1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,240 question. You know, one thing I've started kind of learning, 2 00:00:04,440 --> 00:00:08,000 this is more internally for myself, but been trying to live 3 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:11,160 more authentically in the last few years and trying to tear down 4 00:00:11,160 --> 00:00:14,280 walls that I'd put up between my life, my personal life, my 5 00:00:14,280 --> 00:00:18,120 business, you know, I ran a hostel for almost 10 years. And 6 00:00:18,120 --> 00:00:21,160 my friends would come see the hostel, they knew what I did. But 7 00:00:21,160 --> 00:00:24,760 they really weren't a part of my, my hostel experience. I kind of 8 00:00:24,760 --> 00:00:29,800 had a hostel life and my own life back in Nashville. Being 9 00:00:29,800 --> 00:00:32,660 out here, it's been all encompassing, you know, my 10 00:00:32,660 --> 00:00:35,600 life is the hostel now, the hostel is my life. And it's been 11 00:00:35,620 --> 00:00:38,080 kind of exciting to let those lines blur. 12 00:00:38,440 --> 00:00:41,000 Hello, friends and travelers, thanks for listening. You are 13 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:44,560 riding along on the hostel road trip podcast. Our mission is to 14 00:00:44,560 --> 00:00:47,320 spread awareness of the true hostile experience in the 15 00:00:47,320 --> 00:00:50,440 Americas and share stories from the fascinating hosts who 16 00:00:50,440 --> 00:00:53,720 create those unique facilities. I'm your host, Jimmy Black, 17 00:00:53,760 --> 00:00:56,640 joined alongside co-founder of International Travelers House 18 00:00:56,640 --> 00:01:00,760 Body Dyer. Each session, we sit down with hostel operators or 19 00:01:00,760 --> 00:01:05,000 travel influencers to hear about their road success, discuss 20 00:01:05,000 --> 00:01:09,120 trending hostel topics, and close with tips for travelers who 21 00:01:09,120 --> 00:01:11,760 are seeking to have the ultimate experience when visiting 22 00:01:11,800 --> 00:01:15,440 each destination. You can't afford to miss this trip. Now 23 00:01:15,440 --> 00:01:17,320 fasten your seat belts and let's hit the road. 24 00:01:17,320 --> 00:01:27,840 Welcome back to the Hostel Road Trip Podcast. I'm Jimmy Beyer 25 00:01:27,840 --> 00:01:34,200 here with my co-founder and partner at ITH Hostels, Robert, 26 00:01:34,400 --> 00:01:39,120 and we're with Ryan from the Monterey Hostel, one of the coolest 27 00:01:39,120 --> 00:01:43,160 two hostels on the California coast. Thanks so much for 28 00:01:43,160 --> 00:01:44,560 everyone for being with us today. 29 00:01:44,560 --> 00:01:46,760 Thanks. Thanks for having me, guys. I appreciate it. 30 00:01:48,760 --> 00:01:52,160 I've been telling Bob, I've really been excited to do this 31 00:01:52,160 --> 00:01:57,480 episode because Ryan, your journey is just so fascinating. 32 00:01:58,160 --> 00:02:02,080 We've done a podcast with you before over in Nashville, where 33 00:02:02,080 --> 00:02:07,360 you started out at the Music City Hostel, which we were doing 34 00:02:07,360 --> 00:02:12,240 a podcast a couple of weeks ago with the Santa Cruz Hostel, 35 00:02:12,240 --> 00:02:16,120 which is one of your former coworkers running that shop over 36 00:02:16,120 --> 00:02:18,000 there. But that also came from Nashville. 37 00:02:18,720 --> 00:02:23,640 Indeed. We've spread our wings from our days in Nashville and 38 00:02:23,640 --> 00:02:27,000 slowly taking over California, trying to compete with you guys. 39 00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:28,160 Trying to travel over. 40 00:02:30,720 --> 00:02:33,520 There's plenty of beautiful coastline, thankfully, so plenty 41 00:02:33,520 --> 00:02:37,400 of space for everyone. But I think it's such a cool story. 42 00:02:37,840 --> 00:02:40,880 Just to touch base a bit on that for those of you who don't 43 00:02:40,880 --> 00:02:45,120 know, Ryan was the manager of the Music City Hostel in 44 00:02:45,120 --> 00:02:47,400 Nashville. They actually had two locations. One of them was 45 00:02:47,400 --> 00:02:50,720 this beautiful brand new hostel that we had talked about in 46 00:02:50,720 --> 00:02:54,120 the previous episode, unfortunately, had a terrorist 47 00:02:54,120 --> 00:02:57,320 attack a few years back that caused a lot of significant 48 00:02:57,320 --> 00:03:01,080 damage to that. Can you touch base on that real quick, just 49 00:03:01,080 --> 00:03:02,320 because it's such a wild story? 50 00:03:03,240 --> 00:03:07,080 Absolutely. So for context, I'm Ryan Oding. I run Monterey 51 00:03:07,080 --> 00:03:11,480 Hostel, but prior to opening the hostel here in Monterey, I 52 00:03:11,480 --> 00:03:14,680 worked in Nashville and operated Nashville Downtown 53 00:03:14,680 --> 00:03:17,720 Hostel and Music City Hostel for almost a decade. I've been 54 00:03:17,720 --> 00:03:23,400 doing this now for over 10 years and had the opportunity to 55 00:03:23,520 --> 00:03:27,240 come and try to save Monterey Hostel from going under 56 00:03:27,240 --> 00:03:31,280 during COVID. So kind of the background of this story is a 57 00:03:31,280 --> 00:03:35,480 little wild. I was working in Nashville operating the two 58 00:03:35,480 --> 00:03:39,440 hostels there. And when COVID happened, we started kind of 59 00:03:39,440 --> 00:03:43,560 looking outward and trying to find, I guess we knew 60 00:03:43,560 --> 00:03:46,480 properties were probably going to start going under. And so we 61 00:03:46,480 --> 00:03:50,920 kind of saw it as an opportunity to step in and try to help some 62 00:03:50,920 --> 00:03:53,960 other hostels keep going, but also to expand our footprint 63 00:03:53,960 --> 00:03:58,520 in Nashville and open some other locations. And so we started 64 00:03:58,520 --> 00:04:04,200 the process of buying Monterey Hostel out here, hostling 65 00:04:04,200 --> 00:04:08,840 international ran a property here for 20 years, and they closed 66 00:04:08,840 --> 00:04:15,240 it during COVID. And so we as part of Nashville Hostel, the 67 00:04:15,240 --> 00:04:18,840 owner and operator there purchased a property in Monterey, 68 00:04:18,960 --> 00:04:23,400 the hostel here. And our idea was that we would kind of use 69 00:04:23,400 --> 00:04:28,600 Nashville as a way to float a hostel here in California and 70 00:04:28,600 --> 00:04:33,160 started the process to buy the property here. And a few days 71 00:04:33,160 --> 00:04:40,240 after we secured funding for this project, a guy on Christmas 72 00:04:40,240 --> 00:04:46,080 morning in 2020 built a bomb in his RV and he blew up a city 73 