Whenever my parents made me do chores as a child I always thought one day I’m gonna run away, eat nothing but pancakes and do whatever I want. I ran away. I eat pancakes quite often. But I still have to do chores.

A lot of parents I’ve met always express concern about their children traveling abroad and living in hostels, but they have no idea how much hostel living will help mature their children. Kids get away with a lot when living at home, because their parents care about them and despite any frustration would never do anything to hurt them or their things. Strangers on the road are not as forgiving.

The stuff you could get away with at home, doesn’t fly in communal living. In fact, living with strangers forces people to follow mum’s rules more so than her nagging.

Get out of bed: A lot of hostels offer free breakfast. Even though it’s almost never anything special, it seems like the greatest thing in the world when you’re on the road and slowly running out of money. Unfortunately, the free food doesn’t last very long, usually available from 7-10. Regardless of all the partying that went on the night before or what a late sleeper you are, you’ll find yourself constantly waking up early for some free grub.

Finish your supper: When you actually do have to buy food, it’s precious. You pay for it with your own money and usually even cook it yourself. So eat it up, hell even lick the plate.

Tidy up your room: No matter how large a hostel room is, it’s not meant for that many people. You only have a small area to yourself. On top of that, you’ll want to keep your things on order so you don’t misplace things or not even realize certain things are gone.

Finish your homework: Internet is not free everywhere and that’s hard to swallow for someone who checks her email at least 30 times a day at home. Sometimes is can cost $5 an hour, so you have to make the most of your time online. Book things, respond to emails and update various accounts. Don’t waste time looking at random people’s photos on Facebook. Plus, you’d be surprised how much actual work you get done when you don’t have the internet to procrastinate on.

Do the dishes: I never do the dishes at home, because I have a dishwasher and someone else always ends up doing it anyway. People don’t have that luxury in hostels. You have to do your dishes and so them now, or face pissed-off fellow guests and sometimes even reprimanding by hostel owners.