It is a long enduring cliché: traversing Europe as a young adult with a free spirit, full of curiosity, armed with perhaps nothing but a backpack and passport. Of course, nowadays, you might include a cell phone and GPS. Nevertheless, the wanderlust finds its way into the vast majority of young American hearts. 
It can be done, albeit with some series planning, saving, and budgeting. Given time and effort, however, the individual can make it work. 
Common knowledge dictates that hotels can be extremely expensive, as can be evidenced by any search engine on any computer. The modern age has provided travelers with new options such as Airbnbs and Homestays, where locals rent out apartments, private rooms, or even entire homes to prospective travelers seeking a place to stay where they can have space and facilities to themselves. Often enough, these routes can prove to be economical and comfortable, with ratings and reviews to dictate just how nice any particular apartment is. In this way, consumers can weed out options they don’t deem suitable. However, these lodgings often require excessive planning ahead of time—accommodations in popular travel destinations tend to get booked months in advance. Depending on your destination, waiting last minute to locate a place to stay could leave you sleeping in your rental car, or worse, at an airport. 
The age-old backpacker’s tale, however, stems from a time before technology and increased communication offered these methods. Instead, people would end up residing in hostels—institutions that provide a bed, bath, and often laundry services. Nowadays, many hostels have taken it a step further by giving customers access to food and drink. I have encountered hostels that include an in-house bar and kitchen where you can prepare your own food—provided you purchase your own ingredients, of course. 
Typically, your stay at a hostel will entail sharing a room with a number of other people, most of whom are going to be strangers from other countries who are also making their travel rounds. Rooms with a smaller number of beds, such as quads (four beds), doubles or even singles, will usually mean an increase in price. The cheapest option is nearly always going to mean residing in a room with around a dozen beds, give or take a few. Hence, respect for your fellow travelers is key to ensure a pleasant experience. 
Proper etiquette means being mindful of the sleeping schedules of others, which may differ greatly from yours, especially on weekends when people are out late at night and want to sleep in the next morning. Hostels usually have a common room in which residents can hang out and chat for extended periods of time without disturbing any sleeping roommates. No one wants to be woken up in the middle of night by the return or perhaps arrival of others sharing your dorm. If you’re turning in after a late night out on the town, make sure to keep the noise level to an absolute minimum, and utilize a flashlight instead of flicking on all the lights in the room. I promise you, it will be greatly appreciated. 
Keep your belongings together—locked up tight inside the locker or wardrobe provided, or even in your suitcase, which you can usually tuck underneath your bed. Security is often a concern that can be resolved by the purchase of combination locks. It’s usually a good idea to keep your passport and other forms of identification on your person, but if you chose to leave it at the hostel, definitely keep it in a secure location. 
Bring flip-flops for showering. Much like dorm living at colleges, you are going to be bathing in a facility used by other people. As much as we’d like to believe that everyone’s hygiene is top notch, there’s simply no way to guarantee it. Hence, flip flops, preferably rubber, are an easy way to prevent contracting conditions like athlete’s foot or other distasteful fungi. 
Be polite, but don’t be afraid to meet new people. The truly cool thing about hostels is how they enable you to form global friendships. You might cross paths with someone whom you end up keeping in touch with, and perhaps even reconnecting with later on down the line. It’s always fun to go out in groups as well, and being that you might be traveling with only one other person or even solo, this adds a significant level of enjoyment to the experience. Traveling is all about exposure to new cultures and experiences. This includes other people. Don’t be shy—introduce yourself and strike up a conversation! 
Hostels can be a very economic method of lodging so long as you plan effectively and are prepared to live in conditions that can easily be likened to a summer camp—minus the tent and campfire. You may potentially find yourself accidentally spoiling the experience for yourself or your fellow traveler.