00:04:46,080 --> 00:04:50,800 block in Nashville. And crazy enough, he was trying to blow up 74 00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:55,440 an AT&T data hub. And our hostel in Nashville was across the 75 00:04:55,440 --> 00:04:59,600 street from that data hub. So on Christmas morning, this guy 76 00:04:59,600 --> 00:05:02,960 blew up a city block in our hostel was significantly 77 00:05:02,960 --> 00:05:08,120 damaged as a part of that attack in the city. Fortunately, none 78 00:05:08,120 --> 00:05:14,400 of our guests were injured. Nobody died from it. But we did have 79 00:05:14,400 --> 00:05:17,600 guests in the hostel when the bomb went off, we had staff 80 00:05:17,640 --> 00:05:20,040 going off and yeah, all this was Christmas morning. So it was 81 00:05:20,040 --> 00:05:28,480 a pretty wild, very Christmas. Yeah. And, you know, sadly, it's 82 00:05:28,480 --> 00:05:32,800 we're still navigating a bad faith insurance settlement with 83 00:05:32,800 --> 00:05:36,040 our insurance company and the future of our hostel in Nashville 84 00:05:36,280 --> 00:05:41,560 is still uncertain as we kind of have to work through insurance 85 00:05:41,560 --> 00:05:44,920 and recovery to figure out if and when we'll be able to 86 00:05:44,920 --> 00:05:48,800 reopen there. So, you know, it was kind of crazy that started 87 00:05:49,400 --> 00:05:53,360 this process of opening Monterey Hostel because we had good 88 00:05:53,360 --> 00:05:56,800 intentions, we wanted to step in and try to save a hostel from 89 00:05:56,800 --> 00:06:01,160 going under and kind of in the process of doing all that, we 90 00:06:01,160 --> 00:06:05,480 lost the the hostel in Nashville, both hostels that 91 00:06:05,880 --> 00:06:08,680 initially helped make all of this happen. So it's been kind of 92 00:06:08,680 --> 00:06:14,400 a crazy last four years since COVID trying to make a hostel 93 00:06:14,400 --> 00:06:17,720 happen here in Monterey and and still trying to make a hostel 94 00:06:17,720 --> 00:06:22,320 happen in Nashville. But yeah, it's been crazy. It's a wild 95 00:06:22,320 --> 00:06:25,280 story. Crazy for years. Absolutely. You come across the 96 00:06:25,280 --> 00:06:28,200 hostel in Monterey, like how did you hear it was for sale or 97 00:06:28,200 --> 00:06:33,240 what was that process like? You know, it's for me, I was I had 98 00:06:33,240 --> 00:06:38,920 never heard of Monterey. I the owner who I had worked for in 99 00:06:38,920 --> 00:06:43,040 Nashville grew up in California, he grew up in Orange County, 100 00:06:43,280 --> 00:06:47,480 and had spent he went to Cal Poly and I spent quite a bit of 101 00:06:47,480 --> 00:06:51,920 time in Central California and in the Silicon Valley Bay Area. 102 00:06:51,920 --> 00:06:55,800 So that's kind of where he came of age and spent most of his 103 00:06:55,800 --> 00:07:01,360 early adulthood. And then life took him to Nashville. And he 104 00:07:01,360 --> 00:07:05,200 kind of left his career as job and started the hostels there. 105 00:07:05,200 --> 00:07:09,520 But he had roots in this area. And the reason he got into 106 00:07:09,520 --> 00:07:13,360 hosting or a big part of it was from his experience staying at 107 00:07:13,360 --> 00:07:17,600 hostels in the Santa Cruz Mountains. There was a hostel 108 00:07:17,600 --> 00:07:22,320 called the Sandborn Hostel. And that was kind of one of his big 109 00:07:22,320 --> 00:07:26,000 introductions to hosteling. So when he heard that H.I. was 110 00:07:26,000 --> 00:07:32,120 closing down Monterey hostel, he felt compelled to do what he 111 00:07:32,120 --> 00:07:35,760 could to try to keep it going since this part of California is 112 00:07:35,760 --> 00:07:38,640 what launched his career into hosteling and he wanted to find 113 00:07:38,640 --> 00:07:42,680 a way to get back to that. So that's kind of why Monterey was 114 00:07:42,680 --> 00:07:48,600 kind of piqued interest. And for me, you know, my kind of our 115 00:07:48,600 --> 00:07:52,600 business plan in COVID was I was going to stay in Nashville and 116 00:07:52,600 --> 00:07:58,920 kind of oversee the operations there. And the owner, Ron and 117 00:07:58,920 --> 00:08:01,240 his wife were going to come oversee the development of 118 00:08:01,240 --> 00:08:04,280 Monterey. And then with the bombing, it kind of flipped all 119 00:08:04,280 --> 00:08:07,720 those plans up. They now had to stay in Nashville and deal with 120 00:08:07,720 --> 00:08:11,240 property there. And I essentially lost my job overnight. 121 00:08:11,240 --> 00:08:16,760 Because it blew up. So we had a we had a conversation a couple 122 00:08:16,760 --> 00:08:20,200 weeks or days after the bombing when we were just like, you 123 00:08:20,200 --> 00:08:23,960 know, what the hell happened? And what are we gonna do? And for 124 00:08:23,960 --> 00:08:27,960 me, I was, you know, single and and in a place of life where I 125 00:08:27,960 --> 00:08:32,680 was like, you know, hey, I'll go, I'll like go oversee getting 126 00:08:32,680 --> 00:08:36,680 Monterey open. So initially, I was just out here to oversee 127 00:08:36,680 --> 00:08:39,880 development, get us through permitting, get us through 128 00:08:39,880 --> 00:08:41,880 permitting, get us through like the design, the building 129 00:08:41,880 --> 00:08:47,080 process. But in the course of trying to get this hostel 130 00:08:47,080 --> 00:08:50,440 opened, took three and a half years for us to renovate and 131 00:08:50,440 --> 00:08:53,800 and get open, which is a whole separate kind of crazy 132 00:08:53,800 --> 00:08:57,800 experience. I fell in love with Central California and 133 00:08:57,800 --> 00:09:01,320 decided I wanted to stick around and and run the hostel here. 134 00:09:01,320 --> 00:09:05,480 So here I am. We're open in parts of this year. And I'm 135 00:09:05,480 --> 00:09:08,680 excited. That's amazing. I'd love to hear that story. 