Surviving a hostel in your early 30s.

If moving across the country Perth to Melbourne wasn't already a big deal, rocking up with no job, no home and only a bunch of friends. Living in a hostel long term is possibly one of the hardest things I've had to manage in my life.

After years of backpacking and room sharing around the world, you come to appreciate the true happiness of your own bedroom. Even if you do share it with a partner, you still have a space you can go to. 

But it seems I've gone back in time and I'm now living in a dorm with 6 others. It's a 6 person dorm, but there is a couple on the bed below me. I know they are a couple because sometimes the bed shakes in a particular way. I think they are trying for a baby.

On that note, its got me thinking. How does a young couple get physical or intimate in a room with 6 other people and someone sleeping on the bunk above them. I thought at one point he may have been pleasuring her with his fingers. I tell you why. The bed wasn't moving but she was moaning. I was debating if I should leave the room. Five minutes later I realised she was just snoring, not moaning. Not something I am particularly subject to often. My last housemate used to make a weird loud breathing sound that could be heard down the road. So my experience with "lady noises" is limited.

Further to that. How does one person satisfy themselves when there are people always around. And there is no privacy in the shower blocks, if it came to that. The doors don't even lock. Is there something I'm missing, something I'm not quite getting. 

I've not had a solid sleep in this room for the last two weeks. The light in the hallway outside the room seems to be one of those spotlights farmers use when they hunt Kangaroos. I wake in the middle of the night having abolutly no idea if it's night or day. 

There is no storage space in the room. And in my great wisdom, I brought two cases with me both about 70 litres or 25 kg. I realise I could have come over with the second load later down the road. But instead I brought everything with me. My entire life. I'm too embarrassed to open them, so I've been rotating through a pile of clothes I just keep washing and wearing.

As I'm new to this big city, and unlike Perth, there is a whole heap of stuff to do that's close to the CBD or heaven forbid actually in the CBD. As such, I venture out during the day discovering new places, and things to do as well as looking for jobs or places to live. And even though it is expensive to stay in this hostel, I don't understand why there is this one girl who stays in the hostel for the most part of the day. 

I mean, she is from the UK and must be on a backpacking holiday. So how can you justify being in a new city half way around the world and not be want to venture out. If you ask me, this trip is wasted on her. You could do this in your own home town. Not that I'm going to offer to share some of what Melbourne has to offer.

I even went to the hostel bar the other night. The last time I was in a hostel with no friends that's how I managed to make friends. But turns out being the old guys at a bar is not a way of meeting people. I think the best way for someone of my age is to sit out the front of the hostel on the street with a cigarette. 

So how do I survive living in a hostel long term as a 32 year old guy? I'm not. Each day I dream of the day I can move into a home. That or the couple below me invite me down...