-
Where To Stay In Panama City: Best Areas & Hotels (2026)
When I visited Panama City, I was backpacking through Central America and stayed at Casa Areka because we arrived without booking anything and basically wanted the cheapest decent place we could find for the night. But if you’re trying to decide where to stay in Panama City, the area matters just as much as the hotel itself. The city is spread out, and staying in Casco Viejo feels completely different from staying around El Cangrejo, Albrook or the Amador Causeway. So in this guide, I’m breaking down the best areas to stay in Panama City first, followed by the hotels I’d actually consider at different budgets. Best Hotels in Panama…
-
My Experience Backpacking Austria Solo: What I Really Thought of Vienna
Austria was one of the countries I visited during my first big solo backpacking trip around Europe, when I spent 80 days traveling entirely overland. I arrived in Vienna from Bratislava, and that probably couldn’t have been a worse combination for Vienna because I had just fallen completely in love with Slovakia’s much smaller capital. Bratislava had felt easy. It was small, colorful, quiet and the kind of place where I could just wander around without thinking too much about where I was going. Vienna felt like the complete opposite. It was huge, busy and much more overwhelming than I expected, and my first few hours there were mostly spent…
-
Backpacking Slovakia: Country #10 in My Journey Around the World
I didn’t go to Slovakia because it was high on my bucket list. Actually, I barely knew anything about Bratislava before I went. I was in the middle of my first big solo backpacking trip around Europe: 80 days, entirely overland, moving from country to country and figuring everything out as I went. I had just been in Budapest when I realized that going through Bratislava before Vienna was cheaper than heading straight to Austria, so that was basically the entire decision-making process. I booked one night. That turned out to be a terrible decision, because within a few hours of finally making it into Bratislava’s Old Town, I was…
-
The Hosteller Fort Kochi Ocean Edge Review: My Experience Staying for 3 Months
I originally booked The Hosteller Fort Kochi Ocean Edge because I needed somewhere cheap to stay in Fort Kochi. Three months later, I was still there. During that time, I somehow managed to try almost every dorm in the hostel, spent a month in one of their private rooms, made some of my closest friends from my India trip and reached the point where the hostel genuinely started to feel like home. So this review is definitely not based on one night. I stayed long enough to experience the hostel when it was quiet, when it was completely full, when I had to keep moving between dorms because I refused…
-
How Many Days in Kochi Do You Really Need? My Honest Recommendation
When I first arrived in Kochi, I was only supposed to stay for a few days. Somehow, I stayed for three months. That wasn’t because I still had tourist attractions left to see after week seven. Kochi just became one of those places where I stopped traveling the way I normally do. I made friends almost immediately at The Hosteller Fort Kochi Ocean Edge, found cafés and food places I kept going back to, and suddenly had an actual routine. Most evenings I would meet friends for drinks at Cochin Fort, and after spending so much of my India trip constantly moving, Fort Kochi started feeling weirdly like home. That…
-
Bocas del Toro to Puerto Viejo: How I Traveled Overland to Costa Rica
Getting from Bocas del Toro to Puerto Viejo is actually pretty straightforward, but apparently my friend and I decided straightforward was unnecessary. We were traveling overland through Central America with backpacks and trying to keep the trip as cheap as possible, so instead of booking a direct transfer from Bocas del Toro to Puerto Viejo, we took the boat back to Almirante, hitchhiked to the Costa Rica border and then jumped on a local bus to Puerto Viejo. It was my first time hitchhiking, I was convinced there was at least a reasonable possibility we were going to get kidnapped, and my friend was once again wondering why he had…
-
3 Days in Porto Solo: The Trip That Made Me Want More
I spent 3 days in Porto in 2014, before my first long solo backpacking trip around Europe, and that little trip ended up meaning much more to me than I expected. I hadn’t traveled for around eight months because university and work had taken over, and I was desperate to go somewhere again. I finally had four days off, so Porto became my little test before the much bigger solo trip I was planning. At that point, even traveling alone within Portugal still felt like an adventure. Getting somewhere without getting lost, figuring out public transportation or simply finding whatever I was looking for felt like a small victory. Those…
-
My Panama Itinerary: The Start of My 8-Country Central America Trip
Panama was the first stop of one of the craziest trips I’ve ever done: traveling through all eight countries in Central America in just three weeks. A friend who has traveled to almost every country in the world was planning the trip and asked if I wanted to join. I said yes, despite the fact that there was basically no plan. The only thing we knew was the date we needed to reach Mexico because he had a flight from there. Everything else would be figured out along the way. We ended up starting in Panama City simply because we found a cheap last-minute direct flight from Madrid. From there,…
-
How Many Days in Panama City Do You Really Need? My Honest Recommendation
When we arrived in Panama City, we only had one night and one full day before continuing our trip through Panama. At the time, that wasn’t because I’d researched how many days in Panama City we needed and decided one was perfect. We were traveling through eight countries in Central America in three weeks with basically no plan, and we wanted to keep moving. But after actually spending the day exploring Panama City, I didn’t leave wishing we’d stayed another two or three days just to see more of the city. If I went back, I’d still give Panama City itself one full day. If I had more time, I’d…
-
Casa Areka Hostel Review: What €10 Gets You in Panama City
I stayed at Casa Areka during my trip through Panama, when we needed somewhere affordable to stay for our first night in Panama City before continuing toward Bocas del Toro. After staying in hostels all over the world, I’ve learned that what looks great online isn’t necessarily what matters once you get there. So, is Casa Areka actually a good place to stay in Panama City? In this Casa Areka review, I’ll tell you what our stay was actually like, what we paid, what you get for the price and whether I’d stay there again. Casa Areka Hostel Review: My Quick Answer Yes, I’d recommend Casa Areka if you’re looking…