136 00:09:08,680 --> 00:09:11,560 Or yeah, definitely want to dive into kind of the the 137 00:09:11,560 --> 00:09:14,600 development process. We have a similar experience with Santa 138 00:09:14,600 --> 00:09:17,960 Barbara, redeveloping that property and making it a 139 00:09:17,960 --> 00:09:20,760 hostel can. I'd love to hear your side of it. But I was gonna 140 00:09:20,760 --> 00:09:23,800 add it's so interesting that for hostel entrepreneurs and 141 00:09:23,800 --> 00:09:26,520 people wanting to get into hostels, a great thing you can 142 00:09:26,520 --> 00:09:30,120 do is start to find hostels in your area and see what the 143 00:09:30,120 --> 00:09:33,160 owners are and you know, maybe partner up with them or go 144 00:09:33,160 --> 00:09:35,880 work for them and learn the hostel as you know, many people 145 00:09:35,880 --> 00:09:38,760 you know, many people run hostels for 10, 15 years and they get 146 00:09:38,760 --> 00:09:40,920 tired and they want to move on and they need someone to pass 147 00:09:40,920 --> 00:09:44,280 the torch to and absolutely. That's a common thing that 148 00:09:44,280 --> 00:09:47,240 happens in a hostel. So it could be a great tip there. But how 149 00:09:47,240 --> 00:09:50,840 about the tell us about the development like is I know you 150 00:09:50,840 --> 00:09:53,320 could probably talk forever about it, but walk us through kind 151 00:09:53,320 --> 00:09:56,840 of the you know, what you walked into on day one and then what 152 00:09:56,840 --> 00:10:00,680 was the you know, what was the vision and and kind of the 153 00:10:00,680 --> 00:10:04,520 steps and the hiccups along the way. I didn't know it was an 154 00:10:04,520 --> 00:10:06,920 existing hostel. I thought you just started this. So yeah, 155 00:10:06,920 --> 00:10:10,120 this is interesting. Yeah. That's how it was. Right. So yeah, 156 00:10:10,120 --> 00:10:13,880 the the hostel had been here and when we we acquired the 157 00:10:13,880 --> 00:10:20,520 building, it was in pretty you know, rough shape. Rough might 158 00:10:20,520 --> 00:10:23,640 be harsh, but it was the last maintenance. Yes, lots of 159 00:10:23,640 --> 00:10:28,840 deferred maintenance and the layout and the facility was 160 00:10:28,840 --> 00:10:32,600 pretty limiting, especially kind of in a post covered world. 161 00:10:32,600 --> 00:10:37,480 You know, it had 1213 bed dormitories and it I believe only 162 00:10:37,480 --> 00:10:41,640 had like six rooms, six or seven rooms on the property. So it 163 00:10:41,640 --> 00:10:44,760 held about 50 people, but all of those people were were packed 164 00:10:44,760 --> 00:10:49,080 into really large dormitories and there was one or two private 165 00:10:49,080 --> 00:10:52,840 rooms. You know, everything had shared bathrooms. So you know, 166 00:10:52,840 --> 00:10:57,240 when we came in, we had decided we were going to renovate and 167 00:10:57,240 --> 00:11:02,120 reconfigure the property to make it more just to make it 168 00:11:02,120 --> 00:11:06,280 nicer, but also to make the business make sense more and 169 00:11:06,280 --> 00:11:11,880 make it more you know, desirable. So you know, when I came out 170 00:11:11,880 --> 00:11:14,840 here, we hired an architect. We worked with an architect named 171 00:11:14,840 --> 00:11:19,320 Terry Fisher, who is on the the board of directors for Santa 172 00:11:19,320 --> 00:11:23,080 Cruz hostel and she had formally consulted a lot with 173 00:11:23,080 --> 00:11:26,120 hosting international and and had done architecture and 174 00:11:26,120 --> 00:11:30,760 design on several hostels throughout her career. So I 175 00:11:30,760 --> 00:11:35,080 worked very closely with her to kind of go through every step 176 00:11:35,080 --> 00:11:40,680 of the renovation and you know, process. We got to redesign 177 00:11:40,680 --> 00:11:43,880 the building. We got to get it down to the bones. But in the 178 00:11:43,880 --> 00:11:47,320 course of doing all of that, we found a lot of other problems 179 00:11:47,320 --> 00:11:53,080 with the building maintenance or foundation issues. We had 180 00:11:53,080 --> 00:11:56,600 structural improvements we had to make to bring it up to code 181 00:11:56,600 --> 00:12:00,200 for earthquake. We had to redo the entire plumbing and 182 00:12:00,200 --> 00:12:02,680 electrical system. So I mean, we really gutted the building 183 00:12:02,680 --> 00:12:07,000 down to its core ran into several problems kind of along 184 00:12:07,000 --> 00:12:10,120 the way. You know, we got our plans. We got our designs done. 185 00:12:10,120 --> 00:12:14,600 I spent 17 months total waiting for permits from the city of 186 00:12:14,600 --> 00:12:18,360 Monterey. So it was 17 months we had to carry the cost of the 187 00:12:18,360 --> 00:12:22,920 building and and wait while you know, we were just waiting on 188 00:12:22,920 --> 00:12:27,320 permission to begin construction and then you know, 189 00:12:27,320 --> 00:12:30,760 doing this project at the tail end of covid supply chain 190 00:12:30,760 --> 00:12:34,840 issues, getting materials, everything was so expensive 191 00:12:34,840 --> 00:12:40,440 and challenging and difficult. We knew that this would be 192 00:12:40,440 --> 00:12:44,360 you know, a big project. We knew it would be more difficult 193 00:12:44,360 --> 00:12:48,520 than our development projects in Nashville. 194 00:12:48,520 --> 00:12:51,400 Just because California is a more difficult state to do 195 00:12:51,400 --> 00:12:55,080 business in and there's a lot more regulations and hoops. 196 00:12:55,080 --> 00:12:59,400 But we kind of mis-projected quite how long it would take. 197 00:12:59,400 --> 00:13:03,240 The time we spent waiting on on permits is about how long we 198 00:13:03,240 --> 00:13:07,400 thought the whole renovation would take. So that was maybe a 199 00:13:07,400 --> 00:13:12,120 bit of a it was a big lesson for us in doing this. But 200 00:13:12,120 --> 00:13:14,840 those are painful days when you're just bleeding money from 201 00:13:14,840 --> 00:13:17,880 everywhere. Absolutely. At the end of the tunnel. Those are the 202 00:13:17,880 --> 00:13:21,640 worst. Absolutely. And just also at times not feeling like we 203 00:13:21,640 --> 00:13:25,560 had access to like building officials that all the power 204 00:13:25,560 --> 00:13:29,000 was in their hands to approve our designs and during covid 205 00:13:29,000 --> 00:13:31,640 there there was no like we couldn't make desk appointments. 206 00:13:31,640 --> 00:13:33,960 You couldn't go into an office and like talk with a city 207 00:13:33,960 --> 00:13:37,720 planner or talk with a building official. Everything had to 208 00:13:37,720 --> 00:13:42,120 happen online virtually through like email. And so just all of 209 00:13:42,120 --> 00:13:45,240 those kind of challenges that existed because of covid 210 00:13:45,240 --> 00:13:48,600 really compounded and really delayed this project. 