Did you stay in youth hostels when you were young and spritely?

They'll have been different in each country, of course, but my memory in Britain is of finding my way to any sort of large building - a former big house, perhaps, or a converted cheese factory and even a Welsh castle - and thinking of its triangular green YHA badge as the symbol of a secret society.

Secret because in those days car drivers weren't admitted. You had to travel under your own steam, though it was clear that there were hitch-hikers among us.

Youth hostels introduced me to touring, to meeting other cyclists on their own first tours and, sometimes, wizened riders in their 20s who had been Everywhere.

In time, hostels changed. They could no longer pay the rent on what cyclists and hikers brought them. Many of us understood but felt betrayed when they admitted motorists and encouraged group bookings by school parties of noisy kids.

Some old hostels were taken over by their wardens and run outside the YHA network. They were part of a worldwide trend. Now you can go to any city in the world and find independent hostels, not restricted to cyclists and walkers, of course, but devoid of school parties and often full of bright-eyed kids of the sort that I once was, discovering the world with a sense of excitement that I remember well.

So, tell us... were hostels important to you? Did you start cycling when they were in their prime, or later? What tales to tell, good or bad?

Leo, what a wonderful description of the genesis and vibe of UK hostels.

My experience was very similar to yours. I discovered youth hostels at the same time I discovered cycle touring. Your question has caused to to think back on that and I’ve come to the conclusion that both hosteling and cycling were intertwined in a symbiotic relationship.

My first tour, and I use that term liberally, was four months in Europe in 1982. The first two months were in the UK, with my route largely determined by where the next hostel was. I’m not sure the tour would have happened without the tattered hostel guide  and wet Michelin map in hand to guide me to those welcoming green triangles at the end of the day.

Hi Leo

As a newly minted South African Chartered Accountant I arrived in London in 1969.

Someone suggested that I join one of the YHA local groups so I became a member of West London Group. We would meet on a Saturday afternoon, drive out of London, park at a railway station car park which was usually deserted on a Saturday afternoon and walk a few miles to our chosen hostel. On Sunday we would do a longer loop walk back to our cars. Some often referred to the initials YHA as meaning Your Husband Assured ( wouldn't get away with that kind of talk now) bur spending week ends walking on muddy footpaths in often inclement weather gave a good evaluation of a prospective partner. Anyway within an eighteen month period five couples including Mary and I tied the knot and all are still together apart from one recent death. We did cycle on some weekends but it was mainly a walking group.

We returned to South Africa then migrated to Australia where following our sons' activities in the Scouts I became a Venturer Leader in the early nineteen nineties where I introduced the Unit to cycle touring and we did a tour of Tasmania. Alas all those little hostels have now disappeared for the same reasons listed in your post.

Moving into the twenty first century Mary and I stayed at the YHA hostel in Canberra for a tandem bike week end and were kept awake for what seem to be a large part of the night by members of a school party who seemed to be continuously climbing to the top of one of the bunks and jumping down. In the morning we bailed up one of the teachers who rounded up some miscreants who apologised to us for their misdemeanour.

These days we enjoy en suite rooms when we stay in hostels which are now only in cities or popular tourist areas. 

The Association has definitely moved on from its original aim of encouraging under privileged young persons to get out of the cities and experience country life.

Léo Youth Hostels in England, France and Germany were my saviour on my first ever cycle tour in 1979. Armed with almost nothing else but a YHA map, I cycled from central London to Epping Forest YH on Day 1 of 40+ years of cycle touring.   I did eventually wean myself off YH accommodation, but they gave me a great start.

... were hostels important to you? 

Yes, very.  From the age of 13 onwards: a boy in my class at school persuaded a teacher to accompany a group of five of us on a short hiking trip on the North Yorkshire Moors, on introductory permits, whereby we did not have to join the YHA, as long as we were accompanied by an adult member. I have a vague memory of collecting fallen tree branches for firewood from the hostel grounds, as a chore or "duty".

The following summer, I went on my first YH cycle tour to mid-Wales and back. Over the next two years the same boy organised hiking trips, during school holidays for small groups of us, again on the North Yorks Moors, in the Yorkshire Dales and the North Pennines. The spartan accomodation, the smell of calor gas and obligatory work detail never bothered me.

