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Homes Away From Home I: Adventurous Accommodations

Rolled up in the slick nylon of a sleeping bag, chill to the touch, I lay out on the planks of the sailing ship, limbs pressed stiff and straight against the hard deck — eyes wide open. The hull rocked slowly in the waters below. Above the sail, the sky glimmered in bursting, endless pinpoints of light. I fell asleep to the sight of the Big Dipper as it rocked slowly in the basin of the twinkling night. I could tell how much the boat turned in place, rotating on its anchor, when I woke two different times to find the constellation removed from my field of vision. Each time I turned to stare at it again, falling back asleep in the comfort of that familiar — yet unusual — sight.

Just like that night of sailing camp in my own backyard of Montana, the place you stay can be an adventure in itself. From a capsule hotel to a manor out of a mystery novel, here are some stories about my own adventurous accommodations.



It’s listed officially as a castle. But the family estate of the Irish knight was like something out of the mystery I was reading. My sister Anna and I stayed there on our way to Narnia (that is, Northern Ireland). We nicknamed it, affectionately, the Professor’s House. Walking about the grounds, we were able to spot a lamp post and a stone statue of a lion. But Anna also began to discover, one by one, little mysterious clues. When staying in a manor, where all sorts of people come and go, perhaps it might be expected to find such items as a knife sheath in the plants or a broken glass in the fountain. They did, however, quite inspire the imagination. So much so that we filmed a short-short film. (You can watch it here, if you’d like: https://youtu.be/BVG04jOES2U)

In our room at the castle, we slept on the most comfortable bed in the world. It was exactly how all children imagine puffy clouds must feel, that soft-pliant-bouncy-fluffy goodness. There are some places I’ve stayed, however, where part of the adventure is an incredibly uncomfortable place to sleep.

Rolling into Shizuoka prefecture at midnight, I missed the check-in time of my guest house near Mt. Fuji. It’s the sort of thing that happens when traveling by bus. But I decided upon a brilliant plan, inspired — as most brilliant plans are — by the internet.

One of the top recommendations for budget travel in Japan is sleeping over in an internet cafe.

I wholeheartedly do NOT recommend, on any budget, sleeping over in an internet cafe.

(And that’s coming from someone who slept well on the hard deck of a sailboat out on a cold lake.)

I’ve come to the conclusion, after this experience, that many of the recommendations one finds online (particularly for travel) are probably invented by someone who has never tried the thing out at all. For instance, none of the tipsters mentioned that for the sake of one night’s stay you have to register as a member. This is especially difficult at one o’clock am, when your beginner-level Duolingo-and-podcast-taught Japanese flies out of your head and you can’t even really manage to communicate using Papago. (Papago is a Korean app that is the best translator of English-to-Japanese. Google Translate, I discovered, is better when translating Japanese-to-English. That actually is a tested travel recommendation. If you want a better one, here’s a tip from a local guide: in Japan, many people can read English even if comprehending our spoken accent is difficult. Written notes may be your best bet.)

The poor, patient front-desk attendant and I somehow managed to get through the registration process. (I still have the little plastic card with my name written on it in sharpie.) He then showed me to my little non-smoking computer cubicle. Even for a not-quite 5’1” human (aka not quite 155cm), the wooden bench inside was a bit of a cramped squeeze. I managed to curl up and rest my head on my duffel bag. And the cubicle did have a locking door. But between the uncomfortable bench and the noises of the gaming room nearby, I’m not altogether certain I slept a wink.

The adventure of staying at the internet cafe was incredibly amusing. And in that way, it was a lot of fun. But first of all, you’d have to be short like me to even attempt the adventure. Second, since you pay by the hour, if you rented the place for an entire night’s sleep it would actually be fairly pricey. I managed to spend less money by arriving after midnight and leaving at sun-up (around 6:00am). Another piece of internet advice I received, you see, was that Mt. Fuji could usually only be seen in the early hours of the morning. Later in the day the sky (usually, apparently) became too hazy. (It wasn't so on the day I was there, but we'll save that story for later.)

At sunrise I walked out of the internet cafe, where it’s always dark and inhabited by young people playing video games and exists outside of time, wondering where to walk in the city of Fuji to see its mountain namesake. I turned. There, across the parking lot, loomed the very imposing Fuji-san itself.

