WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.240 And it was really cool to like build, you know, 00:00:03.240 --> 00:00:07.679 all the while you're sitting here studying, you 00:00:07.679 --> 00:00:09.660 know, the way that your hostel has been functioning 00:00:09.660 --> 00:00:12.240 and seeing other hostels and you're sort of dreaming 00:00:12.240 --> 00:00:15.539 up this like purpose -built hostel. And it was 00:00:15.539 --> 00:00:20.000 so cool to bring it to fruition, you know, to 00:00:20.000 --> 00:00:24.120 add all the details that you would want if you 00:00:24.120 --> 00:00:28.280 were traveling. And in a hostel and to bring 00:00:28.280 --> 00:00:31.739 this beautiful building and in the heart of our 00:00:31.739 --> 00:00:35.240 teeny little town, everyone was super appreciative. 00:00:35.439 --> 00:00:37.659 You know, it basically sits right above town. 00:00:37.820 --> 00:00:42.170 So it's it's like every skyline of town. Hello, 00:00:42.250 --> 00:00:44.049 friends and travelers. Thanks for listening. 00:00:44.149 --> 00:00:46.329 You are riding along on the Hostile Road Trip 00:00:46.329 --> 00:00:49.170 Podcast. Our mission is to spread awareness of 00:00:49.170 --> 00:00:51.729 the true hostile experience in the Americas and 00:00:51.729 --> 00:00:53.929 share stories from the fascinating hosts who 00:00:53.929 --> 00:00:56.570 create those unique facilities. I'm your host, 00:00:56.649 --> 00:00:58.869 Jimmy Black, joined alongside co -founder of 00:00:58.869 --> 00:01:01.549 International Travelers House, Bobby Dyer. Each 00:01:01.549 --> 00:01:04.250 session, we sit down with hostile operators or 00:01:04.250 --> 00:01:07.269 travel influencers to hear about their road success, 00:01:07.730 --> 00:01:11.200 discuss trending hostile topics. and close with 00:01:11.200 --> 00:01:13.659 tips for travelers who are seeking to have the 00:01:13.659 --> 00:01:16.000 ultimate experience when visiting each destination. 00:01:16.379 --> 00:01:19.299 You can't afford to miss this trip. Now fasten 00:01:19.299 --> 00:01:25.780 your seatbelts and let's hit the road. Alright, 00:01:25.959 --> 00:01:29.019 welcome back to the Hostile Road Trip Podcast. 00:01:29.659 --> 00:01:34.180 First episode recording of 2026. Really excited 00:01:34.180 --> 00:01:37.170 to be here, joined with my... business partner 00:01:37.170 --> 00:01:40.450 and co -founder of ITH Hostels, Robert Dyer. 00:01:40.590 --> 00:01:42.709 Thanks for being here, Bobby. Yeah, great to 00:01:42.709 --> 00:01:45.510 be here with you guys today. And then we have 00:01:45.510 --> 00:01:48.609 the proud owner of the North Cascades Mountain 00:01:48.609 --> 00:01:53.430 Hostel, Paul and Lisa. Welcome to the show. Yes. 00:01:53.590 --> 00:01:58.090 Thanks. Thank you. Happy to be here. Liza. Liza, 00:01:58.129 --> 00:02:05.590 I'm sorry. Liza. Liza. All right. Bye. Thank 00:02:05.590 --> 00:02:09.629 you so much for being with us. And as I often 00:02:09.629 --> 00:02:13.150 say, you know, one of the some of the more eccentric 00:02:13.150 --> 00:02:15.330 people in the world are hostel owners. You know, 00:02:15.349 --> 00:02:17.969 you kind of have an eclectic personality just 00:02:17.969 --> 00:02:20.469 to be like, oh, I'd like to try that out. And 00:02:20.469 --> 00:02:23.530 then I always, you know, I like to highlight 00:02:23.530 --> 00:02:26.509 that journey a little bit before we talk about 00:02:26.509 --> 00:02:29.090 your actual facility and what the experience 00:02:29.090 --> 00:02:33.210 is at your hostel. Just a little bit about. your 00:02:33.210 --> 00:02:36.689 journey and how first how did you find hostels 00:02:36.689 --> 00:02:39.030 for the both of you like where what was your 00:02:39.030 --> 00:02:44.569 first exposure to hosteling so for me i found 00:02:44.569 --> 00:02:48.150 hostels i was uh traveling in new zealand um 00:02:48.150 --> 00:02:51.870 and i used to work down in antarctica for multiple 00:02:51.870 --> 00:02:56.590 seasons oh cool yeah so we flew out of um christ 00:02:56.590 --> 00:03:00.330 church and of course if you've ever traveled 00:03:00.330 --> 00:03:03.930 to new zealand it's um just covered with all 00:03:03.930 --> 00:03:07.669 kinds of really cool hostels. And a lot of them 00:03:07.669 --> 00:03:10.310 feel like those kind of mom and pop kind of hostels. 00:03:10.449 --> 00:03:13.830 Yeah, the genuines. Just an old house and there 00:03:13.830 --> 00:03:16.849 were some bunk beds in there. Yeah. Really cool 00:03:16.849 --> 00:03:22.069 vibe and in a cool spot. So that's how I discovered 00:03:22.069 --> 00:03:25.449 it. And I was like, what is this? This is such 00:03:25.449 --> 00:03:28.349 a crazy cool community and what a neat way to 00:03:28.349 --> 00:03:31.819 meet people. It felt like it kind of got you 00:03:31.819 --> 00:03:34.879 lined out and centered for what you're going 00:03:34.879 --> 00:03:38.900 to explore in this country or area. So, yeah, 00:03:39.020 --> 00:03:40.900 that's when I kind of fell in love with hostels. 00:03:41.840 --> 00:03:43.680 That's so cool, and I love to hear that you got 00:03:43.680 --> 00:03:46.219 exposed to what I like to call a genuine backpacker 00:03:46.219 --> 00:03:50.099 hostel, which is, in its essence, a house that 00:03:50.099 --> 00:03:52.419 someone decided to turn some bedrooms into some 00:03:52.419 --> 00:03:55.539 dorm rooms and become the ultimate host themselves. 00:03:57.259 --> 00:03:59.280 We love hostels like that. That's the style of 00:03:59.280 --> 00:04:01.840 hostels we run. And I love to hear people getting 00:04:01.840 --> 00:04:04.479 exposed to those because that's how often you're 00:04:04.479 --> 00:04:08.060 going to run your hostel. So that's so cool to 00:04:08.060 --> 00:04:10.139 hear that you had that experience. But again, 00:04:10.240 --> 00:04:12.539 it gets back to it. It's funny to hear you work 00:04:12.539 --> 00:04:15.639 down in Antarctica. Not a normal experience, 00:04:15.879 --> 00:04:17.920 but it's those type of people that are like, 00:04:18.019 --> 00:04:20.199 oh, wow, this is this hostel. This looks pretty 00:04:20.199 --> 00:04:25.019 cool. I could do this. It's unique people. It's 00:04:25.019 --> 00:04:27.339 eccentric people, people with spots. And I love 00:04:27.339 --> 00:04:29.660 about that. How about you, Liza? How did you 00:04:29.660 --> 00:04:34.420 get into it? I got into it because of Paul. Oh, 00:04:34.459 --> 00:04:37.800 so you were with Paul. Was that your first experience 00:04:37.800 --> 00:04:42.579 in New Zealand, too? No, I wasn't actually with 00:04:42.579 --> 00:04:45.360 Paul in those days. I met Paul. He'd already 00:04:45.360 --> 00:04:51.339 been running this place. Oh, okay. Gotcha. Now 00:04:51.339 --> 00:04:54.319 we're getting into kind of the founding story. 00:04:55.529 --> 00:04:57.829 Paul created this place before I came along. 00:04:58.050 --> 00:05:02.310 Then I met Paul. I'd stayed at maybe a few hostels 00:05:02.310 --> 00:05:05.529 ever. You knew what they were. I knew what they 00:05:05.529 --> 00:05:10.769 were. You still went for them. I love it. Especially 00:05:10.769 --> 00:05:16.730 when you hear the story of how we met. Let's 00:05:16.730 --> 00:05:22.370 separate to that. Paul had started the original 00:05:22.370 --> 00:05:29.639 hostel in 2012 late 2012 early 2013 and um yeah 00:05:29.639 --> 00:05:34.600 yeah it it was very much it was very much a gritty 00:05:34.600 --> 00:05:37.959 new zealand style that we were mentioning earlier 00:05:37.959 --> 00:05:42.879 where you identify an old house you throw You 00:05:42.879 --> 00:05:45.620 take your $500 out of your bank account and buy 00:05:45.620 --> 00:05:48.920 some material to make bunk beds. And voila, you 00:05:48.920 --> 00:05:52.360 have a hostel. That's all it takes. If you build 00:05:52.360 --> 00:05:58.120 it, they will come. Yeah, and so we, on the hillside 00:05:58.120 --> 00:06:01.279 behind the hostel, we built some cabins behind 00:06:01.279 --> 00:06:05.920 there. One was meant to be a cabin for me and, 00:06:06.000 --> 00:06:10.709 you know, ultimately Liza. But then... we realized, 00:06:10.850 --> 00:06:14.470 like, oh, we could rent this cabin out and make 00:06:14.470 --> 00:06:17.769 some money off of this cabin. So when I met Paul, 00:06:18.009 --> 00:06:24.310 it was 2017, winter of 2017. I was living in 00:06:24.310 --> 00:06:26.709 Seattle, working in Seattle. I'm an accountant. 