Tag: wanderer

Travel Diary: Camping with 17 000 People

Published on by LostViivi25 Comments

Week ago I left to scout summer camp and had amazing two days. 17 000 people camping together in forest and having the best times of their life. And then I become sick and had to return home. How unlucky can I be?

Because I spend so short time in the camp this travel diary will be only 4 photos long. I hope those moments are enough to present you what it’s like to be in scout camp in Finland. More photos from the camp’s official website HERE.

Huge scout camps are always interesting because you get to meet so many different aged, nationality and other way new kind of people. This time we has swedes sharing our small part of the camp. If I had stayed for longer I would been “working” with many different nationalities.

The first time went by building our camp and setting up tents. I was feeling a little bit unwell already but pushed the feeling aside. Fortunately I got to see the camp and everything build there. Tree houses and amazing gates to the sub-camps.

The last thing on our first day was opening ceremony. It’s quite magical feeling when 17 000 people squeeze to look same stage in the middle of forest. There was fire show, music and funny moments. Different nationalities showed of their skills and introduced cultures.

Everything was okay but at the end (handsome) boys took over and everyone went wild. Usually scouts are seen as teens who help grandmas over streets and sell cookies. In reality we can be anything. And at this moment everyone were dancing, having fun and not caring about the world outside our own small city.

I was almost mid night when the show finally ended but fortunately in Finland we have bright summer nights. Then everyone tried to go and eat at the same time and everything was in chaos for a while. I was totally ready to go sleep at this point but I still had to line up to get in toilet.

I fall asleep quickly but woke up in the middle of night when someone tried to get to their sleeping place over me. After that I couldn’t sleep and was feeling super sick. I decided to take short walk and hope my state would get better. It didn’t but I got to witness the sleeping camp.

It’s magical to walk around in total silence. You know there is thousands of people around you but you can’t see anyone. It’s not dark but gloomy. Shadows and mist everywhere. I didn’t have my phone with me so no photos of that beautiful moment. Sometimes it makes good for you to just appreciate something without the camera ready.

This is photo is from my first (and last) morning in the camp and also the moment when I felt so sick that I realized my only option was return home. It’s terrible feeling. You have been waiting for something to happen so long and then your body betrays you and there is nothing to do.

Well at least I get to experience the first night and meet some friends after long time. (I’m trying to keep being positive…) 

Have you ever been on huge camp? Or had to cancel something you have anticipated because of sickness?

I hope you enjoyed today’s travel diary and see you soon!

With love,

Viivi Severina

Ups and Downs of Hostel Worker

Published on by LostViivi14 Comments

Hello there! I was going to write this article from tent in the middle of forest (with 17 000 other people) but then my unlucky nature took over. I was on summer camp (that will have its own short post later on) but of course I got sick after the first day. So no more camping for me but rather sleeping and super long Netflix marathon…

But now lets go back to today’s topic and the working in hostels subject. If you haven’t yet, go and read the GOOD and the BAD hostel volunteering memories I shared with you earlier this week. And to clear you more about my own hostel experience:

I worked/volunteered almost two months as housekeeper in small Kyoto based hostel. Before that I had volunteered in another hostel in Tokyo but left after my first week because the place was hell. On both times I lived in the hostels and met a lot of amazing people.

So I have perfect and terrible experience as hostel worker. That’s why I wanted to share with you the pros and cons of hostel volunteering I encountered. Despite all the bad points the goods make up for them and in my opinion everyone should try it at least once in their life.

 

The Bad Points:

  • Being on full time work mode. If you live and work in the same hostel, you are always on work mode. Something is dirty and you will clean it. Someone looks lost so you will help them. You will always have your customer service smile on.
  • Being “conned” to work more than promised before hand. If you are not careful and write contract, there is danger of getting used. This happened to me on my first work place. They promised 3 hours of work but I had to stay in the hostel almost 24 hours to wait for people to come and check-in. So be careful out there.
  • Feeling lonely. If you are traveling solo and only volunteer/long time stayer in your hostel, this may become problem. At day time you have your co-workers and other times there are the quests. However when everyone only stays for short times and no one seems to getwhat you are doing, there si no one to talk about your problems.
  • Sharing the room with bunch of strangers. There is a big probability you will sleep in dorm room. Sometimes it’s nice and way to get better picture of your new friends. Usually it gets annoying quickly.  Snoring people, couples having sex, someone packing at night and lights going on at stupid hours. Lets not even talk about trying to be considering and finding your own bed in the darkness.