211 00:13:48,600 --> 00:13:53,880 And we also were kind of railroaded into making a lot of 212 00:13:53,880 --> 00:13:58,520 improvements on the property that you know the building 213 00:13:58,520 --> 00:14:01,160 official at the time. They're no longer with the building 214 00:14:01,160 --> 00:14:04,760 department here in Monterey but they kind of forced us to make 215 00:14:04,760 --> 00:14:08,360 a lot of improvements and changes that just cost a lot of 216 00:14:08,360 --> 00:14:13,080 money and things were unexpected. So it was definitely a 217 00:14:13,080 --> 00:14:17,320 it was a fun creative process. I loved getting to design and 218 00:14:17,320 --> 00:14:20,760 open a hostel and work through all of that. But man three and 219 00:14:20,760 --> 00:14:24,840 a half years to do a a six thousand square foot renovation 220 00:14:24,840 --> 00:14:32,040 is absolutely crazy. And that was kind of our experience here 221 00:14:32,040 --> 00:14:36,760 in Monterey trying to get something done. Yeah. 222 00:14:36,920 --> 00:14:39,960 I'd be curious to hear some about y'all's experience too with 223 00:14:39,960 --> 00:14:42,760 Santa Barbara because I followed it really closely because we 224 00:14:42,760 --> 00:14:45,960 were kind of doing this at the same time. Yeah I feel like we 225 00:14:45,960 --> 00:14:49,000 had the same building inspector. 226 00:14:50,200 --> 00:14:53,480 Yeah we really was the same type of brutal thing. Yeah. 227 00:14:53,480 --> 00:14:56,760 Yeah we focused on restoring the original bone. 228 00:14:56,760 --> 00:15:00,600 So because we weren't changing things that expedited the process quite a bit. 229 00:15:00,600 --> 00:15:05,560 We were just like we the building we renovated was brutal. 230 00:15:05,560 --> 00:15:08,280 There I think there was homeless people living in there and it was just 231 00:15:08,280 --> 00:15:12,440 nasty but you know we you know gutted it down to the studs and then you know 232 00:15:12,440 --> 00:15:15,560 putting new drywall and paying. If you're not changing stuff 233 00:15:15,560 --> 00:15:18,600 then you you know you're just restoring stuff. There's different 234 00:15:18,600 --> 00:15:22,520 regulations. Totally totally and that had been our 235 00:15:22,520 --> 00:15:26,520 intention and our objective. We didn't touch the outside. We were 236 00:15:26,520 --> 00:15:30,440 just doing an interior renovation and then we ran into an issue with a 237 00:15:30,440 --> 00:15:33,400 wheelchair lift our building split level. So it's 238 00:15:33,400 --> 00:15:37,560 and when you walk in the front it's those stairs that go up and stairs that go 239 00:15:37,560 --> 00:15:42,680 down and we had a wheelchair lift at work. I used it several times 240 00:15:42,680 --> 00:15:46,280 in the property but it didn't meet current 241 00:15:46,280 --> 00:15:49,720 code and dimensions for a wheelchair lift. 242 00:15:49,720 --> 00:15:53,800 And we ran into issues with elevator service providers in the state 243 00:15:53,800 --> 00:15:57,560 being willing to come service this lift that was 244 00:15:57,560 --> 00:16:03,960 kind of out of current code and it led to this whole problem between 245 00:16:03,960 --> 00:16:08,520 like our ability to repair and fix this this lift and get it serviced 246 00:16:08,520 --> 00:16:11,720 to get approvals with the city. We ended up getting 247 00:16:11,720 --> 00:16:16,200 kind of our hands tied and we had to build a ramp on the outside of the 248 00:16:16,200 --> 00:16:19,960 building, build a deck, cut a new entrance into our property. 249 00:16:19,960 --> 00:16:23,880 And so it just opened this can of worms that we 250 00:16:23,880 --> 00:16:27,720 had to kind of chase down and work through 251 00:16:27,720 --> 00:16:31,640 because of a like a lift that 252 00:16:31,640 --> 00:16:35,400 worked fine but we couldn't get an inspection on it 253 00:16:35,400 --> 00:16:39,240 because of how old it was. So it caused all these other delays 254 00:16:39,240 --> 00:16:43,480 and add-ons in the middle of the project that 255 00:16:43,480 --> 00:16:47,640 were very costly and time-consuming to do. 256 00:16:47,640 --> 00:16:52,200 We're now fully ADA accessible. We have two wheelchair accessible rooms. One's a 257 00:16:52,200 --> 00:16:57,240 dormitory. All of our rooms are are en suite here at 258 00:16:57,240 --> 00:17:01,160 Monterey Hostel. So we have 13 rooms. They all have en suite bathrooms 259 00:17:01,160 --> 00:17:07,240 and you know it's a nice property but we made a lot of improvements. We 260 00:17:07,240 --> 00:17:11,400 hadn't necessarily anticipated. Yeah it's done now. 261 00:17:11,400 --> 00:17:15,560 Once it's done, you feel so proud and 262 00:17:15,560 --> 00:17:20,040 official about that. Congratulations on that so much. 263 00:17:20,040 --> 00:17:23,960 But Bob brings up the good point of you know in the Santa Barbara experience 264 00:17:23,960 --> 00:17:26,520 we had, it was definitely, they were like here are the 265 00:17:26,520 --> 00:17:30,200 original blueprints from the guys. It was similar to your building 266 00:17:30,200 --> 00:17:34,440 once previously a hostel. And they were like if you keep everything the same 267 00:17:34,440 --> 00:17:38,760 as this hostel was, you know, then we'll give you the 268 00:17:38,760 --> 00:17:42,760 pathway. But then even with that, then it came down to funny as 269 00:17:42,760 --> 00:17:47,160 it is a handicap bathroom. You know and one inspector came in and was like okay 270 00:17:47,160 --> 00:17:50,600 I want the toilet here facing this way and all that. And then the other one 271 00:17:50,600 --> 00:17:53,480 comes in and oh I want you to turn the toilet over this way. 272 00:17:53,480 --> 00:17:56,840 And it's just that whole process of all right go back to the drawing board find 273 00:17:56,840 --> 00:18:00,280 the contractor get everything redone, replumbed, all the electricals got to 274 00:18:00,280 --> 00:18:03,960 move. Now the handle's going to go over here and you're like wow you know the 275 00:18:03,960 --> 00:18:07,240 the whole place took this long and then one bathroom took the same amount of 276 00:18:07,240 --> 00:18:11,640 time you know. Yeah. Just that one little area and 277 00:18:11,640 --> 00:18:15,320 then as you said as you open the can of worms oh you open up that wall I see 278 00:18:15,320 --> 00:18:19,000 that this is a you know this wiring's not out to code anymore you gotta redo all 279 00:18:19,000 --> 00:18:22,760 that now. So it can really be a challenge in 280 00:18:22,760 --> 00:18:29,080 California and we feel your pain. I know you do. 281 00:18:29,080 --> 00:18:33,160 How about the first opening day is kind of moving towards the open is that's 282 00:18:33,160 --> 00:18:36,840 always an exciting time walk us through say the first hundred days of when you 283 00:18:36,840 --> 00:18:40,280 got open. Well you know leading up to it was so 284 00:18:40,280 --> 00:18:44,840 chaotic because we have been delayed for almost two years on this construction 285 00:18:44,840 --> 00:18:50,120 project and so I just was like I kind of lost a little bit of hope that we were 286 00:18:50,120 --> 00:18:54,760 ever going to get our our occupancy permit to open and we still had quite a 287 00:18:54,760 --> 00:18:58,920 bit of stuff that we were waiting on different contractors to complete and 288 00:18:58,920 --> 00:19:05,880 the building inspector showed up for our initial inspection and ended up 289 00:19:05,880 --> 00:19:09,800 kind of passing us like we had gotten through all the major items and 290 00:19:09,800 --> 00:19:14,760 and so I hadn't expected to kind of get Greenlit to open quite so fast 291 00:19:14,760 --> 00:19:18,760 but I had a few weeks between getting permitted 292 00:19:18,760 --> 00:19:22,360 and getting the building kind of fully operational or I had yeah like a 293 00:19:22,360 --> 00:19:26,040 week between the two to kind of get everything finalized. 