Hostel packing list - essentials for backpacking (UPDATED 2022 version)

hello everybody welcome back so like three years ago i made this video while i was backpacking around europe about things you absolutely need when you are staying in a hostel sort of like a packing list and i got good feedback on the video but i also got heaps of comments being like oh you should also bring this oh you should also bring this so i figure this is the perfect time to do an updated version so without further ado here is my updated packing list for you the number one thing that i had a lot of people write in the comments and that i kind of touched on but not really is bringing a sarong or some kind of like material like a sheet almost because it has so many uses yeah you can use it as a curtain but you can also use it as like a hair towel you can use it as a pillow case if you don't have one or if you think that the hostile pillows are kind of gross you can use it on the beach as like a cover-up you can use it as a blanket you can use it as a dress as a shirt as a scarf like there are just so many uses for a surround but now i think every time i go anywhere i'm just going to bring us around with me because it's so versatile it's like the potato of the clothing world because it has so many uses you know so at the end of this video i'll just go through everything i said in the first video but for now let's stick to the updates and another thing that i didn't take with me but a lot of people say is really useful is a washing line so i've had something similar when i went camping it's essentially just a piece of elastic but it's sort of wound together so that you can hang stuff in it without needing pegs i'm going to put a picture up here because i do not think that i'm describing it properly but you essentially can just hang it up anywhere i found that most hostels have sort of places you can hang out your laundry or at least if not all of them every third or fourth one that you go to will have a space which means you can just do your laundry when you're at a place that has the space but having a portable washing line would be good also especially if you're planning to just like do little random hand washings here and there rather than doing big loads one thing that people seem to really love in the video that i did last time was having a tote bag and putting all of your essentials in it and sort of keeping it hanging over your bed especially if you're on the top bunk you don't want to be having to like find your phone and find your charger and all that when it's like down the bottom if you can hang it on a tote bag on the edge of your bed that's perfect and then i had someone also say that they like to have another little bag for everything that goes with them to the bathroom they'll put in their toiletries and their clean socks and underwear and clothing and their towel and stuff just so they've got somewhere to put it or hang it so that it's not all going to get wet and disgusting because honestly hostile bathrooms can be so gross like some of them yes okay some of them are really nice i sit in this hotel that had a shower curtain but the rod had broken so someone tied it to the ceiling but instead of tied to the ceiling with rope they used old earphones like they got an old earphones and used that as a rope to tie to the ceiling like gross but anyway if you have like a little bag that you can keep stuff in that will stop you from having to put on the gross floor you know um which also brings me to my next thing which is shower shoes which a lot of people also commented that they take flip flops or shower shoes obviously you don't want to be like carrying shoes just for the shower so having like your beach shoes and your shower shoes double up is a good one another thing is tissues and toilet paper like i know that this probably isn't super hostile specific because most hostiles obviously will have toilet paper but i found especially when i was traveling through southeast asia recently having toilet paper in tissues on you at all times is good not just for spilling food but also when you need to go to the bathroom and there's no toilet paper to be found i always have like a plastic bag in my suitcase backpack that is where i put all my dirty clothes because there's nothing worse than having like a dirty stinky shirt and then you put it in your bag and then it makes everything else smell kind of gross i'm notorious for re-wearing clothes over and over especially when traveling especially when i can't be bothered to do my laundry but sometimes you're like this can never be worn again i need to put it completely separate from everything else so i just always have like a little plastic bag that i keep in my bag and i put all my stinky stuff in there okay this tip i love someone commented on my video that they always travel with a sleeping sheet i did mention that i like to take a pillowcase with me when i go to places especially if the hostel feels like a little bit dirty but a sleeping sheet is such a good idea because sometimes i wonder like okay they've changed the shades on this bed but have they changed the tuna cover like am i just marinating in someone else's gross body secretions yup that sounds so gross but a sleeping shape would actually solve that i feel like that would be good sleeping sheet if you don't know it's essentially just a sleeping bag but just a sheet um and you use it inside a sleeping bag but that would be a good thing to travel with because it's small and it can roll up really easily but then you're also getting the protection the person did write that it's good because it will protect you from bed bugs but then your sheep would just get bed bugs right so i don't think it would work in that regard like honestly i'm a bit of a grub so yes i'm like ew this is kind of gross but i'm also like