 

The Good Points:

  • All the amazing people you meet. Every day new people come and go. There is no way you won’t meet new person every evening.
  • All the interesting stories you hear. Living and sharing the place with always changing travelers grants you an unlimited amount of crazy travel stories.
  • Never being alone. Yes, I know one bad point was being lonely BUT you are never alone when staying in hostel. You may feel like there is no people left in this world however that feeling won’t last a long when you hear someone shouting on the corridor or the man in neighboring bed starts snoring. There is always someone near you and for me it was assuring.
  • Learning new languages and skills. Meeting people around the world is useful. More than once someone wanted to teach me their language. And of course you will learn the language that is major in your work place. For me Thai family taught how to make food and German man told me hiking tips for pilgrims. 
  • You will get inspired and bitten by multiple travel bugs. Hearing about unforgettable travel destinations from people who have first hand experience is lethal. There is (at least for me) no way back to your normal life. Your bucketlist will grow and the travel passion get out of hand.
  • Work experience. When you are seeking for real job in the future, volunteering in exotic country will draw attention. You willeem like someone having life experience and depending on the job you are trying to get you have learned womething fitting from your volunteer. It gives you experience of custom service and making the customers happy. Working hard and in team. Coming to quick learner and proving your skills in surviving any work enviroment. You can basically get anything out of your volunteering time if you are good enough at writing the CV.
  • Being the one others admire. I talked about this in my first hostel volunteering memory. When you tell someone staying in the hostel that “yes I just happen to work and live here” they will right away look you differently. Usually your confession will follow a lot of questions from them or just plain comment how they would love to do what you are doing.

 

Have you ever worked or volunteered in hostel? Or would you like to try? I would love to hear more about your stories and experiences about this subject. So don’t be shy and comment below!

I will post again soon so see you then!

With love,

Viivi Severina

 

The Catastrophic Hostel Worker

Published on by LostViivi9 Comments

I love volunteering in hostels but it’s not always fun and games. In my last post I shared one good experience I have had and today I have terrible volunteering story for you. It may not sound at first too bad but I wasn’t paid for working. Only thing I got out of it was small bed (without mattress).

 

Catastrophic First Week For Hostel Worker

My first days in Tokyo had been full of first times. Volunteering in hostel, solo traveling and trying to survive with my bad English. I had survived fine except the working conditions sucked but I naively though everything would get better.

It was my fourth morning and I woke early to be ready and clean. I felt quite good and nothing predicted the mess this day would turn out to be. It was sunny and I had only five more days until my day off. The cleaning went well. I listened music dancing and mopping around the empty hostel and took in the beautiful neighborhood from the house’s sun patio. Everything was perfect.

Until it wasn’t. I had to change linens on two rooms. The first one was easy. Empty room, two beds with dirty linens. The second one turned out to be my first nightmare of that day. One dorm room, four dirty beds and only one person leaving the room. My problem was how there was no way of knowing which bed I should change the linens.

As bright problem solver I decided to change all the four beds and go to get early lunch. My work day wasn’t yet over. I still had to wait for two people who were going to check-in. My boss had given me permission to be half hour away from the hostel when waiting for guests. So I spend exactly that time walking to nearby shopping mall.

Everything seemed fine again. I hoped I would spend more time on the city but I was still holding on to the promise of coming days off. So I returned and began my waiting. It wasn’t so bad to watch Netflix, talk to the other guest and write. So I waited until several hours later someone ringed the doorbell and I rushed happily to open.

Behind the door stood cute young Asian boy looking a little lost. I of course welcomed him in thinking he must be one of the guests checking-in. The answer I got was flustered “only Chinese or Japanese” and so I was in problems again.

I tried to speak with my hands, basic English words I hoped he would understand and trying to come up some way to talk with him. The boy looked more and more frightened after every moment and my own state of panicking was growing.

So I did only thing I know would solve the problem and went to ask help from my boss who in fact talks Japanese and Chinese and was in the room next door. Oh, the stupid me… I chose wrong option.

After knocking to her door I told to my boss that I needed translating help to talk with this guest. The look for me was deadly but she didn’t have other options than to come and solve the situation. She talked to him and then I showed him around the hostel. When I left the boy to his room’s door, we were smiling stupidly and wishing each other goodnight.

And then I returned to the living room where my boss waited for me arms crossed and angry face on. Then she shouted. Apparently I was useless and should never again ask her help in situation like this. She also dissed my English skills and working speed. Like usually I just kept kindly quiet and listened.

