Stephanie Garcia on Hostels, Travel and Connection

My guest, today on the podcast is Stephanie Garcia. Stephanie is a traveler who found herself working and living in a hostel in London for three years alongside this. She has spent a lot of her time teaching children and showing them there's more to life than books.

In this conversation, Steph and I really dive into her travels and the most important one being, or the focal point, the hostel, because from my own experience, the hostel really doesn't have a large play in what I thought about it. I hadn't realized how many different variations on a hostel there could be, and also around the stigma of it.

For someone like Steph, who basically said I'm going to live here and work here for three years, it is one of those moments that really shape and define how you view the world. Especially as someone who's grown and lived in a grown-up and lived in an area that is roughly where I've always lived, is it seems so out of the ordinary. We get into other stories that Steph finds meaningful throughout the conversation, from favorite travel places to stories.

In many cases, these favorite travel stories actually can be stories that one may be considered to be negative or not what one might expect could have actually turned into a bad memory rather than being a good one. But instead, Stephanie has chosen to remember them in a positive way, which is really interesting.

I found this conversation to be really fun after hearing some of Steph's stories through Clubhouse, which we mentioned a couple of times when I connected with her initially. It was interesting to fill in the gaps that normally you don't get as much time to talk about yourself or get into longer stories on an app.

So having this a little bit of extra to understand. Where the stories come from or where the interests come from. Please enjoy this conversation with Stephanie Garcia.

Connect with Steph

Instagram @stephiamx and @isotravelx

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What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

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Show Notes

[00:04:12] Who is Steph?

[00:05:17] What was the first hostel?

[00:07:04] Why do hostels have a bad reputation?

[00:09:57] Lessons learned from travel

[00:11:58] A hostel seems like spending time at a campfire 

[00:12:56] Spontaneous trips

[00:14:46] What type of jobs do long time travelers take 

[00:16:49] Getting used to the lack of privacy in a hostel

[00:18:47] Adjusting to a shift in social environment from the pandemic

[00:20:15] Take advantage of where you are

[00:24:34] Test out countries and live like a local

[00:29:58] Top countries or stories

[00:33:58] Making connections with others

[00:36:29] Traveling with a boyfriend

[00:39:08] Hostel Life The Reality Show

[00:43:23] Life in London

[00:49:19] Picking up accents

[00:53:53] Speaking multiple languages

[00:57:11] Visiting Berlin

[01:00:58] Advice for someone taking the first step to travel?

[01:02:46] Where to connect with Steph

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TravelErich WenzelStephanie Garcia, Traveling, Travel Tips, Hostel, Hostel Life, Clubhouse, World TravelComment