294 00:19:26,040 --> 00:19:33,080 But we opened in March, March 1st of this year and man it was my mom and 295 00:19:33,080 --> 00:19:36,600 her friend came for the week to kind of help me get the hostel up and running 296 00:19:36,600 --> 00:19:40,360 and and they like clean windows and just helped all this. 297 00:19:40,360 --> 00:19:46,200 You know I cashed in a lot of favors from friends and family and community that I 298 00:19:46,200 --> 00:19:50,440 built along the way and the time to get this place open. It's like I'm very 299 00:19:50,440 --> 00:19:53,320 fortunate to have had good friends that run Santa Cruz 300 00:19:53,320 --> 00:19:57,320 hostel and and some of my other hostel friends that I've made over the years 301 00:19:57,320 --> 00:20:01,480 come out and just helped me set up beds and like get mattresses and 302 00:20:01,480 --> 00:20:04,840 wash linens and you know do all the things that you need to get the place 303 00:20:04,840 --> 00:20:08,360 open. And the you know fortunately I did have 304 00:20:08,360 --> 00:20:13,160 guests on opening day. I didn't pre-book stuff more than it was like a week out 305 00:20:13,160 --> 00:20:19,320 but I got a few reservations on our first night so that was exciting and then 306 00:20:19,320 --> 00:20:23,080 you know the first few weeks there were days where nobody was there. 307 00:20:23,080 --> 00:20:27,320 It was just me in the hostel and I was like oh this is a failure you know this 308 00:20:27,320 --> 00:20:34,120 business is gonna crumble and you know March was pretty 309 00:20:34,120 --> 00:20:39,480 slow but I could feel like you know picking up week after week and feedback 310 00:20:39,480 --> 00:20:43,400 was really positive. People were excited and then 311 00:20:43,400 --> 00:20:49,640 April just took off and we like got really busy really fast. I hired somebody 312 00:20:49,640 --> 00:20:53,960 part-time and then like within a month was like okay I need you full time. 313 00:20:53,960 --> 00:20:57,480 So you know good problem to have and then May and June and July 314 00:20:57,480 --> 00:21:01,640 have been really really strong and positive here. This month of July we're 315 00:21:01,640 --> 00:21:07,320 almost sold out every night. Like this week Monday and tonight we're 100% 316 00:21:07,320 --> 00:21:12,680 booked you know on a Monday and Tuesday in the summer. So it's been 317 00:21:12,680 --> 00:21:18,040 it's been I expected this to do well but I've been surprised at just how 318 00:21:18,040 --> 00:21:22,760 busy we've been but also how awesome and easy 319 00:21:22,760 --> 00:21:27,960 our guests have been to to deal with. So it's been really fun and exciting so 320 00:21:27,960 --> 00:21:31,640 far. We're yeah about four months in now and 321 00:21:31,640 --> 00:21:35,800 you know I have a lot to see. That's awesome. The winter months are always a 322 00:21:35,800 --> 00:21:38,760 little more bearable in this part of California but 323 00:21:38,760 --> 00:21:41,960 yeah business is doing great feedback's been great. 324 00:21:41,960 --> 00:21:45,720 My staff my my like volunteer program everything has been 325 00:21:45,720 --> 00:21:48,520 going really well. So it's been a great summer so far. 326 00:21:48,520 --> 00:21:53,160 Very excited. Nice what it is far as now you've ran a great hospital in Nashville 327 00:21:53,160 --> 00:21:57,880 and in Monterey. What would you have what have you learned that you feel like 328 00:21:57,880 --> 00:22:01,240 is it I don't know the secret or what are the what's the big thing you focus on 329 00:22:01,240 --> 00:22:06,440 to try to be the best you can be. That's such a big question. 330 00:22:06,440 --> 00:22:10,280 You know one one thing I've started kind of learning 331 00:22:10,280 --> 00:22:14,600 this is more internally for myself but been trying to live more authentically 332 00:22:14,600 --> 00:22:18,520 in the last few years and trying to tear down walls that I'd put up between 333 00:22:18,520 --> 00:22:21,480 my life my personal life my business you know I ran a 334 00:22:21,480 --> 00:22:25,640 hostel for almost 10 years and my friends would come see the hostel they 335 00:22:25,640 --> 00:22:29,400 knew what I did but they really weren't a part of my my 336 00:22:29,400 --> 00:22:33,240 hostel experience. I kind of had a hostel life and my own life 337 00:22:33,240 --> 00:22:38,760 back in Nashville. Being out here it's been all encompassing you know my life 338 00:22:38,760 --> 00:22:42,760 is the hostel now the hostel is my life and it's been kind of exciting to 339 00:22:42,760 --> 00:22:48,200 let those lines blur and just you know bring in friends and people and 340 00:22:48,200 --> 00:22:52,120 let them be a part of building this hostel. You know my my hostel is filled 341 00:22:52,120 --> 00:22:56,120 with murals and different artwork that a lot of friends that I've made have 342 00:22:56,120 --> 00:22:59,160 like created and contributed to so it's like I walk through the hostel and it's 343 00:22:59,160 --> 00:23:03,160 just little like touches from all my friends and all my community 344 00:23:03,160 --> 00:23:06,840 and it's been super cool to just kind of blend 345 00:23:06,840 --> 00:23:10,360 all of that together and build a business that is reflective of 346 00:23:10,360 --> 00:23:14,120 kind of my character and my personality and my aesthetic 347 00:23:14,120 --> 00:23:19,480 and it's been encouraging to see people so responsive and positive about 348 00:23:19,480 --> 00:23:23,560 the hostel here. So I guess if there's a secret sauce it's just 349 00:23:23,560 --> 00:23:29,880 try to be authentic and and I think people are drawn to that. 350 