I though my bad day wouldn’t turn worse but of course it did.

I kept waiting for the second guest. I waited, waited and waited. The clock was eleven PM and I had been waiting for whole day. There was no way I was going to disturb my boss again so I just sat there in the living room and tried to find something to do. Then my boss came out to the kitchen to eat.

“The second guest of today hasn’t yet came…” I probably sounded pathetic but I had grown to be scared of that woman.

“She came already when you weren’t here and I checked her in.” Then she went back to her room and I was left behind to keep my anger inside. I had been waiting for hours that I would have spend exploring the city. She had been whole that time inside of her room and seen me many times. Why the heck hadn’t she told me that I was free to go?

That was first day when I started to seriously think about ending my volunteering and just renting a apartment. It took a couple of more days and bad experiences with my host before I sneaked out of the hostel and found charming dorm to live in.

.      .      .

So as warning example always talk more with your host before going. Ask specific working hours, look everything critically and hope for the best. And if you are not feeling good, safe or valued in the place no one is preventing you from leaving.

Have you had bad volunteering experiences? Or have you ever left the place you were supposed to volunteer?

Tomorrow I am leaving to huge summer camp so the next post is going to be written in forest. I just hope my internet will work. So on next Monday you will get pros and cons of being hostel volunteer. See you then!

 

With love,

Viivi Severina

The Cool Hostel Worker

Published on by LostViivi12 Comments

Like the title says I’m going to write about being hostel worker. I haven’t spoken a lot about my experiences volunteering in hostels so I though it would be useful information (and two stories) to share with you. Now I am going to tell one story and next week share another one and speak generally about working in hostels.

The story I am going to tell you today happened when I was volunteering two months in Japan trough site called Helpx. I had the best times of my life even if I was still shy at talking for people because of my broken English. The months working there taught me a lot and got me hooked to hostel living.

 

The Story Of Cool Hostel Worker

I had been one month in Kyoto and the work was becoming more and more like everyday life for me. In the mornings I cleaned for three hours, day time went exploring the city and at nights I socialized with the hostel guests. Usually I mentioned after a while for the people I met that in the fact yes I worked and lived in this tiny homey hostel.

One night I met this kind couple who told me they were touring around Japan. We talked a shortly before they went to sleep and I didn’t even realize how me working in the hostel hadn’t come up in the conversation. That was also normal thing because even if I took pride of my job (and if guest praised me I got free food from the boss) getting to know the people and their stories was the most interesting part for me.

Next morning the couple was just memory in my head and I started the cleaning with my co-workers. We were coming to my dorm room and also the room I had shared with the kind couple. I kept cleaning like always even if I heart someone from my room say good morning to my boss.

I finished cleaning the corridor and walked in the room to help changing the linens. The couple from last night was talking happily and backing their things. They of course greeted me and carried on their own conversation. However soon they both went quiet and I felt eyes on my back.

“Wait do you work here?” question I did hear surprisingly often. I answered shortly yes and kept answering to their follow-up interest about my working hours, how I ended up here, etc.

Soon they realized that they were going to be late if they didn’t leave right away. I said my goodbyes to them and continued the cleaning.

“You are so lucky and cool! I want to be like you!” I never would have guessed someone to tell me that so the boys last words didn’t even register for me first. His girlfriend agreeably shouted goodbye and good luck for me. Then they were gone and I never saw them again. I was so shocked that I couldn’t even thank them and wish good travels.

This is my small good memory. I wanted to share it with you because after that day I made huge realization. I was the person. With the person I mean the one who so many others just dream to be. Someone who sees the world, works in hostels and most importantly lives freely.

I had become someone I had so often wished to be. And so I started this blog, decided to make my life my own and promised to keep traveling.

 

.      .      .

 

I hope you enjoyed today’s story. You are going to get the bad hostel working story on Tuesday and on Monday sum-up about the pros and cons of working in hostels. Like always if you have something to say the comments are open for you to share your thoughts.

And by the way you may have realized that I decided to change my username to my real name. So no more Neidotta. You can find me now with name Viivi Severina (and lostsneakers) from all my social medias and blogs.

See you soon!

Viivi Severina

TOP10 Tokyo

Published on by LostViivi15 Comments

Today I’m going to introduce for you my ten favorite things to do in Tokyo. I tried to pick up different activities, some free some not and even put them to order from 10th to 1st. If you have more recommendations, feel free to share them in the comments.