00:06:26.790 --> 00:06:29.790 I was working as an accountant there. And coming 00:06:29.790 --> 00:06:32.149 out, I was a big backcountry skier. So I was 00:06:32.149 --> 00:06:36.389 coming out here, this place, Metau Valley, where 00:06:36.389 --> 00:06:40.540 we are. kind of the ultimate backcountry ski 00:06:40.540 --> 00:06:43.600 location although it's difficult to access because 00:06:43.600 --> 00:06:47.819 you need to access most everything with a snowmobile 00:06:47.819 --> 00:06:51.980 so i was coming out here to do that with friends 00:06:51.980 --> 00:06:54.959 and that's how i met paul at a new year's party 00:06:54.959 --> 00:07:02.120 17 18 so yeah 2018 and i was living in seattle 00:07:02.120 --> 00:07:07.040 but um i met paul and i was like who's this joker 00:07:07.040 --> 00:07:12.180 he's a good time and uh and i was living in a 00:07:12.180 --> 00:07:16.240 suburban in the parking lot of the uh she was 00:07:16.240 --> 00:07:18.860 living out of suburban in a parking lot that's 00:07:18.860 --> 00:07:21.879 a true hospital owner and then hopping around 00:07:21.879 --> 00:07:25.720 and staying in whatever cabin wasn't or sometimes 00:07:25.720 --> 00:07:30.220 a bunk oh that's the best i love this yeah i 00:07:30.220 --> 00:07:36.379 love it so that's what i stepped into And I ended 00:07:36.379 --> 00:07:40.279 up moving, relocating from the west side kind 00:07:40.279 --> 00:07:42.800 of earlier than expected and selling my condo. 00:07:42.800 --> 00:07:45.199 Paul was like, oh, we can just rent out your 00:07:45.199 --> 00:07:47.480 condo. We tried doing that and then got busted. 00:07:47.600 --> 00:07:51.720 It turns out. The old homeowners association 00:07:51.720 --> 00:07:55.279 got you. I was like, all right, I guess I'm moving 00:07:55.279 --> 00:07:59.459 into the suburban then. Yeah. You got yourself 00:07:59.459 --> 00:08:03.779 a keeper here, Paul. I like it. Yeah, it was 00:08:03.779 --> 00:08:06.379 a pretty gritty experience at first with the 00:08:06.379 --> 00:08:11.000 hostel. I mean, we, yeah. I came out in 2018, 00:08:11.259 --> 00:08:15.920 got to see the whole hostel in its prime. 2019 00:08:15.920 --> 00:08:18.660 was a great year for the hostel. So at this point, 00:08:18.860 --> 00:08:22.540 just to clarify, it was just this old house with 00:08:22.540 --> 00:08:24.839 two converted, the two bedrooms were converted 00:08:24.839 --> 00:08:28.220 bunk rooms, about six to eight bunks in each. 00:08:30.069 --> 00:08:32.990 Three cabins, a converted garage, another nice 00:08:32.990 --> 00:08:36.789 cabin, and then a third one that he'd built. 00:08:36.870 --> 00:08:39.350 He's a super scrappy dude, built these little 00:08:39.350 --> 00:08:43.230 cabins. But the two out of three of those cabins 00:08:43.230 --> 00:08:45.330 were dry cabins. They didn't have their own bathroom 00:08:45.330 --> 00:08:49.190 or kitchen. Okay. Didn't have fresh water. They're 00:08:49.190 --> 00:08:51.350 not dry as in we wouldn't let people drink in 00:08:51.350 --> 00:08:55.210 there. Sure, sure. Yeah, yeah. I hear you. I 00:08:55.210 --> 00:08:59.750 hear you. So we had... 12 people in the bunks 00:08:59.750 --> 00:09:02.629 and then two the cabins from sorry the guests 00:09:02.629 --> 00:09:06.110 from both of the cabins would all use the hostel 00:09:06.110 --> 00:09:09.389 facilities and it was a funky little house with 00:09:09.389 --> 00:09:12.289 just a one and a half baths and a tiny little 00:09:12.289 --> 00:09:16.389 kitchen yeah and we kind of joked our third bathroom 00:09:16.389 --> 00:09:21.409 was we live right is a small little kitschy town 00:09:21.409 --> 00:09:24.309 um called winthrop it's a western themed western 00:09:24.309 --> 00:09:27.590 town and they had a public restroom downtown 00:09:27.590 --> 00:09:29.789 so we joked that that was our third bathroom 00:09:29.789 --> 00:09:32.470 it was in town hall it was literally you just 00:09:32.470 --> 00:09:35.250 walk down the hill 30 feet and it's right there 00:09:35.250 --> 00:09:37.850 so if if we ever had any plumbing issues which 00:09:37.850 --> 00:09:43.529 absolutely yeah our third bathroom is town hall 00:09:43.529 --> 00:09:47.039 it's just down i like that On the check -in map, 00:09:47.200 --> 00:09:50.840 I love it. This is so great, but I want to point 00:09:50.840 --> 00:09:53.039 out and stop real quick just for any listeners 00:09:53.039 --> 00:09:54.919 out there that are thinking about opening up 00:09:54.919 --> 00:09:57.460 their own hostel. This is some magical stuff 00:09:57.460 --> 00:09:59.620 you're hearing now, and it's what we experienced 00:09:59.620 --> 00:10:03.580 as well. I find that so many potential hostel 00:10:03.580 --> 00:10:06.679 owners get caught up with the, oh, I need to 00:10:06.679 --> 00:10:09.279 make it this big, or it needs to be this perfect, 00:10:09.379 --> 00:10:13.090 or it needs to be this size. that stops so many 00:10:13.090 --> 00:10:15.230 people from getting in it's like they can't break 00:10:15.230 --> 00:10:17.789 into that barrier because they're holding themselves 00:10:17.789 --> 00:10:21.169 back and waiting for a unicorn when really all 00:10:21.169 --> 00:10:23.110 you need is what we're talking about now is like 00:10:23.110 --> 00:10:26.330 find that old house start working and getting 00:10:26.330 --> 00:10:28.870 rooms open we had the same experience of we opened 00:10:28.870 --> 00:10:32.750 up in a victorian like a 2500 square foot victorian 00:10:32.750 --> 00:10:36.299 house built in 1886 It had so much character 00:10:36.299 --> 00:10:38.740 and charm, but same type of situation you're 00:10:38.740 --> 00:10:40.559 talking about. You made me laugh as you were 00:10:40.559 --> 00:10:43.399 telling your story. Opening up rooms one by one, 00:10:43.519 --> 00:10:45.460 using money from one room to open up another. 00:10:46.039 --> 00:10:49.120 You'd make a room for yourself. You'd stay in 00:10:49.120 --> 00:10:50.820 it. You'd realize, this is really nice now. I 00:10:50.820 --> 00:10:52.659 could make a lot of money off this thing. Back 00:10:52.659 --> 00:10:56.559 on the couch. It's that classic. Bobby and I 00:10:56.559 --> 00:10:58.600 lived on a sailboat while we were opening up 00:10:58.600 --> 00:11:02.679 our first hostel. I remember we'd get into the 00:11:02.679 --> 00:11:04.259 house, and then we'd make a room for ourselves. 