00:23:31,000 --> 00:23:35,080 I know I love that topic that you brought up the blurling of the lines and 351 00:23:35,080 --> 00:23:38,120 kind of just accepting it for what it is because 352 00:23:38,120 --> 00:23:42,120 you know the more and more that we've done it we feel that the 353 00:23:42,120 --> 00:23:45,880 the best hostels are those genuine mom and pop hostels 354 00:23:45,880 --> 00:23:52,120 you know that are run by the owner who's living on site and as you said the 355 00:23:52,120 --> 00:23:55,640 character of that owner you know the essence there's an 356 00:23:55,640 --> 00:23:59,560 essuqua you know that's the feeling and the vibe and the special sauce that 357 00:23:59,560 --> 00:24:03,400 makes it different than a you know a branded hotel or a 358 00:24:03,400 --> 00:24:08,760 chain. Absolutely. So I love that you've seen that 359 00:24:08,760 --> 00:24:11,720 and accepted it and a lot of times people will 360 00:24:11,720 --> 00:24:15,080 talk about the opposite side if you had you know I'll hear it oh you gotta 361 00:24:15,080 --> 00:24:18,520 have you gotta have separation you know you gotta keep things compartmentalized 362 00:24:18,520 --> 00:24:21,800 you can't let them bleed over them and I understand that from a 363 00:24:21,800 --> 00:24:25,480 health perspective but you know there's also the vantage point that 364 00:24:25,480 --> 00:24:29,160 you've chosen to do this you want to be a hostel owner 365 00:24:29,160 --> 00:24:33,320 or a manager and you're really going to accept that this is an experience 366 00:24:33,320 --> 00:24:37,160 and a lifestyle. Yeah absolutely. The lines are blurred 367 00:24:37,160 --> 00:24:41,080 you know if you really want to if you want it to be 368 00:24:41,080 --> 00:24:45,720 all that it can be and be all you can be you really have to let the two things 369 00:24:45,720 --> 00:24:51,320 just intersect and and be one in the moment with it so awesome 370 00:24:51,320 --> 00:24:55,240 there and I you know that doesn't surprise me to hear that you're 371 00:24:55,240 --> 00:24:59,960 accepted that and you're having so much positive feedback in such a great 372 00:24:59,960 --> 00:25:03,480 run right now in the summer because the guests feel that and it is rare and 373 00:25:03,480 --> 00:25:06,520 unique and you don't get it at the Motel 6 or the Hilton or 374 00:25:06,520 --> 00:25:10,680 an Airbnb you just don't get that type of old school mom-pop feel 375 00:25:10,680 --> 00:25:13,800 and that's what makes people want to repeat guests come back 376 00:25:13,800 --> 00:25:17,560 they want to extend their reservation they feel that energy 377 00:25:17,560 --> 00:25:21,800 and it could be contagious so yeah it is. 378 00:25:21,800 --> 00:25:26,840 Thank you yeah I know I appreciate that and it's been it's been special to just 379 00:25:26,840 --> 00:25:30,680 the guests we've had have been really good quality guests and you know I came 380 00:25:30,680 --> 00:25:34,200 from two big hostels in Nashville that 381 00:25:34,200 --> 00:25:37,400 Nashville's a party city and we weren't necessarily party hostels but 382 00:25:37,400 --> 00:25:41,240 but there's partying all around and Monterey is 383 00:25:41,240 --> 00:25:46,200 quiet it's a little sleepy town but it's exceptionally beautiful and there's 384 00:25:46,200 --> 00:25:49,560 some really cool things to see and experience here and so our guests have 385 00:25:49,560 --> 00:25:54,200 been pretty low maintenance and not not super needy 386 00:25:54,200 --> 00:25:59,160 so I feel really you know fortunate to have kind of landed a hostel and 387 00:25:59,160 --> 00:26:02,920 created a place where our guests are awesome like they're just 388 00:26:02,920 --> 00:26:06,920 really easy and I am grateful for that I feel 389 00:26:06,920 --> 00:26:12,200 like I struck what type of guest here nice well Bonner raised I mean that's 390 00:26:12,200 --> 00:26:15,560 just a gorgeous spot I'm going to ask more about the geographical location but 391 00:26:15,560 --> 00:26:18,920 what are the guests like that you're getting like are they authentic 392 00:26:18,920 --> 00:26:23,640 backpackers are they American hotel Airbnb guests are trying out hostels for 393 00:26:23,640 --> 00:26:27,880 the first time who are they it's it's a mix of families 394 00:26:27,880 --> 00:26:31,800 which is a demographic that has surprised me a bit 395 00:26:31,800 --> 00:26:35,080 I would say at any given time half our our business is 396 00:26:35,080 --> 00:26:39,000 families families with young kids people that are 397 00:26:39,000 --> 00:26:42,760 that are here and then the other half is your traditional backpackers you know 398 00:26:42,760 --> 00:26:46,760 we get we get quite a few people that are traveling up and down the 399 00:26:46,760 --> 00:26:50,120 California coast people that are you know coming to us from 400 00:26:50,120 --> 00:26:54,680 your hostels or heading to your hostels from us we all so you know I get that 401 00:26:54,680 --> 00:26:59,080 network of coastal travelers here and then being 402 00:26:59,080 --> 00:27:03,080 kind of a destination a couple hours in the Bay Area we do get 403 00:27:03,080 --> 00:27:07,080 tech workers and people that you know want to get out of the Bay Area and come 404 00:27:07,080 --> 00:27:11,480 come to Monterey and see things here but don't necessarily want to drop the 405 00:27:11,480 --> 00:27:17,080 absorbent prices on on lodging so it's it's really a good hybrid 406 00:27:17,080 --> 00:27:22,040 of just kind of families and chill chill guests and then the traditional 407 00:27:22,040 --> 00:27:24,680 backpackers who are the bread and butter of a 408 00:27:24,680 --> 00:27:28,600 hostel right and they're they're the ones that 409 00:27:28,600 --> 00:27:31,880 you know I love having an option for solo travelers 410 00:27:31,880 --> 00:27:34,680 I don't ever want that to go away even though a big chunk of our business is 411 00:27:34,680 --> 00:27:38,520 private room rentals now so yeah they're cool 412 00:27:38,520 --> 00:27:43,000 sure the solo traveler definitely brings the vibe in 413 00:27:43,000 --> 00:27:46,520 I think a lot of times the other groups that are booking are 414 00:27:46,520 --> 00:27:50,600 looking for that vibe but I also always say with the families 415 00:27:50,600 --> 00:27:54,440 the future backpackers of tomorrow are those little kids 416 00:27:54,440 --> 00:27:58,760 absolutely so that's a great thing in the long term as we've been 417 00:27:58,760 --> 00:28:02,600 trying to do that with certain locations where it is able to 418 00:28:02,600 --> 00:28:07,080 have a family