Thursday, January 13, 2011

Hostel dreaming.

I have a dream.

In fact, I have a very lovely dream. It's been constantly growing in my mind and blossoming with details ever since that fateful day in South Korea when the idea of owning a hostel first popped into my head.

One day Adam and I will own 1-4 hostels in 3-4 continents, and we'll spend our time working in one hostel, then another, visiting foreign countries at our pleasure and leisure. Adam will write, and I'll take care of hostel business.

Working here at the Hostel is constant fuel for the fire - not only am I constantly taking notes on how I want my hostel to run (as opposed to this one) but guests are always asking about our future plan and wanting to know details about our dream hostel - details that I don't even know yet.

"Where do you want to open your hostel?" is one constant question. I tell them I don't know, but that's not true. I  know exactly where I want to open my hostel. What I don't know is if that's where it really will be. I've stopped telling people my dream location(s), because I'm worried about getting my heart set on one single location and then not being happy with anything else. There are LOADS and HEAPS of hostel-hungry cities in this world.  And some of them require a heck of a lot of red tape and moolah to stake your claim.

But I think it might already be too late. My hopeful location is pretty set in my brain, despite my recent decision to keep it mum to inquiring minds. I'll tell you, though, you lucky duck.

My hostel will be...Somewhere in the French or Swiss countryside, like Provence or Montreux ... somewhere beautiful, but close to points of interest ... somewhere I can speak French all day long ... perhaps somewhere kind of like this place:





Or this place:



OR, this place, which is actually a hostel that I look at regularly!:


http://web.me.com/sidontheroadagain/FOR_SALE_Preixan/FRONT_PAGE.html

 Gorgeous property, no? It makes me drool just a little bit whenever I revisit the website.

I'm not obsessed with this specific hostel, though - I just love how looking at it gets my dreaming juices flowing.

In fact - Currently, the most attractive thing about the property above is that it has entire separate living quarters for the owners/managers. A bathroom of my own? A kitchen that no one uses but me?? YES, PLEASE. I'm starting to really miss those... Or, if I'm honest, I'm mostly missing baths. Showers are not meant for cold weather.

And it is COOOOOOOLD in New Orleans! Having the lows drop to below freezing each night is not something the locals here are happy about (myself included). No snow, though.

My hometown on the other hand is still "Hothlanta," and while it sounds like I missed out on a really incredible piece of Atlanta's history (meh) plus a lot of fun (Quiddler championship with Dad? Yes. Entire Monopoly games? Yes. Fellini film marathons? Yes.), it's still nice to be able to go out to eat, to the movies and actually get OUT of the house/hostel.

Hang in there Atlanta + New England!
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5 comments:

  1. dear anna,

    i often daydream about spending a vacation in a hostel that you run. one of these days, i should just get on up and come down to new orleans and stay a while. i must admit a sad truth: although half of my extended family lives in louisiana, they all live in shreveport, so i've never been to new orleans. not even once.

    in conclusion, i would like to come visit you, now in new orleans, and also where ever your dream takes you.
    in conclusion2, i'm sorry i haven't written a new blog post. ;) i'll get right on it.

    love, lindsay.

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  2. Dear Anna,

    I am not a Duck! .... That is all.

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  3. Dear Frank,

    You only *think* that you aren't a duck.

    Love,

    Anna

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  4. The two of you constantly impress me with your dreams, ambition, and drive to actually accomplish your goals. So cool. :)

    If you're ever looking for a way to publicize/advertise/otherwise use the internet for your hostel goals, let me know; I'm just starting to work with a designer friend to potentially start up some web design.

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  5. Sweet!! Thanks Mares - we'll definitely keep that in mind1

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