00:11:04.330 --> 00:11:06.809 They'd be like, oh, great. They'd be like, oh, 00:11:06.809 --> 00:11:09.029 no, actually, sorry, we're going to move back 00:11:09.029 --> 00:11:12.549 on the sailboat. Head back because you're going 00:11:12.549 --> 00:11:16.830 to sell that room now. The couch in our living 00:11:16.830 --> 00:11:22.769 room was called the Big Lebowski Suite. All those 00:11:22.769 --> 00:11:24.289 memories come back, but that's how you're going 00:11:24.289 --> 00:11:28.789 to get started. It makes it so much easier. Because 00:11:28.789 --> 00:11:31.929 of the unique element of the industry, that actually, 00:11:31.970 --> 00:11:35.409 at its core, is the genuine backpacker hostel, 00:11:35.649 --> 00:11:38.830 you know, that kind of hodgepodge, you know, 00:11:38.830 --> 00:11:41.330 furnished from a thrift store. Nothing really 00:11:41.330 --> 00:11:43.690 matches, but everything fills in together. You 00:11:43.690 --> 00:11:46.870 know, I love that stuff. And I love to hear that 00:11:46.870 --> 00:11:50.690 that's the path you took. And another shining 00:11:50.690 --> 00:11:54.009 example of how that genuine mom and pop hostel, 00:11:54.149 --> 00:11:58.009 you know, can work. So, all right. So you get 00:11:58.009 --> 00:11:59.710 rocking and rolling right around the same time 00:11:59.710 --> 00:12:03.580 we did. 2012 was when we opened. And as we experienced, 00:12:03.679 --> 00:12:06.940 and I'm sure you did, the first five, six years 00:12:06.940 --> 00:12:11.809 were a great run, and then boom. pandemic hits 00:12:11.809 --> 00:12:14.389 and we're obviously like if you were to draw 00:12:14.389 --> 00:12:16.590 up a business model for what would have been 00:12:16.590 --> 00:12:19.470 the worst business model ever for that situation 00:12:19.470 --> 00:12:22.870 it would be like oh wow we really are like a 00:12:22.870 --> 00:12:25.830 death trap here you know like this is scary stuff 00:12:25.830 --> 00:12:28.990 so everyone's got a different story every you 00:12:28.990 --> 00:12:31.049 know different states had different rules how 00:12:31.049 --> 00:12:33.190 did you navigate yeah because i mean it was like 00:12:33.190 --> 00:12:39.399 twilight zone i was like oh my god So how did 00:12:39.399 --> 00:12:43.600 you get out there? I mean, to begin with, I would 00:12:43.600 --> 00:12:47.279 say we always, well, just a little bit of the 00:12:47.279 --> 00:12:51.580 backstory a bit, you know, to the hostel leading 00:12:51.580 --> 00:12:55.039 up to the COVID is that we were a fledgling business 00:12:55.039 --> 00:12:57.840 anyway. I mean, I would say we teetered probably 00:12:57.840 --> 00:13:01.460 more in the red than the black. So we were having 00:13:01.460 --> 00:13:05.679 to scrap, you know, working. Several jobs and 00:13:05.679 --> 00:13:08.240 everything. So when COVID hit, I was like, are 00:13:08.240 --> 00:13:10.740 you kidding me? You know, we felt like we were 00:13:10.740 --> 00:13:13.500 starting to hit our stride and people were finding 00:13:13.500 --> 00:13:16.539 us and things like that. Then COVID hit. We're 00:13:16.539 --> 00:13:19.700 like, oh, my gosh. So, you know, we ended up 00:13:19.700 --> 00:13:22.980 turning the three cabins. Obviously, they were 00:13:22.980 --> 00:13:27.019 private -ish, you know, and they still, you know, 00:13:27.019 --> 00:13:28.580 to the cabins, you still had to come inside. 00:13:28.820 --> 00:13:31.200 And then the two bunk rooms, we basically turned 00:13:31.200 --> 00:13:35.279 them into two private rooms. And we're a town 00:13:35.279 --> 00:13:36.940 like any of these small mountain towns where 00:13:36.940 --> 00:13:39.700 there's a seasonal flow of workers, whether it's 00:13:39.700 --> 00:13:46.019 like firefight, you know, wildlife or wildfire 00:13:46.019 --> 00:13:50.899 firefighters or biology techs or people working 00:13:50.899 --> 00:13:54.179 in the tourism industry. And so basically we 00:13:54.179 --> 00:13:57.600 potted up. Yeah. Yeah. We basically turned this 00:13:57.600 --> 00:14:01.100 into a pod and several seasonal workers that 00:14:01.100 --> 00:14:05.039 were kind of. And they just posted up in the 00:14:05.039 --> 00:14:08.639 cabins. So we had three people each in a cabin. 00:14:08.740 --> 00:14:11.200 I think we had a couple people in each or one 00:14:11.200 --> 00:14:13.799 person in each bunk room. So I think there was 00:14:13.799 --> 00:14:17.519 like five of us. And we had a great time. We 00:14:17.519 --> 00:14:21.419 just all stuck around and we did a cooking program 00:14:21.419 --> 00:14:23.679 where each person picked a night that they would 00:14:23.679 --> 00:14:26.720 cook at the hostel. Oh, I love it. There's like 00:14:26.720 --> 00:14:29.500 a little family. Yeah, a little family and hung 00:14:29.500 --> 00:14:33.029 out and got through it. It's enough to keep the 00:14:33.029 --> 00:14:35.830 lights on. The good thing about the way that 00:14:35.830 --> 00:14:39.309 we've always operated, we've changed now. We'll 00:14:39.309 --> 00:14:43.309 get to it. We basically rebuilt the entire hostel. 00:14:43.450 --> 00:14:45.210 So we have a slightly different operation now, 00:14:45.289 --> 00:14:48.750 but we still have pretty low overhead. But especially 00:14:48.750 --> 00:14:52.889 in those days, I mean, as long as we could make 00:14:52.889 --> 00:14:58.009 our mortgage payment, we were doing okay. Absolutely. 00:15:01.690 --> 00:15:05.149 Yeah, we lived here on site. So it's not like 00:15:05.149 --> 00:15:08.129 we were also paying a rent for where we lived 00:15:08.129 --> 00:15:12.269 also. Yeah. Did the transformation come from 00:15:12.269 --> 00:15:13.909 your hostel after COVID? Because now you look 00:15:13.909 --> 00:15:15.269 at it, it's so beautiful. It looks like you guys 00:15:15.269 --> 00:15:18.110 did quite a bit of work. Tell us that story of 00:15:18.110 --> 00:15:20.289 kind of the transformation of what it is today. 00:15:20.450 --> 00:15:23.929 Actually, okay, I'll tell you kind of a funny 00:15:23.929 --> 00:15:27.840 story that maybe I shouldn't actually. Put on 00:15:27.840 --> 00:15:31.100 glass. But no, I think it's okay. Do it. Do it. 00:15:31.720 --> 00:15:38.019 Safe space. During COVID, we got one of those 00:15:38.019 --> 00:15:43.399 like emergency disaster loans. So it's a very 00:15:43.399 --> 00:15:46.820 small rate loan. I think it was literally like 00:15:46.820 --> 00:15:52.700 $30 ,000. And Paul had been, so up until then, 00:15:52.720 --> 00:15:55.179 Paul had been, like when I first met him, Paul 00:15:55.179 --> 00:15:57.620 had been saying, One of these days, I'm going 00:15:57.620 --> 00:16:01.039 to tear this house down and build an entirely 00:16:01.039 --> 00:16:04.460 new purpose -made hostel from scratch. And I 00:16:04.460 --> 00:16:06.759 was like, what? To kind of maximize the property 00:16:06.759 --> 00:16:14.940 and create volume. But he got this grant or this 00:16:14.940 --> 00:16:18.980 $30 ,000 disaster loan. And he was like, that's 00:16:18.980 --> 00:16:21.179 it. I'm going for it. That was the same money. 00:16:21.580 --> 00:16:27.690 There you go. Yeah. Which is absolutely nothing 00:16:27.690 --> 00:16:31.490 in the grand scheme of things and what it actually 00:16:31.490 --> 00:16:33.590 took financially to pull off what we were doing. 00:16:33.710 --> 00:16:36.210 Just to think that $30 ,000 was just enough to 00:16:36.210 --> 00:16:39.629 inspire Paul. That money, that $30 ,000 is not 00:16:39.629 --> 00:16:43.090 supposed to be used for creating a new business. 00:16:43.850 --> 00:16:46.190 It's supposed to be used to get you through. 00:16:47.129 --> 00:16:52.490 People use it for a lot worse. It really got 00:16:52.490 --> 00:16:58.129 his gears going. So he, he, I wasn't half owner 00:16:58.129 --> 00:17:00.110 yet. You know, we were still just like dating 00:17:00.110 --> 00:17:01.990 and hopping around different cabins, whatever. 00:17:02.149 --> 00:17:04.890 But he went to an architect and started talking 00:17:04.890 --> 00:17:08.410 to an architect about ideas. And I was going, 00:17:08.569 --> 00:17:11.369 do you really want to tear this cute little house 00:17:11.369 --> 00:17:15.250 down right in town? Historic, you know, can't 00:17:15.250 --> 00:17:18.009 we just remodel on top of this existing place? 