friendly environment but also we also try to be responsible with 419 00:28:07,080 --> 00:28:10,680 certain locations where it's a you know a DJ party on the deck every night it's 420 00:28:10,680 --> 00:28:14,920 like okay let's not put them in that situation but 421 00:28:14,920 --> 00:28:18,920 we have started to see that same great demographic in those 422 00:28:18,920 --> 00:28:23,880 locations that we have opened up to families and you know younger parents 423 00:28:23,880 --> 00:28:27,560 with kids and it can be great for the business in the industry in the long 424 00:28:27,560 --> 00:28:33,080 run but totally in Monterey just so people can get a 425 00:28:33,080 --> 00:28:38,920 better grasp on it geographically you know tell people a bit more about like 426 00:28:38,920 --> 00:28:42,440 where you're at in relation to other cities in 427 00:28:42,440 --> 00:28:46,440 California and how people might be able to get there via transport like 428 00:28:46,440 --> 00:28:51,160 tell people a bit about Monterey. Yeah great question so Monterey is 429 00:28:51,160 --> 00:28:55,560 on the California coast in central California so it's south of San Francisco 430 00:28:55,560 --> 00:29:01,080 but north of Santa Barbara and LA and southern California 431 00:29:01,080 --> 00:29:05,960 so Monterey sits on the northern tip of Big Sur. Big Sur is an amazing kind of 432 00:29:05,960 --> 00:29:10,920 natural region of California very dramatic coastline 433 00:29:10,920 --> 00:29:15,720 Highway 1 runs along the coast so Monterey is kind of the northern access 434 00:29:15,720 --> 00:29:21,640 to the region of Big Sur. Where we're at is a full of 435 00:29:21,640 --> 00:29:25,240 parks there's there's a ton of state parks in the area 436 00:29:25,240 --> 00:29:31,160 we're right on the Monterey Bay so Santa Cruz is on the north side of the bay 437 00:29:31,160 --> 00:29:34,920 it's a beautiful area with big sand beaches we have 438 00:29:34,920 --> 00:29:40,120 giant redwoods we have pretty dramatic rocky coastline here 439 00:29:40,120 --> 00:29:45,320 they're surfing there's scuba diving snorkeling kind of all the the water 440 00:29:45,320 --> 00:29:48,840 sports happen like right here in Monterey. Our 441 00:29:48,840 --> 00:29:52,040 location is a couple blocks from the beach we're also right by the Monterey 442 00:29:52,040 --> 00:29:56,760 Bay Aquarium which is a really cool nonprofit organization that works on 443 00:29:56,760 --> 00:30:03,000 water conser or sea conservation here so 444 00:30:03,000 --> 00:30:07,800 Monterey is a cool destination it is kind of a quiet town it's not a 445 00:30:07,800 --> 00:30:13,320 nightlife city at all but it's a really beautiful place so it's great for 446 00:30:13,320 --> 00:30:17,400 families it's great for you know romantic travel but 447 00:30:17,400 --> 00:30:22,280 also a fun place to go with friends if you just want to backpack be outside 448 00:30:22,280 --> 00:30:25,960 camp like there's just so much to do and see here 449 00:30:25,960 --> 00:30:30,600 if you enjoy the outdoors and it's exceptional here so 450 00:30:30,600 --> 00:30:35,720 yeah it's a cool town. Yeah really the whole PCH is such a it's great to see all 451 00:30:35,720 --> 00:30:38,920 the hostels come popping up on the PCH because it makes it so much more 452 00:30:38,920 --> 00:30:44,040 accessible for travelers to go to and it is such a unique and beautiful 453 00:30:44,040 --> 00:30:47,320 place to experience and you have the train that goes up you know which is a 454 00:30:47,320 --> 00:30:51,160 cool way you can travel by train so absolutely and it's 455 00:30:51,160 --> 00:30:54,760 it's good for all of us hospitals here you know on the coast to have a good 456 00:30:54,760 --> 00:30:58,280 network to send people to. I mean the last few years there'd been a 457 00:30:58,280 --> 00:31:02,520 big gap between basically LA and San Francisco 458 00:31:02,520 --> 00:31:06,840 you guys taking a little bit of Barbara was huge in filling that in and then 459 00:31:06,840 --> 00:31:10,520 now Monterey we have San Luis Obispo so there's 460 00:31:10,520 --> 00:31:14,440 yeah a great little network of hostels up and down the coast. 461 00:31:14,440 --> 00:31:17,240 Listeners should come to California and drive up and down the coast it's 462 00:31:17,240 --> 00:31:22,840 amazing it's so cool. Anything on the future plans for you 463 00:31:22,840 --> 00:31:25,960 guys? Are you going to go back to Nash? Well we'll see what happens in Nashville but 464 00:31:25,960 --> 00:31:29,720 is there any other growth values on your mind? 465 00:31:29,720 --> 00:31:34,440 Well yes and no I mean right now my primary focus is on making sure that 466 00:31:34,440 --> 00:31:38,440 the hostel here can stabilize and and be financially viable and 467 00:31:38,440 --> 00:31:41,720 and sustainable for the foreseeable future so 468 00:31:41,720 --> 00:31:44,440 there's still challenges that I have to go through. 469 00:31:44,440 --> 00:31:49,960 Still you know I have a lot to prove but so far you know things here are 470 00:31:49,960 --> 00:31:53,400 looking really positive. The future of national operations are 471 00:31:53,400 --> 00:31:56,840 still up in the air I wish I had a more concrete answer but we just don't 472 00:31:56,840 --> 00:32:01,880 really know right now until some other things kind of work through the system. 473 00:32:01,880 --> 00:32:05,240 You know I've gotten my eyes set elsewhere 474 00:32:05,240 --> 00:32:09,720 in a few years. I mean my dream is to open a hostel in Big Sur. 475 00:32:09,720 --> 00:32:14,680 I think it's a long challenging road to do that but 476 00:32:14,680 --> 00:32:18,760 there's a need for more affordable access in Big Sur 477 00:32:18,760 --> 00:32:24,280 and I have some different creative ideas to figure out a way to maybe 478 00:32:24,280 --> 00:32:27,640 bring the hostel there even if it's just seasonal and temporary for certain 479 00:32:27,640 --> 00:32:32,280 parts of the year so we'll see if that comes to fruition but 480 00:32:32,280 --> 00:32:35,400 that's that's kind of what's where my eyes are at. I want to 481 00:32:35,400 --> 00:32:38,680 I want to make sure that this part of California stays accessible. People 482 00:32:38,680 --> 00:32:44,040 have the ability to come here and see just how beautiful and amazing 483 00:32:44,040 --> 00:32:47,480 this part of the the state is. 484 00:32:47,880 --> 00:32:54,120 That's awesome. Yeah okay now from I consider you now at the 10 485 00:32:54,120 --> 00:32:57,560 year mark we are a young industry and we're 486 00:32:57,560 --> 00:33:01,320 