It gets to the point when travelling solo that you don’t seek out female dorms anymore. You get over the higher fees, tight pre-existing clicks of your roommates and surprisingly, judgement for showing the tiniest bit of skin when you change.
So what’s your alternative?
It didn’t take me long to move into mixed dorms (two hostels to be precise). I was nervous when I decided to make the move. All the voices of my friends and family haunted me and I couldn’t shake off their warnings. However, I sucked it up and booked my first solo trip mixed dorm.
Since then, I haven’t looked back. I now always opt for mixed over female dorms. To this day, I haven’t encountered a massive creep or felt uncomfortable by my roommates. Surprisingly, I found no difference to the level of snoring too!
Mixed dorms does have its issues, getting dressed a big one because travelling back and forth between your room and the toilets is a drag. And accidentally flashing your room mates can bring awkwardness into your new formed friendships…Luckily for me, I grew up as a surfer so I learnt how to get changed in public places without any accidentally boob flashes.
Here are four quick and easy tips for getting changed in your dorm room—flash free)
- Sleep in a large baggy shirt—No it’s not pretty like your usual girly pyjamas. However, it’s practical and covers all your bits and is great to get dressed in without needing you to grab a towel.
- Practice changing from bras and bikini tops before you travel—Put your bra over your bikini top and once fastened put your bikini out from underneath (and vice versa). This can also be done under your baggy shirt too or a towel for the more experienced.
- Be selective with what clothes you bring—Shorts and t-shirts are easy to get changed into under a towel or baggy shirt. Loose fitting dresses are also easy to pull over your head before taking off your towel. In addition to this, if you’re after a dress with more shape, a zip allows you to do the same and zip up after the removal of your towel.
- Changing your underpants is probably the easiest of the lot—since your baggy shirt is covering your bits you can just whip them off and put on new ones. A towel wrapped around your waste allows for the same, just be wary it does require more coordination!
Do you have any changing tips?
We’d love to hear them below