00:17:18.250 --> 00:17:21.529 And he tried, talked to engineers and stuff. 00:17:21.890 --> 00:17:24.940 Yeah, we tried various different things. All 00:17:24.940 --> 00:17:29.279 the while, for multiple years, I had been approaching 00:17:29.279 --> 00:17:33.240 various banks about trying to get a construction 00:17:33.240 --> 00:17:36.940 loan. Of course, especially during COVID, it 00:17:36.940 --> 00:17:43.220 was like banks were really tight. There's a really 00:17:43.220 --> 00:17:48.099 cool fund here in the Valley, this private investment 00:17:48.099 --> 00:17:53.279 network that was set up basically by locals here 00:17:53.279 --> 00:17:56.509 in the Valley. part of their investment portfolio. 00:17:57.349 --> 00:18:03.329 That's cool. Oh, I love it. So we went and pitched 00:18:03.329 --> 00:18:08.250 our idea based on this new model, this new building. 00:18:08.789 --> 00:18:14.990 And we found a donor, a loan shark, if you will. 00:18:18.890 --> 00:18:22.190 And was willing to loan on our crazy idea because 00:18:22.190 --> 00:18:26.190 any banks, you'd go to a bank and you have to 00:18:26.190 --> 00:18:32.490 create a 10 -page business plan and all these 00:18:32.490 --> 00:18:34.970 various things. And ultimately, they ask you, 00:18:35.069 --> 00:18:38.369 how long have you been running a hostel? And 00:18:38.369 --> 00:18:42.670 oftentimes, a lot of people, they just came up 00:18:42.670 --> 00:18:47.029 with this idea. Well, you hadn't. We didn't have 00:18:47.029 --> 00:18:50.650 solid... We had financials that could show that 00:18:50.650 --> 00:18:53.250 we were growing and stuff. It's a risky business 00:18:53.250 --> 00:18:56.410 for a bank to invest in. We were very lucky to 00:18:56.410 --> 00:18:59.349 fall into this. It's an investment network of 00:18:59.349 --> 00:19:01.609 people that also had seen us in the community. 00:19:01.829 --> 00:19:05.470 He'd been running the hostel since 2012. We kind 00:19:05.470 --> 00:19:07.349 of skipped along, but basically I was saying 00:19:07.349 --> 00:19:10.130 that he had this vision of rebuilding the hostel 00:19:10.130 --> 00:19:14.140 and basically figured out that... Engineering 00:19:14.140 --> 00:19:18.480 -wise, it wasn't going to be feasible to remodel 00:19:18.480 --> 00:19:22.619 the existing one. So after working with the architect 00:19:22.619 --> 00:19:26.660 and coming up with the designs, basically, and 00:19:26.660 --> 00:19:31.799 then finding the funding source, in 2022, we 00:19:31.799 --> 00:19:34.880 demolished the hostel to the ground. Like, it 00:19:34.880 --> 00:19:38.799 literally went... Wow. Just all that... 20 loads 00:19:38.799 --> 00:19:43.950 to the dump. There it went. Original house just 00:19:43.950 --> 00:19:49.490 leveled. Leveled. Yeah, we left the cabins. It 00:19:49.490 --> 00:19:53.190 was a little bit sad. A little sad, but Paul 00:19:53.190 --> 00:19:56.490 was done with that place. He was like, didn't 00:19:56.490 --> 00:19:59.869 want to fix one more freaking thing. Right, plumbing, 00:20:00.230 --> 00:20:02.069 electrical, all the issues. That's one of the 00:20:02.069 --> 00:20:05.769 downsides to it. The house trying to handle that 00:20:05.769 --> 00:20:10.279 load. And I thought that the idea of building 00:20:10.279 --> 00:20:13.079 a new hostel from scratch was a crazy idea. But 00:20:13.079 --> 00:20:15.420 what I also kind of blazed over really quickly 00:20:15.420 --> 00:20:18.920 is that when Paul went to the architect, we had 00:20:18.920 --> 00:20:21.519 an idea of another building, a smaller building. 00:20:22.180 --> 00:20:24.960 Another cabin is what it was going to be like 00:20:24.960 --> 00:20:28.980 to be rented out with a mother -in -law like 00:20:28.980 --> 00:20:33.319 basement, daylight basement studio. And he built 00:20:33.319 --> 00:20:37.970 that first. So in 2021. He built that with one 00:20:37.970 --> 00:20:41.769 other buddy, this 1 ,000 -square -foot, three 00:20:41.769 --> 00:20:45.210 -level building that we now live in that wasn't 00:20:45.210 --> 00:20:47.809 initially planned to be built for us to live 00:20:47.809 --> 00:20:51.670 in. But he did it. Him and his buddy built it 00:20:51.670 --> 00:20:55.490 and finished it in 2022. And it's a beautiful 00:20:55.490 --> 00:20:57.710 building here on site. And we're like, oh, let's 00:20:57.710 --> 00:21:01.049 move in there. So we moved in there. And I basically 00:21:01.049 --> 00:21:03.890 was like, you proved yourself, bud. You built 00:21:03.890 --> 00:21:07.799 this amazing place. I didn't know you had that 00:21:07.799 --> 00:21:13.799 in you. Him and one other guy built this amazing 00:21:13.799 --> 00:21:18.500 design. Yeah. And so then we're like, OK, I think 00:21:18.500 --> 00:21:21.900 we're I think we're ready to go for it. Like, 00:21:21.960 --> 00:21:25.319 let's do the hostel now. He had the plans and 00:21:25.319 --> 00:21:28.160 he still wanted to go ahead and do that whole 00:21:28.160 --> 00:21:30.859 hostel with his one other buddy. And I was like, 00:21:31.000 --> 00:21:34.900 uh, let's let's maybe not do that. Let's come 00:21:34.900 --> 00:21:37.279 up with another. Yeah. With a little bit more 00:21:37.279 --> 00:21:39.220 help, you know, because now we're talking about 00:21:39.220 --> 00:21:42.480 a thirty five hundred square foot facility, state 00:21:42.480 --> 00:21:46.720 of the art facility, you know. And so, yeah, 00:21:46.819 --> 00:21:49.140 speak to how that came about. So, yeah, anyway, 00:21:49.279 --> 00:21:52.259 I had been working in the building industry and 00:21:52.259 --> 00:21:57.200 sort of making ties and networking with that. 00:21:57.279 --> 00:22:00.220 And so I was able to be the GC or the general 00:22:00.220 --> 00:22:03.180 contractor on it, which is awesome. Hundreds 00:22:03.180 --> 00:22:06.960 of thousands of dollars. Huge. Yeah. And I worked 00:22:06.960 --> 00:22:09.240 with my buddy's crew that I had been working 00:22:09.240 --> 00:22:14.940 on. And basically we used his crew and we had 00:22:14.940 --> 00:22:17.059 to frame this whole thing up. And then I kind 00:22:17.059 --> 00:22:21.460 of took it from there. And we just, we banged 00:22:21.460 --> 00:22:24.259 it out in like 15 months, 14 months. We tore 00:22:24.259 --> 00:22:32.140 the place down. Me 23. No, sorry. Yeah, tore 00:22:32.140 --> 00:22:36.059 it down in April 2023 and opened this place July 00:22:36.059 --> 00:22:44.240 1st, 2024. Yeah. Yeah. And, Paul, isn't that 00:22:44.240 --> 00:22:47.839 amazing? I mean, you couldn't do that on the 00:22:47.839 --> 00:22:50.319 West Side in any, you know, metropolitan city 00:22:50.319 --> 00:22:53.279 just with the permit process alone. Mm -hmm. 00:22:53.420 --> 00:22:56.480 Yeah. We listened to a few other of these podcasts 00:22:56.480 --> 00:22:58.890 they're talking about. the dude that built the 00:22:58.890 --> 00:23:01.029 deck up in Whistler, for example, and just all 00:23:01.029 --> 00:23:02.910 the hoops he had to jump through just to make 00:23:02.910 --> 00:23:05.990 a deck. Just to make a deck, yeah. Oh, yeah, 00:23:06.109 --> 00:23:08.210 we've been caught on a few of those. And this 00:23:08.210 --> 00:23:11.730 guy, he's also like, Paul is, in case you haven't 00:23:11.730 --> 00:23:16.369 caught on yet, he's like a big... people person 00:23:16.369 --> 00:23:19.890 you know and he is the master of developing relationships 00:23:19.890 --> 00:23:23.769 which is networking it right yeah who do you 00:23:23.769 --> 00:23:25.930 know in the city office who do you know in the 00:23:25.930 --> 00:23:29.789 zoning department yeah oh right