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10 rules for not upsetting EVERYONE in the Albergue... add your own

Melensdad

Active Member
Time of past OR future Camino
2016 SJPdP to Santiago, Finisterre. Hadrian's Way, 2015. Sections of the AT + National & State Park trails.
Thought this article was pretty good. Anyone who has ever slept in a dorm setting could learn from these rules, in fact I think they should be posted at the entrance to each dorm, in all common languages, perhaps with a complimentary copy of the Rosetta Stone (the real one, not the computer language classes) ;)

LINK >>> http://matadornetwork.com/notebook/10-simple-rules-annoying-every-single-person-hostel-night/

Enjoy, and feel free to add your personal pet peeves.
 
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Good One! And:
1. Do not under any circumstances set your alarm for the wee hours and wake everybody up while you sleep and it rings.
2. Don't wash your clothes in the sink and then get the floor in the dorm all wet when you take them outside. This is the ONLY legitimate place for plastic bags in the dorm room!
 
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Don't let others habits upset you. It's not good for the soul, or reasonable to think everyone should have the same standards as you. You're sharing with cultures from around the world spanning several generations. Enjoy your fellow pilgrims, imperfect as they may be (or stay in a pension) :)
 
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I like the last one. Maybe it should be "do not get so drunk you can't find your bunk".

I'd also add "Do not put your backpack on the chair the old lady needs to climb up onto her bunk".
Kanga, how about "do not get so drunk you can't find your albergue." I hasn't happened to me (yet) mind you but I think Mark Lee said he had a problem one night in Pamplona. It's bit like trying to remember where you parked the car on a Friday night before gathering with friends:D. Huh?
I already beat the backpack placement thing to a pulp last month.
 
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I think my worst midnight to dawn moment was when I had forgotten to set my mobile to silent, and I had texted something to my daughter earlier in the evening. When she got my text, she phoned, at about 2 am!!
Doug, is this your first confession?
 
Don´t get mad when the ones who can´t sleep because one pilgrim is snoring razzle their packs at 4 am and leave at 4.15.
Don´t get mad when the pilgrims who couldn´t sleep the night before line up for a bed at 1 pm and get ready to take an afternoon nap to be able to spend one more sleepless night in an albergue.
Don´t giggle/ whisper all night.
Don´t smoke just outside an open window neither insede the dormitory nor in the bath rooms.
Don´t use your phone7/ipad/ ipod/ surf/ read a book/ answer your mail at nights when lights are off in the dorm.

Just joking :):):)
This is the reality :)
in most albergues :)
 
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The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
This would probably be less applicable on the Camino, but from a situation my friends and I experienced once in a hostel, I would add,
"If you must share a bed with someone [when you paid for two] please do not kiss them every 10 seconds for 4 consecutive hours."
It makes drifted off to sleep next to impossible for everyone else in the room. We would rather count sheep.
 
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I think my worst midnight to dawn moment was when I had forgotten to set my mobile to silent, and I had texted something to my daughter earlier in the evening. When she got my text, she phoned, at about 2 am!!
Good one. Thanks :)
We can be very mindful, but it doesn't necessary relate to friends and family who may easily forget about the time difference...
 
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Im not easily upset when on Camino but:
When you're preparing to leave really early the next morning, dont eat a bag of crunchy potato crisps with your mouth open, it doesnt matter that you didnt turn the light on, that is a disgusting sound
Don't leave the toilet roll in a puddle on the floor in the bathroom so no-one else can use it
Make sure you take the right shoes, and not someone elses.
 
Don't let others habits upset you. It's not good for the soul, or reasonable to think everyone should have the same standards as you. You're sharing with cultures from around the world spanning several generations. Enjoy your fellow pilgrims, imperfect as they may be (or stay in a pension) :)
I think there is a big difference between respecting different standards and common sense when people are trying to sleep. You should enjoy meeting and befriending people form all over the world but being woken up by RUDE people who care nothing about anyone around them is not being culturally insensitive at all. Speaking of things not being good for the soul and expecting everyone to have the same standards as you. There are some people who can't afford to sleep in a pension. Some people have walked long ways and expended alot of energy and are exhausted and can only afford a donativo or the municipal albergue and they deserve to at least have a shot for a decent night's sleep. I think that is just common sense.
 
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I think there is a big difference between respecting different standards and common sense when people are trying to sleep. You should enjoy meeting and befriending people form all over the world but being woken up by RUDE people who care nothing about anyone around them is not being culturally insensitive at all. Speaking of things not being good for the soul and expecting everyone to have the same standards as you. There are some people who can't afford to sleep in a pension. Some people have walked long ways and expended alot of energy and are exhausted and can only afford a donativo or the municipal albergue and they deserve to at least have a shot for a decent night's sleep. I think that is just common sense.

@It56ny
The problem is, you cannot avoid such people, whether you interpret their behaviour as rudeness or as different cultural standards. So if you cannot afford to stay elsewhere, the simplest way to get your needed sleep is to prepare yourself for sleeping in their presence. When I am ready to go to sleep at night, I put on my eye mask and put in my ear plugs and just ignore the presence of lights, or other people, or noise. This generally works for me, as I am weary. Good luck, and buen camino.
 
