To master the art of not paying for neither room or board as you sling yourself across the world means you are already cutting your backpacking expenses in over half. Temping at hostels is your very first way to make your money last a longer -with luck, endless- journey. It’s also the kind of thing you won’t see printed in a Lonely Planet guidebook, and this is how it’s done:
The first thing you’ll want is to ask the manager if at that particular moment the hostel is understaffed, and if he or she could maybe use your help. Your chances to hear a “Yes” will be greater during the high travel seasons than in the lows, where guests come and go, and beds are continually getting slept on and are in need of making and remaking; sheets, pillowcases and towels are constantly a-wash; and a bigger courtesy breakfast must magically appear in the dining room every morning before the earliest of risers is up.
For hostel managers Deborah and Alessandra of Oca Hostel, possibly the best and most affordable backpacker bunker in Latin America’s costliest metropolis–Sao Paulo City–when asking for a job in hospitality, your smile is your curriculum. And together with that smile, these girls add, “the ideal temping backpacker would definitely be one real friendly talkative girl or guy. If they also know about mixing drinks or speak an extra international language besides English, those are a real huge plus. Those skills are always job-getters.”
Friendliest hostel staff in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Tags: hostels