somebody's like 00:23:29.789 --> 00:23:33.950 best buds with the you know with this town you 00:23:33.950 --> 00:23:36.670 know going he will go in the building inspectors 00:23:36.670 --> 00:23:40.049 and be like okay we're ready to um take this 00:23:40.049 --> 00:23:43.089 off they'd come up the next afternoon and we're 00:23:43.089 --> 00:23:47.599 good to go like no waiting so we were able to 00:23:47.599 --> 00:23:49.960 kind of like expedite the whole thing and and 00:23:49.960 --> 00:23:53.980 it was really cool to like build you know all 00:23:53.980 --> 00:23:57.640 the while you're sitting here studying you know 00:23:57.640 --> 00:23:59.680 the way that your hostel's been functioning seeing 00:23:59.680 --> 00:24:02.279 other hostels and you're sort of dreaming up 00:24:02.279 --> 00:24:05.539 this like purpose -built hostel and it was so 00:24:05.539 --> 00:24:09.779 cool to bring it to fruition you know yeah to 00:24:11.079 --> 00:24:13.819 Add all the details that you would want if you 00:24:13.819 --> 00:24:18.240 were traveling in a hostel. And to bring this 00:24:18.240 --> 00:24:21.799 beautiful building in the heart of our teeny 00:24:21.799 --> 00:24:24.960 little town. Everyone was super appreciative. 00:24:25.299 --> 00:24:27.279 You know, it basically sits right above town. 00:24:28.480 --> 00:24:32.279 It's like the skyline of town. You have the community 00:24:32.279 --> 00:24:37.599 icon now. Yeah, so it's cool. And it's like, 00:24:37.759 --> 00:24:40.579 you know, of course. with the hostel it's like 00:24:40.579 --> 00:24:43.680 one of the reasons i mean obviously you're wanting 00:24:43.680 --> 00:24:46.180 to create this business but i feel like many 00:24:46.180 --> 00:24:49.039 owners are also wanting to create this like community 00:24:49.039 --> 00:24:52.339 resource you know yes yes like a place where 00:24:52.339 --> 00:24:56.059 like hangouts can happen music jams can happen 00:24:56.059 --> 00:24:59.339 yeah yeah meetings can happen slideshows you 00:24:59.339 --> 00:25:01.500 know all those time we've become kind of a go 00:25:01.500 --> 00:25:05.589 -to for like um Throw in a gathering in town, 00:25:05.650 --> 00:25:07.930 centralized for everybody, and it's a great space 00:25:07.930 --> 00:25:09.990 for hosting large groups. It's a great space 00:25:09.990 --> 00:25:18.369 for... We're not too big here, so if we... I 00:25:18.369 --> 00:25:21.349 guess, what am I trying to say? If we were really 00:25:21.349 --> 00:25:25.650 smart and savvy, we would have built a new hostel 00:25:25.650 --> 00:25:29.509 that was two or three times the size. But that's 00:25:29.509 --> 00:25:33.579 not what we did. We're pretty... intimate their 00:25:33.579 --> 00:25:36.380 whole hostel itself only has seven private rooms 00:25:36.380 --> 00:25:41.440 it also has seven bathrooms basically and um 00:25:41.440 --> 00:25:43.859 the three products it's got but that includes 00:25:43.859 --> 00:25:46.460 the bathrooms for the um there's two bunk rooms 00:25:46.460 --> 00:25:49.019 still you know so there's two bunk rooms up in 00:25:49.019 --> 00:25:51.500 the corner that basically that's what the old 00:25:51.500 --> 00:25:53.799 hostel used to be just two bunk rooms so we've 00:25:53.799 --> 00:25:56.299 got that and then seven more private rooms a 00:25:56.299 --> 00:26:02.210 giant living space and kitchen um yeah um So 00:26:02.210 --> 00:26:05.170 it's like, and then also still three cabins. 00:26:05.609 --> 00:26:08.630 I love it. What's the total number you would 00:26:08.630 --> 00:26:13.289 say you would have? Feasible for like 32 if you 00:26:13.289 --> 00:26:15.869 had two people in every clean bed. There's 34. 00:26:16.369 --> 00:26:19.289 I love that. You know, this is so cool to hear. 00:26:19.390 --> 00:26:23.730 You're such a great example for aspiring hostel 00:26:23.730 --> 00:26:26.609 owners of you ticked so many boxes along your 00:26:26.609 --> 00:26:29.589 journey. You know, you started off bootstrapping 00:26:29.589 --> 00:26:32.970 it. You went small. You worked your way into 00:26:32.970 --> 00:26:36.210 this older building, but then you had that great 00:26:36.210 --> 00:26:38.750 opportunity, which is so rare within our industry, 00:26:38.789 --> 00:26:43.210 where the operator, after operating for a couple 00:26:43.210 --> 00:26:46.430 of years, gets the sense of what they need and 00:26:46.430 --> 00:26:49.259 what they would want. gets the opportunity to 00:26:49.259 --> 00:26:52.539 build something to suit for purpose and now dial 00:26:52.539 --> 00:26:54.700 it in based off of that experience. Because a 00:26:54.700 --> 00:26:56.839 lot of times you find people that might have 00:26:56.839 --> 00:26:59.559 investment money who aren't hostile people that 00:26:59.559 --> 00:27:01.960 are building this hostile to suit, but they don't 00:27:01.960 --> 00:27:03.859 really know exactly what they're doing because 00:27:03.859 --> 00:27:05.940 they haven't had the experience you've had of 00:27:05.940 --> 00:27:08.180 running it and living on site. So you've got 00:27:08.180 --> 00:27:12.839 that beautiful journey there of starting small. 00:27:13.690 --> 00:27:15.809 running through it like that and then building 00:27:15.809 --> 00:27:17.750 your own custom to suit because that's one of 00:27:17.750 --> 00:27:20.450 the classic disadvantages that you have this 00:27:20.450 --> 00:27:22.609 old building like oh if this was just another 00:27:22.609 --> 00:27:25.849 foot wider i could fit another bunk in or if 00:27:25.849 --> 00:27:28.529 this window was just if this was just over there 00:27:28.529 --> 00:27:33.470 you know that is so that's one of the uh downsides 00:27:33.470 --> 00:27:35.789 to operating in some of those older quirky buildings 00:27:35.789 --> 00:27:40.529 but what you did i think that's the perfect journey 00:27:40.529 --> 00:27:43.180 like if you could lay out for someone Here's 00:27:43.180 --> 00:27:46.319 the perfect hostel owner journey. Try to find 00:27:46.319 --> 00:27:49.220 something that is small that you can grow into, 00:27:49.359 --> 00:27:51.460 hopefully something you can purchase so you own 00:27:51.460 --> 00:27:53.859 the property, and then eventually down the road 00:27:53.859 --> 00:27:56.460 that you could do exactly what you did and eventually 00:27:56.460 --> 00:28:00.619 build a suit, and now you're cruising. So that's 00:28:00.619 --> 00:28:02.700 just awesome. Great example and great template 00:28:02.700 --> 00:28:06.569 for people out there. have you know use you as 00:28:06.569 --> 00:28:10.430 a model for that journey uh and also i love the 00:28:10.430 --> 00:28:12.869 size like you said when people get to that bill 00:28:12.869 --> 00:28:16.289 to sue a lot of times the bankers the bottom 00:28:16.289 --> 00:28:19.269 line the greed starts to set and you're like 00:28:19.269 --> 00:28:21.470 well i could really stuff them in here now and 00:28:21.470 --> 00:28:26.440 for us that was a big thing years ago we made 00:28:26.440 --> 00:28:28.640 that decision of like, we really want to focus 00:28:28.640 --> 00:28:31.500 and specialize in genuine backpacker hostels 00:28:31.500 --> 00:28:34.420 that have that intimate feel. And we always say 00:28:34.420 --> 00:28:38.200 that the sweet spot is like 30 to 50. And, you 00:28:38.200 --> 00:28:40.720 know, it gives you enough people inside to have 00:28:40.720 --> 00:28:44.359 a vibe and to have energy. But then it also doesn't 00:28:44.359 --> 00:28:46.839 put you above that point where you don't know 00:28:46.839 --> 00:28:48.880 everyone's name or you don't have a connection 00:28:48.880 --> 00:28:50.880 with everyone. It's easy for people to get lost 00:28:50.880 --> 00:28:55.170 into the system. You know, yeah. Go ahead. It 00:28:55.170 --> 00:28:57.509 seems like when you get to a certain size, it 00:28:57.509 --> 00:28:59.250 seems like when you get over a certain size, 00:28:59.390 --> 00:29:05.630 you kind of lose. It's almost like the anonymity 00:29:05.630 --> 00:29:10.089 comes back in, you know, where there's enough 00:29:10.089 --> 00:29:13.269 people there that people can just kind of, you 00:29:13.269 --> 00:29:16.470 know, whereas we're, and that can be nice for 00:29:16.470 --> 00:29:20.170 some people. Sure. Yeah. It could be by choice. 