The Latest Backpacker News
Did someone do a 'kick ass' job during your last hostel stay?
When you stayed at one of our hostels* did you come across an HI employee or volunteer that went above and beyond - in other words, were they doing a "kick ass job"? If you did, let us know about it, by submitting a nomination. Tell us who they are, where they work, and why they kick ass. That’s it! The purpose of the "You Kick Ass!" program is to publicly recognize exceptional performance demonstrated by our staff and volunteers Read more »
12 Months of Hostelling – HI-Nelson, Dancing Bear Inn
June is a wonderful time to visit Nelson. Nestled on a magnificent expanse of glacier-fed lakeshore in the Selkirk Mountains, midway between Calgary, AB, and Vancouver, BC, Nelson provides a breathtaking landscape that attracts outdoor adventurers of every age and taste. Read more »
Bucket list: English Bay, Vancouver, B.C.
Hop in a kayak and see English Bay from the water, or just hang out on the beach if that sounds to energetic!
Travel talks in Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa
In Montreal
On May 28 head to the bar at HI-Montreal to chat with our ‘sun and tapas’ speaker Gabrielle De La Durantaye; she has travelled extensively in Spain and Portugal. She’ll be dishing out advice, impressions, telling you what to do and what not to do, and letting you know about places and activities that you should be doing when visiting Portugal and Spain. Gabrielle will answer all your questions!
After the discussion, join the legendary pub crawl from the hostel, party and meet other travellers! Read more »
Five unusual festivals
Human nature will never cease to amaze us; we are sometimes very strange creatures and we like to celebrate the weirdest things. All over the globe there are unusual festivals, here are five festivals that we think stand out among the crowd of strange and exciting festivals around the world. Have you been to any of these festivals? Or have you been to one that is even weirder? Tell us in the comments section below. Read more »
LIVING THE K-DRAMA DREAM
Lotte World- photo credit: Flickr user Petirrojo
Written by HI staff member Andrea
What do kimchi, ramyun and soju all have in common? Aside from being ridiculously delicious, they're all commonly seen on the ever-popular Korean drama (a.k.a. k-drama). If you haven't seen one before, GO NOW and watch one or two or four or ten. You may (or may not) cry, laugh, scrunch your nose, furrow your brow or twitch a cheek, but you will definitely get a taste of Korean culture and its gorgeous scenery. So, after sitting on your butt for 16 to 20 hours (the average length of one k-drama) with an empty box of tissues at your side and a blank stare, why not re-create some of your favorite scenes? Heck, Vancouver's got Twilight and New Zealand's got Lord of the Rings. On your next trip to Korea, take a k-drama tour of the city! Read more »
Bucket List: Queenstown, New Zealand
Beautiful in any season, Queenstown is a must see when in NZ.
Top 5 Spots to be Amazed by Mother Nature
photo credit: Flickr user Grand Canyon NPS
The Grand Canyon – Arizona, USA
It had to be on the list, say no more! Read more »
Make Fire This Weekend at HI-Canmore
This weekend, Sunday May 5th, HI-Canmore is hosting a fire-making workshop. Hostelling International members that sign up for the course and stay for 2 nights will get one night of accommodation free. For more details on learning to build fire Survivorman-style click here >>
Q&A with Canada's Winner in the Big Blog Exchange
Early this morning Jeremy Fowler found out he was one of the 16 winners in Hostelling International's Big Blog Exchange and had won himself what he describes as the "trip of the lifetime" to Malaysia for 10 days in June. Another winner in the contest, Chee Ching from Malaysia, will be swapping places with Jeremy with her own trip to Canada at the same time.
The 23-year-old Hampton, New Brunswick, native finished a BA in English, Creative Writing and Cultural Studies last year at St. Thomas University in Fredericton and now works as a supervising lifeguard. What does he want to do for a living? "Basically I want to do something that I absolutely adore doing," he says. "I want to be active. I want to live an engaging life rather than a passive one." Sounds like a perfect candidate for the Big Blog Exchange. Hot on the heels of interviews with the CBC and the local paper, Jeremy chatted with us today about his big win. Read more »
Jeremy! This is wonderful! Again, well done and enjoy...