Another iconic Japan travel cubicle is the tiny boxed bedroom of the capsule hotel. This little sleeping space turned out to be quite comfortable. (Though definitely not for the claustrophobic.) I actually booked the capsule hotel by mistake. I chose it for its location and price. It wasn’t until I checked in, put my bags in storage, and walked up to the door of the sleeping quarters that I saw the “capsules room” sign and realized where I was. One of my best friends had been trying to talk me into staying in a capsule hotel ever since I told her about my trip to Japan. When I saw the sign, I laughed out loud. And then I whipped out my phone and started taking videos and photos to share.

I felt a bit like I was in a sci-fi film — some sort of passenger on a starship. It even came complete with navy pajamas that looked sort of like the uniform of a dystopian society. All in all, a grand little adventure.

Being on a long adventure of the solo traveling kind, the places I stayed the most were hostels. From joining a Takoyaki-frying party hosted by the one in Osaka, to finding eggshells in my soggy scramble and swearing off the continental breakfast of another, no two hostels were alike. At the one in Kyoto, a long elevator ride brought with it the delight of a roof resembling the iconic school roofs of anime and manga. One of my hostels London sounded, as an idea, quite romantic. Once a boys choir dormitory, it stood near the chiming bells of St. Paul’s. The place itself unfortunately looked like any backpacker hostel. And you really couldn’t hear the bells in the women-only quarters in the basement. But it was a good story while it lasted (before I stayed there). And it was the best location in the city, the beacon of St. Paul's dome guiding you home at night.


In Paris, walking home on dark winter nights to a hostel in Montmartre, the view of Sacre Coeur shining just above was about as romantic as one could dream.

And yet, there's more to adventure than misadventures and romance. At one hostel (the one I stayed at in Toulouse), I received a key labeled "Marie."

I was excitedly anticipating being able to visit my friend Marie during my stay in France. It was a serendipitous little chance. After a welcoming, smiling check-in spoken in accommodating franglais (which had the benefit of both letting me practice my french and ensuring I actually comprehended the conversation), I made my way up the winding, narrow staircase to the well-named room. At the sight of the balcony in the dusty rose Toulousian sunset, complete with ornamented iron table and chair, I found myself sighing “I love France.” Each morning, guests dropped coins in the little tin on the table set out for breakfast of toast and jam (or hazelnut spread that I bought from the grocery store). In the same front room, I’m sure quite a few of us geeks admired the clunky, white 90’s computer that was still running (and even, one morning, had someone using it). A piano sat unplayed (I imagined sitting down to it, though I never did). A wooden swing hung roped from the ceiling. I whiled away some time, on my last morning, swinging. And just outside the secure double-doors of that whimsical front room lay the blushing terracotta streets of la ville rose.


But as wonderful a place as that hostel was, the key reminded me how much I missed my friend — how much I looked forward to my stay with her.


Hostels and guest houses are good places to make friends. Talking over breakfast, being invited to share a galette...Then, later, going out together for excursions in the snows of Hokkaido, pizza by the river view where Vincent Van Gogh painted Starry Night on the Rhône, beers in an international university district in Paris where the waiter couldn’t speak french...After all, what is an adventure if one isn’t joined by new friends?


The hostel I stayed at in Kumamoto City felt just like stepping into the cozy, nostalgic adventure of Studio Ghibli movies. It held magical-strange-charming sights around every corner, from the hinamatsuri dolls and ornamented goldfish bowls at the entrance to the Kumamon bear who looked over the front desk while the staff was away.

And just like in a Studio Ghibli movie, I made a friend. We sat talking over dinner in the cute, childlike, colorful kitchen. She showed me her wonderful ceramic art.

I said I would soon be traveling to Kyoto, where she is from, and we made plans to meet up there. After having many fun adventures together, when we had to say goodbye, I felt that crazy bittersweet heartache that always comes with traveling. It’s like being homesick for adventure — the feeling of missing friends who live all over the world.


I stayed in the comfort of many friends’ places throughout my journey — both the best and closest of old friends, and new friends met by staying with them. This is, you see, a two part post. The second part of Homes Away from Home? Well, it’s all about becoming Part of the Family.


The adventures mentioned in this post:

Castle Leslie in Ireland

Internet Cafe Jiyū Kūkan in Fuji

Capsule Hotel The Calendar in Otsu (Kyoto)

Woodstock Hostel Montmartre

2 Comments


Quentin Rhoades
Quentin Rhoades
Jul 26, 2019

Can’t recall when I’ve enjoyed reading something more than this!

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suzyq065
suzyq065
Jul 26, 2019

Love this!!! Can’t wait for more!!!

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