00:29:20.349 --> 00:29:25.140 A place in my own space. Yeah, but we've also 00:29:25.140 --> 00:29:28.339 been to some large hostels that felt a little 00:29:28.339 --> 00:29:31.619 bit institutional, institution -y, you know. 00:29:32.380 --> 00:29:36.099 I definitely was, like you said, traveling around 00:29:36.099 --> 00:29:37.799 and seeing kind of what you don't want, you know. 00:29:37.839 --> 00:29:39.859 Like, I knew that we were going to be building 00:29:39.859 --> 00:29:41.599 a brand new building here. It was going to have 00:29:41.599 --> 00:29:47.220 this new, clean, or this new vibe. And I was, 00:29:47.380 --> 00:29:50.470 like, in the design. process like what are things 00:29:50.470 --> 00:29:52.470 that we can do to bring back elements of what 00:29:52.470 --> 00:29:54.710 people loved about the whole hostel which which 00:29:54.710 --> 00:29:57.069 is that they walked in and it felt like home 00:29:57.069 --> 00:30:00.730 you know because the larger big hostels that 00:30:00.730 --> 00:30:03.630 i've been to yes they're nice and modern and 00:30:03.630 --> 00:30:07.789 um sterile but you walk in and you don't feel 00:30:07.789 --> 00:30:11.970 to feel like home you know it almost so we i 00:30:11.970 --> 00:30:16.170 was like let's Get some, a lot of nice warm wood. 00:30:16.269 --> 00:30:18.890 All of the furniture is going to be thrifted, 00:30:18.890 --> 00:30:21.069 you know, kind of keep that. It's almost all 00:30:21.069 --> 00:30:23.109 the same furniture that we had in the old hostel. 00:30:23.289 --> 00:30:26.250 And, you know, yeah, just little things here 00:30:26.250 --> 00:30:30.509 and there to kind of keep that intimate homey 00:30:30.509 --> 00:30:33.750 vibe. Not too modern. That was what we were kind 00:30:33.750 --> 00:30:38.660 of going for. Yeah, it's so true and definitely 00:30:38.660 --> 00:30:40.920 something for people to keep in mind as a lot 00:30:40.920 --> 00:30:42.799 of times investors or people are like, oh, you 00:30:42.799 --> 00:30:45.500 need at least 100 beds to make this work. Well, 00:30:45.619 --> 00:30:47.440 that's not true if you're willing to embrace 00:30:47.440 --> 00:30:49.799 the old school model of, well, I'm going to live 00:30:49.799 --> 00:30:51.799 on site here, so I don't have another mortgage. 00:30:51.880 --> 00:30:54.380 This is my mortgage payment. We're going to work 00:30:54.380 --> 00:30:57.759 it ourselves. So now you can actually operate 00:30:57.759 --> 00:31:01.440 that smaller hostel at a lot higher quality. 00:31:02.899 --> 00:31:04.940 Sometimes with a lot better margins than the 00:31:04.940 --> 00:31:07.359 bigger one, because as we've found, the larger 00:31:07.359 --> 00:31:10.710 the hostel, the more you have to embrace. corporate 00:31:10.710 --> 00:31:13.009 style policies and procedures to keep it under 00:31:13.009 --> 00:31:17.569 control because it's so big so the textbook business 00:31:17.569 --> 00:31:19.829 act like school model be like all right these 00:31:19.829 --> 00:31:21.309 are the things you need to create these are the 00:31:21.309 --> 00:31:23.029 positions you need to create and then all of 00:31:23.029 --> 00:31:26.049 a sudden you're running a small corporate style 00:31:26.049 --> 00:31:28.289 business and it just is like trying to put a 00:31:28.289 --> 00:31:30.450 square peg in a round hole it doesn't work for 00:31:30.450 --> 00:31:33.049 the hostel and then i see all the time these 00:31:33.049 --> 00:31:37.279 very nice beautiful buildings 150 200 beds And 00:31:37.279 --> 00:31:39.299 they've got all this staff and all these policy 00:31:39.299 --> 00:31:41.700 procedures like it's a hotel. And the owner is 00:31:41.700 --> 00:31:43.819 asking me, why isn't it working? And I'm like, 00:31:43.859 --> 00:31:45.700 oh, brother, you can't spend your way out of 00:31:45.700 --> 00:31:49.500 this one. You're going the wrong way. So what 00:31:49.500 --> 00:31:51.740 you did, I think, is the perfect model. And then 00:31:51.740 --> 00:31:54.079 another thing I want to highlight on to make 00:31:54.079 --> 00:31:56.660 sure I get it in before we wrap up is you mentioned 00:31:56.660 --> 00:31:59.519 the community element. For so many years, and 00:31:59.519 --> 00:32:02.000 still to this day, hostels have a horrible stigma 00:32:02.000 --> 00:32:04.000 in the U .S. It's one of the reasons the industry 00:32:04.000 --> 00:32:06.559 is so unsaturated. One of the main reasons we 00:32:06.559 --> 00:32:09.599 do this podcast is to help people get the word 00:32:09.599 --> 00:32:12.279 out there and try to inspire other hostel owners 00:32:12.279 --> 00:32:14.880 to open up so that we can build our network out 00:32:14.880 --> 00:32:17.779 in this country because of a lot of bad stigmas 00:32:17.779 --> 00:32:20.019 of it being like a homeless shelter or a flop 00:32:20.019 --> 00:32:22.859 house or those horrible movies they made where 00:32:22.859 --> 00:32:25.640 you're going to get murdered in your sleep. So 00:32:25.640 --> 00:32:29.609 there's a lot of bad... PR out there. And we 00:32:29.609 --> 00:32:31.930 need to work at getting the good, positive, beautiful 00:32:31.930 --> 00:32:34.690 stories out there about this industry. But one 00:32:34.690 --> 00:32:37.529 of the things you mentioned is embracing the 00:32:37.529 --> 00:32:39.930 community, trying to become a community center 00:32:39.930 --> 00:32:44.569 for events, for gatherings, including the community 00:32:44.569 --> 00:32:48.009 with your hostile events. I think more and more 00:32:48.009 --> 00:32:50.670 of us need to attack the issue in that manner. 00:32:50.829 --> 00:32:53.859 Go right at it. straight ahead. Because in my 00:32:53.859 --> 00:32:56.140 experience, when you do that, so many people 00:32:56.140 --> 00:32:59.039 come in and they're like, wow, I had such a different 00:32:59.039 --> 00:33:01.579 perception of what hostels were. And now that 00:33:01.579 --> 00:33:04.380 I've been in here, I'm changed. I'm won over. 00:33:04.559 --> 00:33:07.519 I've been convinced. We get that all the time. 00:33:07.799 --> 00:33:10.960 Yes, good. We get that all the time. Yeah, I 00:33:10.960 --> 00:33:14.920 feel that is so true that we get a lot of people, 00:33:15.019 --> 00:33:18.119 probably based on price point, that they're willing 00:33:18.119 --> 00:33:22.019 to venture in and find us. And then this is their 00:33:22.019 --> 00:33:24.480 first experience. And they're like, this was 00:33:24.480 --> 00:33:29.400 so much cooler and nicer. And we got to talk 00:33:29.400 --> 00:33:32.299 to people. We got to share stories. And they're 00:33:32.299 --> 00:33:38.900 a convert. Yes. It puts a big smile on our face. 00:33:39.140 --> 00:33:44.680 Yes. We always say one of the things that warms 00:33:44.680 --> 00:33:48.140 our heart the most is when we... Because we live 00:33:48.140 --> 00:33:50.940 right next door, we walk in, and there's four 00:33:50.940 --> 00:33:56.039 or five strangers sharing a meal together, and 00:33:56.039 --> 00:33:58.819 they've gone out hiking or skiing together, and 00:33:58.819 --> 00:34:02.740 you're like, this is why we did this. Yeah, yeah. 00:34:04.619 --> 00:34:08.780 It's hostel magic, what it is. It's a beautiful 00:34:08.780 --> 00:34:11.579 thing. Our mission statement is spreading peace 00:34:11.579 --> 00:34:14.119 through knowledge of culture. When we were working 00:34:14.119 --> 00:34:17.280 at USA Hostels years ago, before we started. 