Thanks and I do agree there is nothing you can really do about these people. I guess my point was that excusing their behavior just allows this behavior to continue unchecked. Believe me before I started Camino I’ve always got at least four sets of earplugs that I buy at the hardware store. Putting my ear plugs in is the last thing I do every night before I close my eyes to sleep. Hope your next Caminos your best Camino
 
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My don't list is based on a couple I ran into early on during my first Camino. Thankfully, I didn't see them after the first week.
  • Don't turn the lights out at 9 pm and then get upset when those returning from dinner at 9:30 pm turn the lights back on to get ready for bed at the 10 o'clock lights out.
  • Then, don't be the same couple that gets up at 5 am laughing and joking waking everyone up in the room.
 
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Just another thought about leaving in the early morning. I like to leave very early and I have learned, after upsetting a few people along the way, a regimen that really seems to work for me. Since I sleepin my clothes I am wearing almost everything. I pack everything the night before and put it in my backpack. I sleep in a silk sleep sack. The only thing I have out is my sneakers (unless you can’t bring them in the room) with my socks in them. My little screw top carrying case for my ear plugs. My sleep sac cover and that’s it. When I wake up I roll up my sleep sac. It makes no noise and put it in my sac cover. My toiletries and any other clothes I may be wearing that I didn’t sleep in is in the top of my pack. I take all that in the bathroom and leave the pack at the door. When I get to the front door I put my toiletries away put on my other clothes put on my pack and I am gone.
 
Don’t “punish” the noisy late night folks by being extra noisy when getting up really early. All you are really doing is doubly punishing the majority of us who quietly go to sleep and wake up on at the standard times.
 
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I got the last bed in an albergue one night and shared a room with people from Japan and South Korea. They politely told me that they had all agreed to go to bed at 9.30 and get up at 6.00. They asked me if that was ok. I agreed and it worked well. An interesting lesson.
 
reset the 7 oclock rule to a more realistic 6 a.m.
I usually await patiently to hear the general rustle and bustle beginning at 6 am....
 
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The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
I think my worst midnight to dawn moment was when I had forgotten to set my mobile to silent, and I had texted something to my daughter earlier in the evening. When she got my text, she phoned, at about 2 am!!
You don't make friends at that moment. 😉
 
Do not lift up somebody’s else bike to check how heavy it is or kick its tyres to make sure that they are inflated…
 
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Yes! I should have said " as he inexpertly climbs off the top bunk standing first on your ankle/hand, then on your pack (occupying the chair) and then kicks the rest of your gear across the room"!
🤣🤣🤣 I prefer the image your first post conjures up in my mind.
..........................Oh dear, I think I'll bow out now. 🤣
 
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
#1. Quiet

#2. Ear plugs

#3. Shower

#4. Deodorant

#6. Closing all the windows makes it hot and smelly

#7.Use the red light on your head lamp at night time in an alburgue

#8. Repeat ALL of the above often until memorized and is second nature ;-)

Buen Camino .... Peace Out :D
 
From a contrarian perspective:

Do extend to people the benefit of the doubt.
Do remember that everyone walks their own camino.
Do seize every opportunity to be someone's camino angel.


BEST advice !!!!!!
 
Yes! I should have said " as he inexpertly climbs off the top bunk standing first on your ankle/hand, then on your pack (occupying the chair) and then kicks the rest of your gear across the room"!
That'll teach you not to put anything on the chairs! 😂
I've also experienced people putting their packs right at the bottom of the ladder when I'm in the top bunk. Not a nice surprise when descending the ladder at 3am!
 
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I am the only one that didnt get upset? ;)
 
I am the only one that didnt get upset? ;)
😀 I don't recall getting upset either. I think I was too busy being uncomfortable in such close proximity to strangers to get upset about anything. I did upset a hospi once tho' .... by opening some windows, but that was after I got the agreement from several other peregrinos.
 
Don´t get mad when the ones who can´t sleep because one pilgrim is snoring razzle their packs at 4 am and leave at 4.15.
Don´t get mad when the pilgrims who couldn´t sleep the night before line up for a bed at 1 pm and get ready to take an afternoon nap to be able to spend one more sleepless night in an albergue.
Don´t giggle/ whisper all night.
Don´t smoke just outside an open window neither insede the dormitory nor in the bath rooms.
Don´t use your phone7/ipad/ ipod/ surf/ read a book/ answer your mail at nights when lights are off in the dorm.

Just joking :):):)
This is the reality :)
in most albergues :)
Dont use your sell phone at 2am thats in the morning and I am not joking.
 
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As a 20-40 year old , don't insist on the bottom bunk and then moan when the old geezer/bloke on top shakes the bunkbed at 1, 3 and 5 am when taking a pee ;-)

yeah, let the old geezer take the bottom one instead ...
 

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