unsaturated in this country so there's not that many people that have 487 00:33:01,320 --> 00:33:03,960 10 years experience. It's funny as it is like when you are 488 00:33:03,960 --> 00:33:07,400 talking with your friends that you know a lot of times they don't understand how 489 00:33:07,400 --> 00:33:11,160 small the industry still is and how few operators within the industry would have 490 00:33:11,160 --> 00:33:15,080 that much experience so I consider you a Jedi now 491 00:33:15,080 --> 00:33:19,080 within the industry so you know now that you've got all that experience under 492 00:33:19,080 --> 00:33:22,520 your belt I want to get some feedback from you on how 493 00:33:22,520 --> 00:33:26,600 you think the existing associations are going so 494 00:33:26,600 --> 00:33:31,000 you we have the North American Hostel Association which we've been going to 495 00:33:31,000 --> 00:33:33,400 and we're a part of and they out of Portland with 496 00:33:33,400 --> 00:33:38,200 Jim, Kenneth and his team there and then 497 00:33:38,200 --> 00:33:42,040 Thea and Sydney have the Hostel in US 498 00:33:42,040 --> 00:33:46,280 yeah you know network and the gathering in Denver which we also 499 00:33:46,280 --> 00:33:49,640 both go to. What's your feedback on those two 500 00:33:49,640 --> 00:33:53,400 networks and have you gotten any action and bookings from that 501 00:33:53,400 --> 00:33:58,520 Hostel in US that the gals created? Yeah you know I don't know if I've 502 00:33:58,520 --> 00:34:03,720 gotten much referral business but I'm sure that I have. I should 503 00:34:03,720 --> 00:34:09,640 track that a little more specifically but more broadly I'm really excited for 504 00:34:09,640 --> 00:34:14,600 the future of Hostel in North America. Just the two conferences you 505 00:34:14,600 --> 00:34:18,840 mentioned over the last year I went to and frankly just seeing peers 506 00:34:18,840 --> 00:34:22,280 people that are kind of in a similar phase of life 507 00:34:22,280 --> 00:34:26,520 deciding to run and operate hostels and invest their 508 00:34:26,520 --> 00:34:31,560 creativity and their their life into this industry gives me a lot of 509 00:34:31,560 --> 00:34:35,560 like hope and excitement for the future of hostels. 510 00:34:35,560 --> 00:34:39,880 Yeah there's maybe not a ton of people in our industry that have 511 00:34:39,880 --> 00:34:44,600 been doing this 10 plus years but there's a lot of young energy coming 512 00:34:44,600 --> 00:34:50,120 into Hostel and a lot of new operators and owners so I don't know I feel 513 00:34:50,120 --> 00:34:53,720 really excited about the future of this industry. 514 00:34:53,720 --> 00:34:59,560 It's been nice just having on a personal level just having connections to 515 00:34:59,560 --> 00:35:04,520 other hostel operators. There's maybe what 200 hostels in North America is 516 00:35:04,520 --> 00:35:08,760 that kind of the estimate like there's not many other people out there that do 517 00:35:08,760 --> 00:35:13,880 a similar to exact same job as you know me there's about 200 of us so just 518 00:35:13,880 --> 00:35:17,720 having that connection of people that know what we do and kind of know what's 519 00:35:17,720 --> 00:35:23,400 involved is meaningful but then I also feel a good 520 00:35:23,400 --> 00:35:26,760 sense of renewal and energy in the hostel industry 521 00:35:26,760 --> 00:35:30,680 and a desire for all of us to keep creating hostels that are awesome and 522 00:35:30,680 --> 00:35:34,760 unique and really changing the reputation of hostels. 523 00:35:34,760 --> 00:35:39,320 So I'm stoked on the hosteling community I love what 524 00:35:39,320 --> 00:35:45,000 Hostling.us is doing and Neha is doing so yeah I'm I'm jazzed to see what comes 525 00:35:45,000 --> 00:35:49,800 of it all but I feel very encouraged by the people that I've met and the other 526 00:35:49,800 --> 00:35:54,040 hostel operators that I've had the pleasure of working alongside and 527 00:35:54,040 --> 00:35:56,520 getting to know. 528 00:35:57,080 --> 00:36:01,080 Absolutely and encouragement to everyone listening to 529 00:36:01,080 --> 00:36:05,080 join those associations and groups because as Ryan said the connections that 530 00:36:05,080 --> 00:36:10,360 you can make can really be profound and an amazing experience and it's always a 531 00:36:10,360 --> 00:36:13,640 great time but I'm excited also to see what's 532 00:36:13,640 --> 00:36:18,760 created we've even talked about maybe the not in any way trying to create an 533 00:36:18,760 --> 00:36:22,760 association but just having like a Pacific Coast highway 534 00:36:22,760 --> 00:36:27,720 California collective of hostel affiliates right yeah with a landing 535 00:36:27,720 --> 00:36:31,240 page where we're all we're all out there yeah. 536 00:36:31,240 --> 00:36:35,080 Well I need a good map of all the hostels in California because I do I guess it 537 00:36:35,080 --> 00:36:38,280 asks like what hostel should I go stay at you know as I go up and down the coast 538 00:36:38,280 --> 00:36:41,160 so yeah we need you know there's always a million things we 539 00:36:41,160 --> 00:36:45,320 hostel operators need to do but it'd be great to have like a map or 540 00:36:45,320 --> 00:36:48,440 something to share yeah of course but yeah. 541 00:36:48,440 --> 00:36:52,520 Hey come on go to the hostel road trip website publish a new map 542 00:36:52,520 --> 00:36:57,160 where you can have an interactive map of well it's all the hostels that uh 543 00:36:57,160 --> 00:37:01,720 have participated so but we hope to get everybody on there yeah that done episode 544 00:37:01,720 --> 00:37:05,000 so um awesome well yeah thank you so much for 545 00:37:05,000 --> 00:37:08,280 joining yeah great to hear your uh I didn't get to come in earlier but 546 00:37:08,280 --> 00:37:11,880 I love your outlook on hostling and you know there's a reason why host is in 547 00:37:11,880 --> 00:37:15,880 the word hostel you know because it's about the host and 548 00:37:15,880 --> 00:37:20,680 like you said being authentic um you know it's like your host and we always 549 00:37:20,680 --> 00:37:23,480 act like you're hosting your best friends from coming in and 550 00:37:23,480 --> 00:37:27,160 yeah people want that personal experience because that's when people put down 551 00:37:27,160 --> 00:37:30,200 their guard and connect and make friends and you know that's where the magic 552 00:37:30,200 --> 00:37:34,360 happens so it sounds like you're doing it right and uh yeah that's awesome to 553 00:37:34,360 --> 00:37:56,840 hear keep it going thanks thanks guys I appreciate it