Guess what? Hostels are for seniors too

By Geoffrey Williams

It was my last day in beautiful Cairns, the largest city in tropical Far North Queensland, Australia. Over the previous ten glorious days, I’d played around with my accommodation options – nights in a 4-star hotel, a glamorous Airbnb, and a clean and comfortable, budget-friendly hotel near the airport.

My flight home to Darwin didn’t leave Cairns until 1am, so I planned to book my comfortable hotel room for my final night, even though I wouldn’t be needing the bed. I could safely leave my suitcase in the room and spend my final day re-visiting my favourite parts of Cairns, treat myself to a beautiful evening meal, before returning to the hotel, having a shower, and heading to the airport.

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The bad news, I discovered, was that the hotel was fully booked for the night, so my convenient and budget-friendly option was off the table. Was I going to have to drag my suitcase around behind me for the day and night? Were there luggage lockers anywhere convenient? I Googled my options and made some calls – fully booked, fully booked, fully booked and yes, sorry, fully booked. And then I stumbled upon an option I would never have considered – a hostel called ‘Dreamtime Travellers Rest’. I studied their website for a long time. The cost and central location were perfect, and the lush, tropical gardens were incredibly inviting. I wouldn’t be needing the communal kitchen, the shared bathroom, or even the bed!

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I called the number, and a man I would later come to know as the manager answered. “I’ve just turned 60, and I’m curious as to whether I am too old to stay here”, I asked. “Not at all!”, he replied. “We don’t have an age limit!”. I babbled on with excuses like how I wasn’t trying to relive my backpacker glory days, before he politely told me that he really needed to be getting on with his day, and that he would book me into a single room with a shared bathroom – the best value option given I wouldn’t be sleeping there.

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Grateful and relieved, I hung up from the call – having astonished my well-travelled self at the extent of my insecurities and apprehension about booking into a hostel of all places! The dreaded (un)popular opinion? That once you’ve hit a certain age – or look like you know your way around a seniors’ discount – you’re no longer ‘supposed’ to stay in a hostel. Do bunk beds, shared bathrooms and communal kitchens have a best-before date that is somewhere around your 28th birthday?

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There’s an unspoken but very real dose of ageism in how we think and talk about hostels. I’ll be honest – when I first arrived, I felt like ‘that weird old guy’. I was suddenly hyper-aware of my age, my size, my grey hairs, and my suitcase – with wheels. I had to learn, and quickly, that the judgement wasn’t coming from them, it was coming from me.

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The overwhelming feeling of being out of place caught me completely off guard, but the truth is, no one cared. Everyone was friendly, doing their thing, and I was just another traveller sharing time and space with them on the planet. The discomfort was exclusively mine, not theirs, and so much of the embarrassment I felt in the moments after I had just checked in was based on my groundless assumptions about how I imagined I was being seen, rather than how I was received and welcomed.

My final day in Cairns ended up not involving any of the things I had planned. Instead, I spent the day relaxing in the peaceful outdoor area, having wonderful conversations with other travellers about where they were from, where they were going, and what adventures and experiences they had planned. Coming from the Northern Territory, I even became something a minor celebrity by being able to share insider information about what they could do, where they could stay, and the best kinds of casual employment opportunities once they had made their way to Darwin. I have also travelled extensively around Australia (and lived here almost my entire life), so I could answer lots of questions about all the possibilities that could be explored on our magnificent continent.​ Someone ordered pizzas to be delivered for dinner, and before I knew it, it was time for me to rush to the airport to catch what had been – up until this moment – an incredibly inconveniently timed flight home!

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My heart still sings with the memories of this unexpected oasis. Among many other things, I learned than age isn’t a liability when you travel – it’s a strength. With age comes perspective, knowledge, and a lifetime of unique lived experiences that inform not only your own journey, but the journeys of other curious travellers as our lives intersect. During my flight home, I contemplated my valuable and quite beautiful new life lesson – that age doesn’t define belonging.

Geoffrey Williams is the Founder and Publishing Curator of The Solo Traveller. Geoffrey paid for his night’s accommodation at ‘Dreamtime Travellers Rest’ in Cairns.