Living on a tropical island, running hostels, meeting people from all over the world and partying all the time. Sounds like paradise, right? While it was a fantastic experience and I wouldn’t take it back, it definitely wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. 

The BEST staff I could have ever had, I’m still so thankful for this group of weirdos.

For those of you who are new here, I used to live in Thailand and I was a Hostel Manager and eventually the Regional Manager of the South of Thailand for a big company. I remember when I first got the managing job I was over the moon. When I travelled through Central America years before I remember thinking running a hostel was the dream. 

I had already been in Thailand for about a year at this point, so I already understood that things tend to be unplanned, unexpected and chaotic. I was no stranger to the disarray of workplaces in Asia. The current manager left abruptly, and I remember thinking he was insane to give up this opportunity. Leaving the hostel industry was not in my plans at all. The offer included free housing, free meals, free alcohol, a work permit and a salary on top of all of that. On paper, I had hit the jackpot.  At the start I was barely phased when things got hectic, as I was just so happy to be living in paradise with my dream job. Over time, I learned why Hostel Managers don’t tend to last very long.

A work week in Asia is not the same as a work week in Canada.

Let’s start with the basics. In most Asian countries, a full work week is considered six days per week and eight hours per day. Only having one day off per week is not a lot, and it was a big contributing factor to the common Hostel Manager burnout. Work becomes your whole life and you don’t get a lot of time to do anything else. I had quite a few friends who worked part time, only on weekdays or not at all. This made it even harder, as people were always out doing stuff and I had to be at work. Also, eight hours per day is more of a suggestion, you tend to work a lot more than this and don’t get compensated for the extra hours. Also remember salaries aren’t as high in Asia. I was being paid a lot higher than a local for example, but for the amount of hours I was working, I wasn’t making anywhere near what I would be at home for the same. I was making more than enough to live very comfortably, but I didn’t feel like the amount of work I was doing matched what I was being paid.

Speaking of working more than eight hours, even on your days off, you’re still on call. As manager of the hostel you are responsible for EVERYTHING. I didn’t have an Assistant Manager, so I was really going it alone. If anything went wrong, I got a call. There were a lot of things that only I could do in the system because staff didn’t have permission, so if something happened I had to go. If there was a guest problem, I had to be there to make sure everything was smoothed out and dealt with properly. If the tills needed change, I had to be the one to give it to them as I could not give staff access to the safe with all the money. Long story short, even on my days off or outside my working hours I was constantly getting texts and calls and having to go back to the hostel. Not being able to ignore my phone for an hour got old and fast. 

Once I took over as Regional Manager this got even worse, as I had two of my own properties and I overlooked three others. So if it wasn’t an issue at my own hostel, it was one on another island somewhere. Hostels are full of drunken backpackers so there was forever something happening somewhere. It’s also Thailand, so maybe the water would stop working or there would be no power. I genuinely don’t think I had a single day where I didn’t have to deal with some sort of problem somewhere. Work-life balance in hospitality is often very scarce. I value this balance, so this was an issue for me.

You are expected to be Hostel Manager, Party Rep, HR and everything in between.

When I say I was responsible for everything, I mean everything. Of course I had the administrative duties you would expect like making schedules or dealing with petty cash. However, I also planned and ran events, ordered all the food and alcohol, made flyers for events, worked reception or bar if needed and literally anything else you can imagine. It is a ton of work and if anything didn’t get done or went wrong, that was on me. The hostel manager lifestyle looks like fun and games to guests, but it could definitely get very stressful at times. I was also responsible for finding and hiring staff which is super difficult when you live on a small island. This was a huge added stress of knowing I had a full hostel and minimal staff.

In addition to being a manager, you’re also expected to be a party rep too. So after working all day doing ordering, reimbursements, scheduling, etc. you then need to go back at night to get the party going and make sure everyone has a good time. A lot of the time the last thing I wanted to do was go talk to a bunch of strangers and drink, but it was part of the job. As I’m sure you can imagine, doing this six days a week (sometimes seven) gets tiring. I love a party just as much as the next person, but having to party even though you’ve worked all day and you’re tired isn’t much fun. Also, since I’m not in my prime partying years, trying to get up the next day to do admin work was challenging with a hangover. 

Working on a tiny island is a unique experience…

There was also the aspect of working on a small island where everyone knows everyone and there can be a ton of drama. Other hostels will literally try to poach your staff that are good, which is super frustrating. I had incredible staff, so I was always hoping that I wouldn’t lose them. They really are the reason I stayed so long and they were some of the best people I’ve ever met. Without them that job would have been pure chaos. We all laughed together through the crazy shit that happened on the daily, and we kept each other sane. They are now my friends for life, so there was definitely some good that came out of the whole thing. Fluke, JJ, Leo and Mimi if you guys are reading this I love you all and thank you for being the kindest, craziest and funniest people. I couldn’t have done it without you guys. Ok, now back to the point of the article.

Living on a tiny island had its positives, like this being the view from the hostel beach.

Don’t get me wrong, I had some amazing times and met some amazing people along the way. It most definitely wasn’t all bad, but it isn’t the dream everyone thinks it is. I had a serious dream job reality check. People always used to say they dream of doing the same, and people thought I was crazy when I left. In my opinion it’s a great job for the short-term, but definitely not a long-term sustainable option. As I get older I don’t want to spend every night drinking and partying, and I value my free time away from work a lot. 

I’m grateful for my Hostel Manager experiences and the fact it allowed me to travel and earn money. However, my online jobs are a much less stressful option. For me, I couldn’t balance passion and profession while being a Hostel Manager. I knew if I stayed and powered through, I would probably ruin my love of travel. I think the only way I would go back to working in hostels would be if I owned the hostel and got to decide how it was run. Maybe one day, but for now my laptop and I are very happy travelling and working from wherever we choose!

Make sure to give me a follow on socials (@travellingaly) where I announce all my new blog posts. I’ve got lots of great stuff on the way that you don’t want to miss! There will be more travel job reflections on the way, so make sure you don’t miss out! Have you worked in hostels before? Did this article surprise or change your mind about wanting to work in hostels? Let me know in the comments!

In good news the hostel had the cutest puppy you’ll ever see!