HI Connect in San Diego

In September, more precisely on the 11th September (because at that time the tickets are the cheapest) I flew to Los Angeles. I wanted to arrive a few days before the start of volunteering, in order to adapt and, above all, get rid of the jet lag, since I had to adjust to 9 hours of time difference. That was my first trip to the United States. The US have never been on my travel list, but I'm really grateful that HI Connect brought me right there. For the first 5 days I've been exploring Los Angeles, from the beaches like Venice Beach, Santa Monica Beach, Hollywood, visiting various museums, getting to know the American way of life. Then I took a train to San Diego. I highly recommend this trip by train, because it offers a wonderful view of the California coast.

Why I did I decide to go to the US? Because the United States puts a huge emphasis on good services, emphasize hospitality, and I was aware that I can learn a lot and bring this knowledge to Slovenia. The level of quality is high, offering guests not only accommodation but an experience, especially the hostels in the HI USA network.

When I arrived at HI San Diego Point Loma, the hostel kindly welcomed me. Jenny, who is the manager of the hostel and Lesley, showed me a hostel, which is certainly one of the most beautiful hostels I have stayed in. The hostel has a huge terrace with fireplaces, a seating area, foosball and there are also bicycles, surfing equipment, SUP desks available for rent, as the beach where you can ride waves is only a good 15 minutes away. In the hostel, we agreed that I would do all the work needed to offer our guests a great experience. I helped preparing breakfasts, entertained guests, which was a lot of fun, I also cleaned, I met with guests and learned about the hospitality and way of operating HI hostels in the US. Each HI hostel must prepare a certain number of activities according to its capacity and the number of guests they accommodate. So we had film nights on the terrace, we played board games and made postcards and baked peace pancakes for the event Sleep for Peace, which we also mark at HI Slovenia. Sleep for Peace event was extended to a whole week, we watched movies of peace, baked pizzas, pancakes, mixed blue cocktails (blue is the colour of peace). I had two days a week free, but not for the weekends, because it was the busiest time at the hostel. I used Tuesdays and Wednesdays to wander in San Diego and its surroundings. Since HI in San Diego has two hostels, I went to see the other one, which is more of a party hostel and is located in the city centre. I met Meggie, who joined HI Connect in Postojna, Slovenia, but unfortunately we did not manage to catch up in Slovenia.

San Diego is a smaller city for American standards. It’s a naval base. Part of the movie Top Gun was also filmed here. So I went to the brewery, where Tom Cruise drinks beer in the film. I went to see the aircraft carrier, the old part of the city, which is beautiful, I visited many museums, parks, but I spent most of my time on Ocean Beach near the hostel. San Diego is famous for its zoo and Sea World. Ocean beach is the so-called "hippie beach«. Every night there are street karaoke, visitors practice yoga, juggle or just wander and enjoy themselves, it's really a pleasure to just sit on the beach and admire the passers-by. Every Wednesday there is a Farmers Market, where you can try food from around the world and where local artists are representing themselves. You will not be able to resist to buy a souvenir.

In the hostel, during my stay, several people lived in the hostel for longer than I did. We became a small family. You really feel right at home right away, and I understand why it was difficult for them to leave.

Following this great experience and enthusiasm over California and its people, I took advantage of the rest of the time in the US and headed towards Las Vegas, then to Fresno and San Francisco. But I won't talk about this for now, as I can tell a lot about this trip as well. I also spent the night in San Francisco at HI Fisherman's Wharf, which is known as the hostel with the most beautiful view at the Golden Gate Bridge.

I really recommend the HI Connect program because it gives you a different insight into the city and country. It helps to break stereotypes, overcome cultural prejudices, gain new knowledge and get competences from the first hand. Join HI Connect, you will not regret it. I would be happy to go again.