For 6 weeks I had the opportunity to volunteer at The Yellow Hostel in Rome through goeco.org. I didn’t know what to expect and absolutely had no idea what I was getting myself into!

I started following The Yellow on Facebook and Instagram to try to get an idea of what the hostel and the people were like. I know the website says it is a party hostel, but honestly, I did not prepare myself for the shenanigans that were about to take place!

There are always three volunteers working at the same time in order to cover various shifts. I cannot speak for everyone, but this was my typical day:

10:30am – Wake up and get ready for work

10:55am – Coffee time

11:00am – 6:00pm – Work

6:01pm – Wine time!

8:00pm – Change for the evening

8:30pm – Dinner

9:30pm – Time to get the party started (beer pong, dancing, chatting, drinking, hosting a theme party, getting people excited…whatever)

3:00 – 4:00am – Bed time!

What exactly did I do at work? Our job was to walk guests to their rooms and explain all the necessary information of the hostel and Rome in general. Checkout is at 10:00am. Wifi is free. We offer XYZ tours. Happy hour is from 12:00 – 9:00pm (you read that right). Beer pong all day. DJ every night. Burlesque on Monday. Karaoke on Thursday. Do you see where I am going with this?

I lived in a 6 person mixed dorm just like any regular guest. I had new roommates every few days ranging from 18-33 (mostly under 30 though) and from very obviously single  men to super cuddly couples. Usually everyone was pretty well behaved in the rooms, but there were those nights when things would get a little crazy. Let’s just say, one night when I went to bed there were 4 people in the room and when I woke up there were 9 (remember there are only 6 beds). What happened while I was sleeping is for the walls to know!

One of my favorite stories from The Yellow came from a few guests that came to experience Rome, and instead, experienced The Yellow. There was a group of guys that had met over their mutual love for day drinking. They spent the day enjoying each other’s company and when one of them mentioned he was going to have to leave to catch his 9:00pm flight, one of the other guys made a joke that he should stay and we would all buy him a ticket. A hat was passed around the bar and 150 euros was raised to buy this guy a ticket for the next day! Name another place where a bunch of strangers will pitch in to keep you there for one more night of fun!

The pictures are just snapshots of some of the fun nights that were had at The Yellow!