I used to be a prolific hostel-hopper, and I’d spend months on end going from dorm room to dorm room, sharing my space with strangers who’d become friends without a second thought. But this ...

At another, in Salzburg, people in my dorm placed their damp socks on the radiator to dry after a day of walking in the snow, leaving the room stinking. And at one in Paris, the hostel bar below ...