00:34:17.360 --> 00:34:19.900 That was what captured me. I saw all these different 00:34:19.900 --> 00:34:22.500 races, religions, cultures, all in the kitchen 00:34:22.500 --> 00:34:24.559 together, eating at the dinner table, laughing. 00:34:24.739 --> 00:34:26.880 I was like, this is what United Nations spends 00:34:26.880 --> 00:34:29.639 billions of dollars trying to do. And here we 00:34:29.639 --> 00:34:32.500 are, just casually falling into it every night, 00:34:32.639 --> 00:34:35.519 just breaking down these barriers. And I love 00:34:35.519 --> 00:34:38.079 that hostile element where you're talking about 00:34:38.079 --> 00:34:39.840 when you get that person, especially an American, 00:34:40.000 --> 00:34:42.559 who tries it for the first time, and then when 00:34:42.559 --> 00:34:44.889 they are... checking out they're like wow this 00:34:44.889 --> 00:34:46.489 was such a great experience i'm never staying 00:34:46.489 --> 00:34:49.250 in a hotel again and you're like fuck yeah got 00:34:49.250 --> 00:34:51.409 another one you know and then that's for the 00:34:51.409 --> 00:34:54.969 better of all of us you know oh yeah that's why 00:34:54.969 --> 00:34:58.150 we've got to get more of these uh genuine backpacker 00:34:58.150 --> 00:35:00.590 style hostels like yourselves you know out there 00:35:00.590 --> 00:35:03.030 and operating so hopefully listeners out there 00:35:03.030 --> 00:35:05.389 can you know use this story to the advantage 00:35:05.389 --> 00:35:09.210 now uh you've had you've got such a great story 00:35:09.969 --> 00:35:12.070 That's taking a lot of our time up. But before 00:35:12.070 --> 00:35:14.710 we wrap up, just to hear a little bit more about 00:35:14.710 --> 00:35:19.090 your actual hostel and the town you're in. I 00:35:19.090 --> 00:35:21.510 saw that you were on the PCT, Pacific Crestville. 00:35:21.949 --> 00:35:23.889 I'm actually at our Big Bear Hostel, which is 00:35:23.889 --> 00:35:28.190 on the PCT. We're at mile 266. Oh, nice. Yeah, 00:35:28.289 --> 00:35:30.150 so that's a big part of our business. I love 00:35:30.150 --> 00:35:33.409 the PCT hikers. So tell us a bit about your town. 00:35:33.630 --> 00:35:35.730 So someone comes to the hostel. We've heard a 00:35:35.730 --> 00:35:37.769 bit about the facility and the layout. How many 00:35:37.769 --> 00:35:40.550 people can stay? But what is, like, a general 00:35:40.550 --> 00:35:43.309 guest experience in your town throughout the 00:35:43.309 --> 00:35:47.409 seasons? Yeah, so our town, I think I alluded 00:35:47.409 --> 00:35:50.510 to it a little bit before, we're sort of this 00:35:50.510 --> 00:35:54.210 unique tourist town that was started back in 00:35:54.210 --> 00:35:57.630 the 70s to try to bring people into these, like, 00:35:57.650 --> 00:36:01.130 repressed logging mining towns. And so they created 00:36:01.130 --> 00:36:05.500 this theme town. So we're a western town. It 00:36:05.500 --> 00:36:07.500 almost looks like a little mini Jackson Hole, 00:36:07.619 --> 00:36:10.179 if you will. There's like wooden boardwalks and 00:36:10.179 --> 00:36:14.280 facades and all this stuff. Down the road from 00:36:14.280 --> 00:36:17.219 us is another town called Leavenworth, and they 00:36:17.219 --> 00:36:21.300 are the Bavarian town. Oh, okay. So you can do 00:36:21.300 --> 00:36:23.400 this loop, basically, that takes you through 00:36:23.400 --> 00:36:26.119 North Cascade National Park, through Winthrop, 00:36:26.159 --> 00:36:28.480 down to Leavenworth, and it's called the Cascade 00:36:28.480 --> 00:36:31.119 Loop. So that brings a lot of your sort of like 00:36:31.119 --> 00:36:36.539 general travelers, if you will. over along with 00:36:36.539 --> 00:36:38.480 the national park as well and we're right on 00:36:38.480 --> 00:36:41.920 the east side of the national park so you know 00:36:41.920 --> 00:36:44.159 for international travelers you know they'll 00:36:44.159 --> 00:36:47.980 zone in on the national park and and looking 00:36:47.980 --> 00:36:52.139 for accommodation and we're one of the more prolific 00:36:52.139 --> 00:36:55.099 towns i guess that has accommodations we're a 00:36:55.099 --> 00:36:58.059 big recreation town we're known for being a western 00:36:58.059 --> 00:37:02.079 town but it's starting to become even more known 00:37:02.079 --> 00:37:05.650 as a big recreation town So we sit, like I said, 00:37:05.670 --> 00:37:07.610 just on the east side of the North Cascades. 00:37:07.610 --> 00:37:09.789 And during the summer, you can drive through 00:37:09.789 --> 00:37:12.429 the North Cascades National Park to get to it. 00:37:12.489 --> 00:37:15.329 So from Seattle, it's only about three hours, 00:37:15.750 --> 00:37:18.409 three and a half hours to get here from Seattle 00:37:18.409 --> 00:37:21.789 through the park. There's incredible hiking. 00:37:21.889 --> 00:37:23.690 So we get tons of people that are coming out 00:37:23.690 --> 00:37:26.150 to hike. And yes, the PC2 cruises through there. 00:37:26.230 --> 00:37:30.710 And we're actually, Mazama is closer to the trail. 00:37:30.769 --> 00:37:34.820 That's the northernmost town. before you get 00:37:34.820 --> 00:37:38.920 to the Canadian terminus. So people will often 00:37:38.920 --> 00:37:42.780 come here either waiting to start going southbound 00:37:42.780 --> 00:37:45.860 or, you know, come post up for a while before 00:37:45.860 --> 00:37:48.980 they do the last stretch of Canada and back. 00:37:49.420 --> 00:37:51.639 So it's actually kind of a good spot because 00:37:51.639 --> 00:37:56.750 we get those northbound and southbound. A lot 00:37:56.750 --> 00:37:59.170 of times with PCT hikers, they don't allow, I 00:37:59.170 --> 00:38:00.989 think, I don't think they allow you to cross 00:38:00.989 --> 00:38:03.389 the border anymore. So you have to basically 00:38:03.389 --> 00:38:07.389 call it yo -yo back. Yeah. I've heard about that. 00:38:07.849 --> 00:38:11.190 Yeah. And so the yo -yo back and, you know, I 00:38:11.190 --> 00:38:14.909 mean. a good hostel and has a good vibe, it starts 00:38:14.909 --> 00:38:17.289 turning into a little bit of a hotel California. 00:38:17.849 --> 00:38:25.349 Yeah. Five nights, right? Yeah. We have so many 00:38:25.349 --> 00:38:29.769 friends in this community that stayed here at 00:38:29.769 --> 00:38:31.909 the hostel, whether it's because they had the 00:38:31.909 --> 00:38:35.530 PCT and stayed at the hostel and loved it, or 00:38:35.530 --> 00:38:37.809 they came out for another reason, stayed at the 00:38:37.809 --> 00:38:41.079 hostel and just never left. So many people. So 00:38:41.079 --> 00:38:44.199 many of the friends in our community say the 00:38:44.199 --> 00:38:46.800 hostel was their first intro to this valley. 