Hostel Life Essentials: What To Pack First For Your Hostel Room

Moving into a hostel room for the first time ever can be nerve-wracking; you’ve made about fifty lists, lost about forty of them, crossed half a dozen items out when you realized your budget doesn’t let you buy a set of brand new lamps for your room or any decorations, if this author is being honest. By the time the days have drawn closer to your move-in you’re sweating bullets and debating whether this is worth it anyways. Save yourself time and energy with this list compiled by a hostel life veteran, someone who forgot to pack half the essentials and would not have survived a week had her friends not possessed a lot of common sense.

The number one thing to remember is that you’ll be moving in a very small room, you’ll be provided with a bed that covers half the space and a closet that will probably leave you with very little space. Don’t bring your entire house with you because then you’ll run short on space and will be left with a cramped room that you will undoubtedly hate to live in. The key is to bring the essentials, make another list when you’ve unpacked your entire room and to make the best of the space you’ve been provided with. If you want to adjust the furniture to make more space in the room, try doing that with a couple of friends! So, let’s move on to what you should pack first of all for your new room!

1. Cleaning Products

Make sure you buy a mop, an anti-bacterial cleaning agent to get rid of any dirt and a mirror cleaner. Pack extra dishcloths, tissues, towels and transform your old shirts into dusting rags for your room. Having extra cleaning products will be an immense help in the long-term since you’re going to spill a lot of stuff in your room!

2. Bedding

Check with your hostel to see if they provide you with a mattress and essential bedding. If they don’t, make sure you ask about the mattress size for the beds and get at least two bed-spreads for your mattress size. Pillows and cushions are extremely important if you’re the kind of person who sleeps with two pillows and a series of cushions with you. Pack your bedding in a compact way to save yourself space in your luggage carrier and make sure you bring extra pillow covers with you, just in case.

3. Dustbin

If you don’t bring a bin with you, you’ll be cleaning your room more often than you absolutely should which will be very distracting, trust me.

4. Iron

You seriously don’t want to spend half your time wearing crinkled clothes. Buy a lightweight iron to save yourself from carrying a ton of luggage, you’ll thank this author later.

5. Crockery

As obvious as this sounds, please bring water bottles, plates, mugs, glasses, spoons, and forks with you! Don’t pack one of each, you’ll be needing at least two to three of each in case you need to share your food with someone. There will be days when you don’t feel like washing your dishes so don’t overestimate your ability to clean an item immediately after using it.

6. Snacks

Believe it or not, this is one of the most common things that all freshman forgot to bring along! Buy boxes of biscuits, chips and any other snacks that you enjoy. On that note bring instant noodles, coffee powder, tea bags and tea whitener with you as well if you can’t survive without a kick of caffeine. There will be days when you don’t feel like eating food from the mess, these snacks will save you from some seriously horrible hunger pangs.

7. Electric Kettle

This author cannot emphasize how important a kettle is for your survival in the hostel! Not only does it help you make tea but you can also boil water in it to prepare a number of food items – besides, electric kettles usually don’t weigh a lot so you’ll have no problem packing it in your luggage.

8. Toiletries

Bring all essential toiletries with you in a small bag of some sort to prevent any toiletries from leaking out. This author recommends that you buy your own toiletries from a store once you arrive at your hostel but if you reckon that you’ll be too tired to go out shopping then bring everything with you, by all means. Get yourself a shower caddy too and don’t forget to get a hand sanitizer, you’ll soon see why the author absolutely recommends it!

9. Laundry Basket/Tub

You’ll need a small tub and a laundry basket for your dirty clothes; it’s no fun lugging around your laundry in bags and you’ll need a tub to wash any essentials for emergency purposes!

10. First-Aid Kit

Bring your medicines with you! It’s a serious hassle when you go around the hostel asking other people for medicines if you’re too sick to go out and get your own. Bring bandages, cotton, q-tips and any other things that you might need in case of an emergency. A first-aid kit will be the most important thing in your arsenal when it comes to situations when you’re too sick to seek help from anyone else! These are ten items that you absolutely need when you first move into your dorm room, not only will you be ready for any urgent situations but will also be saving yourself from last moment panic sessions.

Get rid of all your lists and trust this author with this valuable information, you won’t regret it!