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Welcome to Backpacker Buzz,
Hostelling International's blog from Western Canada. We'll bring you news, information and tips about hostels in Canada and around the world.
Welcome to Backpacker Buzz,
Hostelling International's blog from Western Canada. We'll bring you news, information and tips about hostels in Canada and around the world.

A year and a half ago, I decided that I needed to go travel, and I needed to go for a long time. I spent eight-and-a-half months on the road and have been back in Canada for a few weeks. After the obligatory questions of "How was your trip?" and "What was your favourite place?" a lot of people want to know just how I pulled a stunt like this off.
Get the low down after the jump. Read more »

Well, that's a wrap. After eight-and-a-half months of travel, I'm back on Canadian soil, trying to digest just what exactly this incredible year has been all about. Read more »

I think I spoke too soon last week when I ran through the tips for splurging on a private room. By this point, I thought I'd seen it all but this is a new one. Little did I know that a stroke of luck would land me in my own private Portuguese villa overlooking the ocean for 14€ a night. Read more »

As much as backpacking is about the people you meet and the fun times you have, you'd be a fool to ignore all the things you can learn first hand about the histories of the world. Europe is teeming with the stuff and in many parts, WWII seems to be one of the relatively recent events that really left no part untouched. I spent the better part of this week in Berlin and Dresden, reminding myself once again that what you read in books can never measure up to what you see in person. Read more »

It's hard to find a hostel without private rooms these days, with hotel-quality accommodation at a fraction of the price. But as a solo traveller, private rooms sometimes seem like the realm of couples and friends alone. But after weeks and weeks of dorms, a private room is a nice, worthwhile splurge. Here are a few tips for figuring out the time and place for a sweet, glorious upgrade.

While I travelled with my parents in Scotland, they were eager to stay in some hostels for the first time, I think in an attempt to see what all the fuss was about and to see what kind of life I've been living for the past seven months. Needless to say, I was a bit nervous about bringing them in. But with brand new HI membership cards in their wallets, they joined me in two of Scotland's bests. Read more »
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