I have recently ticked off one of my first big travel challenges, staying in a hostel with an ostomy.

I feel like as a backpacker it is a right of passage to stay in a hostel so I wasn’t going to let my ostomy stop me from trying it! So when I headed over to the Gili T in Indonesia, I thought what better place to give it a go.

So I wanted to share what it was like and upon reflection what I might do differently next time.

So what was the hostel set up?

So I stayed in a private 2 bed dorm style room, with a shared bathroom. The room itself was fairly small with raised beds, which had room underneath for storage.

Luckily the room had a/c although it did leak a fair amount of water when turned on, so I just made sure I kept my supplies in my bag under my bed to keep them cool and dry. The shared bathroom consisted of a row of sinks with 2 individual cubicle toilets and 6 individual shower cubicles – all about 3 meters from my room.

Bag changes in a shared bathroom

At home I would normally change my bag as soon as I got out of the shower before getting dressed, but in the hostel, where the showers and toilets were separated, I had to change up my usual routine by going back to my room to get my stoma supplies after showering to make sure they didn’t get wet.

The toilets didn’t have a ledge/ shelf where I could put my supplies so instead I laid them all out on top of a disposable black bag. I don’t tend to use a mirror when I put my bag on as I’ve been doing it for so long but if you do use one, I would suggest bringing a travel mirror with you as none of the toilets had mirrors in them! I felt a bit awkward initially as there were only a couple of toilets available but I think where people are on their own agenda in a hostel, no one was waiting to use the toilet which was good.

Everyday hostel life with an ostomy

Emptying my bag during the day at the hostel wasn’t a problem as it just felt like it would in any public toilet. What I struggled with most was getting up to empty my bag during the night. Being in a bunk I had to jump down out of the bed, find the room key and walk to the toilet.

All the hallways and toilets are lit up very bright which is helpful to get to the toilet but makes it harder to get back to sleep after! I did like that the toilets were individual cubicles as it gave me an extra layer of privacy when changing and emptying my bag which I didn’t expect from a shared bathroom!

What I would do differently next time

To be totally transparent I would probably just book a private room with a private bathroom. For me I feel like using a shared bathroom disrupts my sleep quite a lot so it would be worth the extra money to have my own bathroom. You can then still benefit from the cheaper accommodation prices, social element and good location without having to compromise on privacy.

So another first has been ticked off in my travel diaries with my first hostel stay. While I was initially apprehensive about staying in a hostel, the reality is it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. For me I think staying in a private bathroom room within the hostel is the best of both worlds.

There is still so much more of Asia I have to explore and it definitely won’t be the last hostel I stay in! With one more travel milestone ticked off, another lesson learned and plenty more to come. The Travel Diaries continue as I navigate backpacking like with an ostomy.

Summer
@summers_stoma