 

10. The National Art Center

Tokyo has countless amount of different museums. It was hard decision to pick out just one of them. National Art Center was for me the most charming museum. Different exhibitions. Interesting artistes form Japan, Asia and around the world.

The modern art exhibition I visited was one of the best I have been. There was videos, sculptures, interactive art and inspiring works of art. One work even let the visitors take a piece with them. There was also a big house made of homeless people’s cardboard boxes.

 

9. Go to concert

Japan has music to offer for everyone’s tastes. Maybe go to small bar and listen rock or to big stadium see pop star. The Japanese music scene has many interesting artists and genres. In my opinion you can find concert experience that wouldn’t be possible anywhere else. If you are lucky, there may be free concerts or events on the street.

Visit Tower Records store and ask if they sell tickets (if they don’t ask in which of their stores they do). The staffs are nice and at least for me they were able to suggest concerts foreigner should see as part of their Tokyo experience.

 

8. RiSuPia

Some may say this place is for kids but I enjoyed it as twenty years old solo traveler. Japan is the country of inventions and in RiSuPia you can experience just that. Go to buy your ticket and while waiting for your turn check out all the new inventions from first floor or play newest Nintendo and Wii games in the second floor.

You get this remote thing and with it do different tasks in RiSuPia. Problem solving, funny experiments and teaching games. It really made the mathematics, psychics and chemistry lot more clear and easy. This should be the way to teach things to children! But the point is I had fun and the staff were amazing and kind. I recommend visit in RiSuPia for everyone.

 

7. Ueno Park

I would write a long post about Ueno Park and why it is one of my favorite places in Tokyo. I lived near it and spend countless of hours exploring around. Ueno park is home of zoo, museums, shrines and temples. Take pretty picture with torii gates or people watch locals having free time around the beautiful fountain.

The park is right next to Ueno station so many people are hurrying through it towards schools, works and homes. At evenings different dance groups are practicing and having fun. (I stalked this one group dancing with light sticks in too many nights…)

Ueno zoo is worth of seeing if you have time. The pandas are their biggest attraction but I totally fell in love with the zoo area itself. Next to zoo you can find small alley made of torii gates, the spot many tourists (and me) took pretty picture of themselves. The locals are happy to help you and take the picture (even if you don’t ask!).

 

6. Harajuku (Takeshita Street)

As district Harajuku is place you should just get lost and find interesting shops, crazy looking people and small museums. However I know some people are short of time and for you I recommend walking Takeshita Dori/Street. They even have maps made of that one street and it’s countless shops selling different kind of fashion. Be aware of the mass trying to run over you if the touristy you decides to be too slow at walking!

 

5. Sibuya

One part of Tokyo known for Hachiko dog statue and rumored to be world’s busiest pedestrian crossing (Shibuya crossing). May sound crazy but I recommend visiting here when it is raining. The way Japanese walk with their umbrellas without bumping to other people is art!

 

4. Senso-ji

When visiting Japan you should go to see at least one temple or shrine. I recommend Senso-ji because of the area around it and it is photogenic place. Walking from metro station to the temple is an experience on its own. There is small shops everywhere selling sweets, souvenirs and fortunes. If you walk to one of the side alleys getting lost is sure but so are amazing adventures.

 

3. Cherry Blossom Viewing

Japan is known for its pinkish blossoming trees and the beautiful pictures taken from them. Unfortunately you only can see cherry blossoms at specific time at year. For example I didn’t see them when going Japan in autumn (well I have reason to return…) The best time to go and get charmed by the pink brilliance is in spring but you should google more accurate timing.

 

2. Character Street

Character street gets the second place because it’s something different, cute and full of life. (Oh and free to go if you don’t get too desirous to buy something!) The shops are lined closely next to each other and people are everywhere. There is a lot of tourists but also locals. You will find Character Street on the basement of Tokyo Station.

 

1. See Mt. Fuji (from far away)

Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building offers two free observation decks. I visited there three times while in Tokyo and there was no line at all (an most of the times I was even alone in the elevator…) Maybe this is for me at first place because I am from small city and never seen skyscrapers before but definitely must place to visit for everyone.

The views are breathtaking and if you are lucky and the mother nature is in good mood (read the weather is clear) you will be able to see Mt. Fuji. You should start from here and check out the city from above. Good place to go either in sunlight (to see everything clearly/the Mt. Fuji) or after dark (beautiful city lights).

 

To see more free things to do in Tokyo go HERE.

If you liked my article, you can pin this image to your Pinterest!

With love (and endless homesickness to Japan),

Viivi Severina