A few months ago, I decided that I wanted to shake things up a bit. For the past three years, I have been living at college – first in Spain, and then in Florida. I had an amazing time, but felt like I had already got everything out of it that I could. So, I decided to try something new. I decided I wanted to try co-living in California.
Living in California has always been a dream. However, at this point in my life I didn’t want to sign a long lease or pay several thousand dollars in rent every month.
A friend had told me about an app called World Packers, where you can apply to work at a hostel in exchange for free stay. It is such a unique and brilliant idea that I could not pass up.
I was actually on the phone doing an assignment with a classmate when we got off topic. I was telling him how I really wanted to move to San Diego and live in a hostel. It was then that he told me about his time at Beach Bungalow Surf Hostel.
He spoke about how amazing his stay was and how that is ultimately what made him want to move to San Diego. I applied to work at the hostel that night and planned to go two months later.
Now, I’ve been here for almost three weeks and it is a completely different world from anything I’ve ever experienced. I have learned more about people in the past few weeks than I have in the last two years of school.
Living at a hostel, you meet so many cool locals and foreigners and build so many friendships with people from all around the world.
There are things going on at all times, so you’ll never be bored. For example, volleyball, firepits, beer pong, bar crawls, farmers markets and so much more.
As a worker here, you don’t have to spend much money if you don’t want to. Since you live at the hostel for free, you really only have to pay for food and entertainment.
There is a kitchen in all of the ITH hostels and I will often go grocery shopping and cook meals with others so that it is not too expensive. I sometimes even end up getting free food when people are leaving and can no longer use their groceries anymore.
Workers not only get free stay but free events, breakfast, surfboards and so much more. The benefits are amazing and totally worth the work. I am still in school and I am able to easily sit down and use the wifi as well as my laptop to get things done.
Co-living in California has definitely changed my life in the few short weeks that I’ve been here. I don’t spend much money and I have a community that I love in a place that I love. I highly recommend downloading World Packers and applying to work at one of the ITH hostels!
For tips on finding cheap flights, click here.