i also don't care i'll just have a shower in the morning but if you're a bit icky about germs and touching other people's stuff especially like traveling post covert i think i'm gonna be a little bit more uh wary of cleanliness um which so i think maybe a sleeping sheet is a good idea as well right two things that people commented on that i have never heard of before in my life number one is paracord so many people say that they travel with paracord and i looked it up and from what i can tell it's just like really strong rope like what they use in parachutes uh which would probably come in handy they probably needed it at that hostel with the earphones on the on the ceiling um but i okay if you're like camping and if you're like adventuring and hiking maybe paracord would be good i personally am not as outdoorsy as that like i don't know what i would use rope for actually i guess it would be good like clothesline maybe um and you could probably use it to hang up your sarong as your curtain if you needed to i don't know but everyone said paracord so i'm just gonna say it here in case for some of you it makes sense and then the second thing is something called plug phones which are a hybrid of ear plugs and earphones and apparently they're used by like tradies and work men but it means that you can like i guess they're just like noise cancelling earphones essentially um because in my last video i sort of mentioned that you need earplugs if you're staying in hostels because some people are or even not even if you're just a light sleeper and someone comes in at night like you they could be really loud and wake you up so earphones plug phones maybe look into that if you're someone who likes to like listen to music while you fall asleep but also want to have earplugs in all right so that's basically all of the additions that i had to my list i'm going to go through everything that i had in my first video just as like a refresher number one is an eye mask like obviously you're gonna need an eye mask and ear plugs number two is a padlock i had a comment on my last video saying that they knew someone who had a combination look in a hostel and his stuff got stolen because the thieves could be bothered to just sit there like trying all the combinations so a padlock with a key is definitely a good idea if you can get one with like two or three spare keys and just keep them in different places that's probably best because i can just picture myself locking all my valuables somewhere and then not being able to open it again a portable charger i think everyone's kind of at the point now that we're all traveling with this but a portable charger in a hostel is so handy especially if your bed isn't anywhere near a power point some hostels are awesome and each bed has their own little usb charger and everything like that but then sometimes you're in like shitty old ones and the power points all the way on the other side of the room and someone else is like charging up their drone and you can't plug your phone in so having a portable charger is definitely a good thing to have keep it in your little tote bag on your bed post with your cord and then it's right there in the middle of the night when you need to charge your phone there you go done tupperware have a tupperware container it doesn't even have to be that big but if you're staying somewhere for a few days and you're going to be keeping stuff in the fridge or you're planning to cook and you want to have leftovers tupperware containers came in so much more handy than i thought i always travel with like a little bit of washing powder so that i can do hand laundry just like washing socks and undies and stuff because like i said i'm a bit of a grub and i wear a t-shirt like three days in a row but i will not wear underwear and socks three days in a row so good to have some laundry powder to just sort of like wash it in the sink and then hang it up in your room the tote bag which i touched on already definitely my number one tip i reckon is like it's kind of like one of those things that you're like oh yeah that's a good idea and then you do it you're like this works this is good and packing cubes i definitely love packing cubes mainly because then i can sort of divvy up all my stuff so if i'm traveling with a big bag i can put everything that i'm gonna need for the next couple days into one packing cube and then just sort of live out of that and then i don't have to keep going in and out of my locker or out of my bag which is under my bed but having like a packing cube or even just like a little bag that you can just sort of like live out of or the rest of your stuff stays in one place because the worst thing is getting to a hostel room and then having to like tear apart your bag to find that one shirt that's all the way at the bottom and then you're stuck's everywhere and then like 16 other people in the room like no being able to live out of a small packing cube or a small bag is good and yeah i think i already mentioned a pillow case but uh i didn't travel with a pillowcase last time but next time i stay in a hostel i will be taking a pillowcase just because i don't know it feels kind of better having my face on my own pillow knowing that it's clean or at least like even if it's not clean at least i know that it's just my grossness on it not someone else's anyway thank you so much for watching this video i hope you enjoyed it i hope that you're about to embark on an amazing travel trip going through hostels going backpacking doing something fun and just like last time if you have any suggestions just leave it in the comments below i want this to turn it into a space where like people can say like oh i did this and it really works and then other people can come along and read the comments and get inspired so have a beautiful day see you in my next video bye