A few years ago, I was doing a motorcycle trip in my home province of BC Canada. I stayed in a variety of hostels, and enjoyed the combination of time alone traveling many different roads, with stories of other peoples' adventures.
One very memorable evening, I stayed in a hostel made from train cabooses, on the banks of a river. We had a campfire, and the group of us included a couple from Sweden, in Canada to complete an Iron Man; a trio of gap-year backpackers from Australia, England and Germany; a 35 year old motorcyclist (me); a French dude cycling around BC; and two gentlemen in their late 60's that decided to do something different and were traveling to all the rustic hostels in BC as a road trip. We had a fabulous night talking, drinking, watching the stars, and even saw the northern lights.
Our journeys were all very different, but we were entirely able to share an enjoy the experience of traveling light. Some of us were "locals" but still seeing the region with new eyes.
What I take from this: we don't need to travel far away from home, or take months of time, to see and experience something new. We just need a different perspective to see new things in places we thought we already knew. And hostels are not just for pilgrimages or 20 year olds - they are a place where people from many walks of life can bond over their adventures.