More often than not, the first thing that
comes to mind when one thinks ‘travel’, is the cost involved in enjoying the
said experience. Although Goa wouldn’t be counted among the chosen destinations
for the budget traveler, it’s still possible to stay in decent accommodations
on a budget. Thanks to the trend of backpacker’s hostels that has been a
success in foreign countries, Goa followed suit about a couple of years ago and
has seen a number of hostels spring up ever since. Apart from being easy on the
pocket, hostels allow the luxury of easy interaction amidst travellers from
different countries and thus make possible the sharing of different cultures
and experiences. Perhaps it was this very idea that prompted Jason Noronha and
Laura Anna Pawliczek to team up and found ‘The Hostel Crowd’ under which they
currently operate three hostels in Goa – Prison hostel in Anjuna, Jungle hostel
in Vagator, Old Quarter in Fontainhas and one in Kochi by the name of Maritime.
Jason, a Goan lad, used to work as a
financial consultant predominantly based out of Singapore. He adds, “I
travelled a lot with my work which took me to places like Africa, South
America, Indonesia, Hong Kong before coming back home. I was always scared of quitting
my job because I used to earn a lot of money. I was scared thinking that if I
didn’t have that, I wouldn’t be able to lead a comfortable life. But when I was
volunteering for six months and earning $200 a month, I realised that one can
live and be happy even without much money. It was just about conquering the
initial fear. The experience has been amazing.” Jason, after moving to Goa,
opened a hostel in Vagator about 3 years ago where he met Laura who happened to
be one of the first backpacker to stay at his hostel. While the said hostel
shut operations soon, the idea of opening hostels with the idea of providing an
experience to the people who are travelling through India continued to linger
in the duo’s heads. The Hostel Crowd was more like a natural progression of the
same idea.
What makes these hostels different is the
fact that each hostel has a theme and character of its own. While the Jungle
hostel gets its name because of its close proximity to a jungle, travellers at
the Prison hostel have to take a mug shot akin to a prisoner with the name of
the country they belong to, as soon as they check-in. The hostels offer options
such as double room, 4-bed female dormitory rooms, 4-bed mixed dormitory room
and so on. The dorms across all the properties have facilities like attached
bathroom, lockers for every bed, laundry service and free breakfast, WiFi and
maps. Laura says, “When a traveller checks in, we give him a map of the area
and he / she is briefed about the best places to see, to eat, to drink etc. We
focus on the letting the traveler experience the local flavour.”