I began to see the opportunties. I temporarily abandoned the boots and the bike and took up hitch-hiking, by means of which, in my late teens I travelled all over the UK and a lot of Western Europe. I might be carrying a sleeping bag for the occasional night au clair de lune [a bus stop in Baldock by the old A1 springs to mind], but I'd usually be aiming for a YH.

Richard Schirrmann's original quote, which I think, used to grace the YHA handbook, about young people of limited means being given the opportunity to enjoy the countryside* was my story and that of many others.

*My rather clumsy paraphrase. I have searched for the original quote on-line and can't find it. Current YHA marketing material finesses its essence, as they close out of the way refuges, in favour, apparently, of more big city venues.

From my trip to Wales, of ten hostels we stayed in, only one is still open [Ilam Hall]
However, that was more than sixty years ago and times have certainly changed.

Leo -

Here in the States, the American Youth Hostel movement goes back to the 1930s in New England as an inexpensive way for young people, especially city kids, to connect with nature. It was part of a broader, progressive response to the Great Depression - based on community, co-operation, and minimal cost.

Except in New England and later the West Coast, hosteling never gained the same traction as it did in parts of Europe. Many times the buildings were old and funky, drafty and cold, but with a warm kitchen full of activity and a rowdy and engaging dining room table.

Now, I know y'all think I am old. But, truthfully, I was not around in the 1930s. It wasn't until the 1980s that I started staying at U.S. hostels. On my first bike tour and all the ones afterwards. For cyclists, the greatest of all was Ernie Franceschi's Birchwood Hostel in Missoula. A cross-country bike trip wasn't complete without a stay at Ernie's and a trick show by his little dog.

Although June Curry's Bike House in Virginia wasn't a hostel it was equally welcoming. June, affectionately known as the "Cookie Lady" was a force of kindness unequalled in the universe.

A number of states had hostels in their state parks. Washington state had all these old military facilities on the Pacific coast and Puget Sound from WWII - like Fort Worden near Port Townsend. They were funky, for sure, but there were often located in spectacular settings.

Ohio had Malabar Farm - a mid-century experimental farm operated by Louis Bromfield, a successful author who had grown up poor on a farm. He always wanted to find a way to make small farms work in an era of expanding agribusiness. Still, the farm he established was picture-book and attracted the rich and famous. And had a gorgeous hostel which closed in 2017.

Hosteling International replaced AYH in the late 1990s and the focus changed entirely. 2/3s of the hostels - the small, rural, funky ones that which cyclists prefer - were shut down. Although H-I is a non-profit, it has a corporate structure and corporate culture. Local councils have been eliminated or reduced to insignificance. Most hostels no longer have chores - because they were so "unpopular".

I have many wonderful memories - - 
And am saddened by the loss of these magical meeting places.

Speaking of American hostels, there are a handful in Colorado. They all seem to have the typical dorm room with the bathroom down the hall. They also have private bedrooms, still with the bathroom down the hall.  In Aspen, you can get a private room with a private bath at the St. Moritz. For many years a dorm room at St. Moritz was $20. in the off season and it included an afternoon glass of wine and breakfast! Who would think you could stay in Aspen for that price? I almost always had a room to myself, being female. Then they suddenly raised their prices to almost double, and quit offering the afternoon wine. That was still a bargain in Aspen, but I switched lodging to the Tyrolean Lodge, which allows bikes in the room.  I do remember those $20. days fondly.

Crested Butte, near Gunnison, is another upscale hostel in Colorado. The Bivvi Hostel near Telluride is on the Western Express. 

Yeah, but these "upscale" hostels are $40, $50 & $60 per night. For a bunk bed in a dorm room! If I remember correctly, the Birchwood was $8 and then went up to $10. Prices have doubled since 1990. The minimum wage has not quite doubled. but hostel prices have gone up five times. And don't even start mentioning motel prices.

I was able to budget $20 per day for my first X-USA in 1987.
Cheap camping and hostels made that possible.

I agree, these hostels aren't pure to the sense of the term - no shared chores, and no community feeling, hanging around chatting. Now, IF people are in the common area, they are all on their phones/computers. The good old days were good!

My favorite memory is of a paper map of Montana spread out all across the table with six or seven of us all leaning over it. Talking about this route or that town or the secret camping spot. - - Nope. Looking at a 3x5 screen just doesn't compare.