00:38:46.800 --> 00:38:49.139 That's great. I was going to say, though, in 00:38:49.139 --> 00:38:52.139 the winter, that pass over the North Cascades 00:38:52.139 --> 00:38:56.119 closes. So then to get here in the winter, from 00:38:56.119 --> 00:39:00.139 Seattle, you go over Snoqualmie or Stevens Pass 00:39:00.139 --> 00:39:03.159 and then north up the Columbia River and then 00:39:03.159 --> 00:39:08.639 back west. And then we're nestled up. We're like 00:39:08.639 --> 00:39:11.369 the end of the road. Yeah, we basically become 00:39:11.369 --> 00:39:14.070 the end of the road. And what people get rewarded 00:39:14.070 --> 00:39:17.250 by is we have the biggest network of cross -country 00:39:17.250 --> 00:39:21.070 ski trails in North America. Yeah, and it stays 00:39:21.070 --> 00:39:25.670 cold and the sun comes out a lot. So it's a long 00:39:25.670 --> 00:39:28.269 journey out from Seattle to get here. But people 00:39:28.269 --> 00:39:30.849 do come all the way out here for the amazing 00:39:30.849 --> 00:39:33.190 network of cross -country ski trails. Thanks, 00:39:33.230 --> 00:39:36.570 Metauk Trails. And the gorgeous weather. I mean, 00:39:36.610 --> 00:39:40.530 right now it's, you know, it's... Ideally, it's 00:39:40.530 --> 00:39:43.690 in the 20s, but today it's in like the high 30s 00:39:43.690 --> 00:39:46.530 or 40s, which is a little warmer than we like 00:39:46.530 --> 00:39:50.750 it. But gorgeous. It's usually cold and sunny 00:39:50.750 --> 00:39:54.090 and gorgeous. And we also have an amazing new 00:39:54.090 --> 00:39:58.070 rink here. And that's been another draw in the 00:39:58.070 --> 00:40:01.289 winter. People come out. We started playing hockey. 00:40:01.369 --> 00:40:03.489 So we get a lot of hockey. We get a lot of hockey 00:40:03.489 --> 00:40:05.929 tournaments that come out here. And it's literally. 00:40:06.650 --> 00:40:09.309 where our location is you can hear the puck against 00:40:09.309 --> 00:40:16.289 the board so it's it's it's really fun it's an 00:40:16.289 --> 00:40:18.789 outdoor rink and you you're looking at the mountains 00:40:18.789 --> 00:40:21.750 the whole time and we so we get hockey teams 00:40:21.750 --> 00:40:24.389 that will come rent the whole place out and um 00:40:24.389 --> 00:40:28.449 yeah fun too so it's it's it's really this mecca 00:40:28.449 --> 00:40:32.469 i mean in the summer there's like alpine alpine 00:40:32.469 --> 00:40:36.130 climbing and rock climbing and whitewater rafting, 00:40:36.329 --> 00:40:39.789 and kind of reminds me of one of the hostels 00:40:39.789 --> 00:40:43.150 you had mentioned in North Conway, where it's 00:40:43.150 --> 00:40:45.010 just like this epicenter of all these various 00:40:45.010 --> 00:40:47.670 outdoor activities, which I can imagine is probably 00:40:47.670 --> 00:40:52.489 like your Big Bear one. Yeah, similar. Yep, similar 00:40:52.489 --> 00:40:55.050 seasons, the outdoor events and activities. That's 00:40:55.050 --> 00:40:57.469 awesome. That sounds like an awesome town to 00:40:57.469 --> 00:41:01.230 visit and an even better hostel to stay at. Oh, 00:41:01.269 --> 00:41:04.260 can I say one more little thing? Yeah. Yeah, 00:41:04.260 --> 00:41:08.679 please. We are at the point of our hostile journey, 00:41:08.820 --> 00:41:13.079 growth journey. We're looking for that unicorn, 00:41:13.239 --> 00:41:16.500 our manager. We've been hearing about these amazing 00:41:16.500 --> 00:41:19.039 hostile managers on your podcast and we're like, 00:41:19.059 --> 00:41:21.980 that's what we need. That's our next step. So 00:41:21.980 --> 00:41:23.800 I just wanted to put that little plug out there. 00:41:24.260 --> 00:41:27.920 Absolutely. Wow, that sounds cool. Maybe I want 00:41:27.920 --> 00:41:31.880 to go run that place. Yeah, no. And on that note, 00:41:32.409 --> 00:41:37.489 We're going to be taking over the hostilemanagement 00:41:37.489 --> 00:41:40.530 .com page and we're going to be revamping the 00:41:40.530 --> 00:41:45.510 hostile job section within that web page to really 00:41:45.510 --> 00:41:49.090 focus on getting more quality hostile managers. 00:41:49.949 --> 00:41:52.750 that hostile owners can confidently use that 00:41:52.750 --> 00:41:55.730 site as world packers and work away and things 00:41:55.730 --> 00:41:57.809 like that. They can often get you nice exchange 00:41:57.809 --> 00:42:01.630 members, but we want to really cater that hostile 00:42:01.630 --> 00:42:04.630 jobs on hostile management to just be for quality 00:42:04.630 --> 00:42:08.889 onsite managers. So stay tuned for that, but 00:42:08.889 --> 00:42:11.110 definitely a good plug and a great experience 00:42:11.110 --> 00:42:13.969 for someone to be had up there now. So in closing. 00:42:14.829 --> 00:42:17.789 What would be any advice or words of inspiration 00:42:17.789 --> 00:42:21.269 you might give to an aspiring hostel owner who's 00:42:21.269 --> 00:42:24.969 about to start their journey? I mean, I guess 00:42:24.969 --> 00:42:30.989 for me, once I sort of invested and fell in love 00:42:30.989 --> 00:42:36.659 with the idea of starting the hostel. um there 00:42:36.659 --> 00:42:40.300 was kind of no turning back as in i would do 00:42:40.300 --> 00:42:42.820 whatever it takes you know whether it's sleep 00:42:42.820 --> 00:42:46.579 in my suburban work three jobs you know because 00:42:46.579 --> 00:42:49.739 i really like the idea of being a small business 00:42:49.739 --> 00:42:53.900 owner an entrepreneur having this like cool business 00:42:53.900 --> 00:42:58.280 that creates amazing community vibes um so stick 00:42:58.280 --> 00:43:01.219 with it you know it can be hard i feel like the 00:43:01.219 --> 00:43:05.670 industry uh you know the The financial industry, 00:43:05.809 --> 00:43:08.730 all the various mechanisms to start a business, 00:43:08.869 --> 00:43:12.909 you know, oftentimes don't look kindly upon hostels. 00:43:12.909 --> 00:43:17.409 But know that if you stick with it, you know, 00:43:17.510 --> 00:43:22.030 it can come true. Stay crappy and find yourself 00:43:22.030 --> 00:43:27.750 an accountant. It's so true, though. One time 00:43:27.750 --> 00:43:31.079 a banker told me, he's like, there's... hotels, 00:43:31.380 --> 00:43:35.019 there's bars, and then there's you. And he's 00:43:35.019 --> 00:43:37.380 like, you're this whole new category of I'm not 00:43:37.380 --> 00:43:42.610 lending to. Right. Right. I know. Definitely 00:43:42.610 --> 00:43:46.489 the redheaded stepchildren. So you have to embrace 00:43:46.489 --> 00:43:49.050 that and, you know, and go with it. But that 00:43:49.050 --> 00:43:51.250 is that is sound advice to anyone getting to 00:43:51.250 --> 00:43:53.530 it is like you really got to be willing to jump 00:43:53.530 --> 00:43:56.150 in with both feet and be willing to commit to 00:43:56.150 --> 00:43:58.750 that attitude of whatever it takes. You know, 00:43:58.750 --> 00:44:02.570 living. Yeah. Yeah. You know, be ready to do 00:44:02.570 --> 00:44:05.409 anything. And it also still working other jobs 00:44:05.409 --> 00:44:07.329 while you're doing it. You know, a lot of the 00:44:07.329 --> 00:44:10.400 people that I've. had experience with over the 00:44:10.400 --> 00:44:13.019 years, including ourselves, that was a big key 00:44:13.019 --> 00:44:15.400 element to our success in the beginning. We didn't 00:44:15.400 --> 00:44:17.380 go under because we still kept our bartending 00:44:17.380 --> 00:44:20.239 and waiting jobs and serving tables, whatever 00:44:20.239 --> 00:44:22.820 it took to make the ends meet in the beginning. 00:44:23.059 --> 00:44:27.380 So that's definitely great advice. But Paul, 00:44:27.519 --> 00:44:31.119 Liza, thank you so much for joining us. Awesome 00:44:31.119 --> 00:44:33.659 episode. So much great stuff there for people 00:44:33.659 --> 00:44:37.960 to learn from and be inspired by in the North 00:44:37.960 --> 00:44:41.579 Cascades Mountain Hostel. I'm going to put that 00:44:41.579 --> 00:44:44.199 on my bucket list to visit one day. But thank 00:44:44.199 --> 00:44:47.500 you so much for joining the show. And we wish 00:44:47.500 --> 00:44:52.780 you all the best in 2026. Awesome. Thanks so 00:44:52.780 --> 00:44:55.019 much, guys. It's been fun. Thank you so much.