your strategy for shared showers?
A. We all stand under the same rain. What is the difference? Apart from the fact that we are naked.
B. Have a shower.
C. Dash in while everyone is having breakfast.
D. Seriously? That is what private rooms are for.
6. What would happen if you heard a fox at night?
A. I would go outside and see if I can find it. Then I would make the same noise.
B. Wake everyone else up and tell them.
C. Pull covers over my head in case it is a banshee.
D. Go home.
7. What kind of food do you like?
A. Food that goes in my mouth.
B. Big communal pots full of food from all over the world.
C. Individual portions, individually wrapped.
D. Food delivered on trays by waiters.
8. What special night ritual should I be aware of?
A. I pace the room like a wolf and do a few jumping jacks before curling up on the bed.
B. I like to listen to music on my earphones.
C. I check that I have everything ready for the morning.
D. I turn on the lights every time I hear a noise.
9. How much do you like to plan your trips?
A. Planning sound like way too much work.
B. I like to know where I am going but leave room to be flexible.
C. If I don’t know where I am going, how will I know when I get there?
D. The planning is better than the journey.
10. What do you do if you get lost in the bad side of town?
A. Make friends for life.
B. Relax and keep walking.
C. Make a list of all the things I should report when I find someone with authority.
D. Leave the country and never come back.
11. What skills do you bring to the table?
A. Raconteur, Survival Bushcraft, Vulcan Deathgrip.
B. Map-reading, first aid, bicycle repair.
C. Common sense, cooking, knots.
D. Excel, table etiquette, awkward stares.
12. Do you like multi hostel trips?
A. People do single hostel trips? Why?
B. Road-trip!
C. As long as there is not too much travelling involved.
D. The only good thing about that would be imagining going home to my own bed.
13. How do you react to a change in travel plans?
A. This is even better than I thought!
B. It’ll be grand.
C. Fine. Once we go discuss the pros and cons.
D. Sometimes you have to dig your heels in and hold on for dear life.
14. What kind of nature knowledge do you have?
A. I know how to read the wind.
B. I grew up on a farm.
C. I know the latin name of a few animals from school.
D. I know how to google.
15. What do you think about bicycles?
A. Fun between my legs.
B. To stay balanced you must keep moving.
C. A mode of transport where the passenger becomes the engine.
D. I have no interest in a life behind bars.
16. What is your biggest peeve in a hostel companion?
A. What is a peeve?
B. That they might go hosteling without me.
C. Snoring!
E. Talking to strangers.
As you can see, answers to these questions should allow you to identify lots of suitable hostel companions for your next adventure. So now you have no excuse for not heading off with your backpack.
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