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Hostel Question
Board: Hitchhikers, Cooties, and Fleas
Oct 31, 2007 10:43pm
Thread (disabled) Board
Since I'll soon be hosting my first hostel. I just wanted to know.
How long do you think is too long to have a HH in a hostel?

I'm thinking if it's been in there for a month, I should move it on.

What do you all think?

S~N~K
Re: Hostel Question
Board: Hitchhikers, Cooties, and Fleas
Reply to: #148177 by Sits N Knits
Nov 1, 2007 2:05am
Thread (disabled) Board
Quote How long do you think is too long to have a HH in a hostel?


I think it depends on the HH. If the HH has been going around the area for a long time and most locals have found it I don't worry about moving it on. It is there for the occasional 'foreigner' or newbie to find as they often make a beeline for a Hostel. If it is a newish HH then I move them on everytime I visit the Hostel (making sure I have some replacements so the Hostel doesn't become empty).

YT
Re: Hostel Question
Board: Hitchhikers, Cooties, and Fleas
Reply to: #148177 by Sits N Knits
Nov 1, 2007 4:26am
Thread (disabled) Board
Quote How long do you think is too long to have a HH in a hostel?


I don't think there is any length of time that is too long. I think it really depends on the number of visitors. Some hostels could get visited everyday and then I would say a week is too long. Some may only get visited once a year, to that I would say two years is too long. Obviously these are rediculous extremes but you get my point.

In order to minimize the amount of time a HH stays in a particular Hostel, I find it helpful to only require a one HH minimum as opposed to 2 or three. That way, most of the time, anyone visiting will be able to exchange a hitchhiker but they won't be able to choose "the best one", leaving the "runt" behind.

Additionally, don't make some kind of statement like "in order to take one you must leave one". The requirement of at least one in the box is good enough. I occasionally visit my hostel and unload a few hitchhikers. If people aren't able to take the extra (any above one) hitchhikers, then the box will eventually overflow.

Larry
Re: Hostel Question
Board: Hitchhikers, Cooties, and Fleas
Reply to: #148177 by Sits N Knits
Nov 1, 2007 7:43am
Thread (disabled) Board
Quote How long do you think is too long to have a HH in a hostel?


If it's one of my HH's, five minutes is too long.
Re: Hostel Question
Board: Hitchhikers, Cooties, and Fleas
Reply to: #148249 by Kirbert
Nov 1, 2007 8:32am
Thread (disabled) Board
If it's one of my HH's, five minutes is too long.


LOL, Kirbert, I have dropped HH's and had them picked up within 30 minutes, and I have picked up HH's after exchanging on the trail with the LBer who dropped it! Would that work for you? But, alas, that is the exception!
Re: Hostel Question
Board: Hitchhikers, Cooties, and Fleas
Reply to: #148257 by Butterfly Suzy
Nov 1, 2007 9:13am
Thread (disabled) Board
Quote LOL, Kirbert...


It wasn't meant to be funny.

Quote I have dropped HH's and had them picked up within 30 minutes, and I have picked up HH's after exchanging on the trail with the LBer who dropped it! Would that work for you?


I don't really care how long my HH's sit in a letterbox. I just don't want them left in a hostile, at all, ever. HH's are supposed to be a surprise to find, and you're not surprised when you find an HH in a hostile.
Re: Hostel Question
Board: Hitchhikers, Cooties, and Fleas
Reply to: #148276 by Kirbert
Nov 1, 2007 9:53am
Thread (disabled) Board
My hostel will be more of a PT.

I'm thinking of naming it "Santa's Helper"

And the clue will probably be: "Come see me along with the rest of Santa's Little Helpers"

But I will help move the little HH's along
Re: Hostel Question
Board: Hitchhikers, Cooties, and Fleas
Reply to: #148276 by Kirbert
Nov 1, 2007 10:08am
Thread (disabled) Board
Quote I just don't want them left in a hostile


~~~Penny the Pony was tragically lost today behind enemy lines, after being left in a hostile letterbox. Reconnaissance teams have been sent out to search for Terrell the Turtle, who is MIA. Muggles have been sighted in the area. Please send your prayers to Kirbert as he mourns this loss.~~~
Re: Hostel Question
Board: Hitchhikers, Cooties, and Fleas
Reply to: #148276 by Kirbert
Nov 1, 2007 10:44am
Thread (disabled) Board
I don't really care how long my HH's sit in a letterbox. I just don't want them left in a hostile, at all, ever. HH's are supposed to be a surprise to find, and you're not surprised when you find an HH in a hostile.


I understand what you mean now Kirbert. I was laughing because I thought you were saying you prefer your HH's to move quickly. I was not laughing to make fun of you. I was imagining the 5 minutes in a LB and remembering times I have picked up or dropped HHs that really only spent less than 1/2 hour in a LB. That is more at what I was laughing. But, I see now you meant you want your HH's to spend no minutes in a hostel.

I think I only visited one hostel thinking it was a LB, not having read the definition, at which point I learned what a hostel is. I did not end up leaving a HH there, because it was soaked. I enjoy the surprise of finding HHs too. And, I often take them far away even to another state if I am going that way, unless the HH logbook says it is to stay nearby. But, many say something about wanting to travel far.
Re: Hostel Question
Board: Hitchhikers, Cooties, and Fleas
Reply to: #148291 by sunnyside seeker
Nov 1, 2007 10:46am
Thread (disabled) Board
~~~Penny the Pony was tragically lost today behind enemy lines, after being left in a hostile letterbox. Reconnaissance teams have been sent out to search for Terrell the Turtle, who is MIA. Muggles have been sighted in the area. Please send your prayers to Kirbert as he mourns this loss.~~~


Too funny sunnyside seeker. I had similar thoughts. Your post also makes me imagine an entry for the comedy/humor LB calendar.
Re: Hostel Question
Board: Hitchhikers, Cooties, and Fleas
Reply to: #148177 by Sits N Knits
Nov 1, 2007 3:51pm
Thread (disabled) Board
How long do you think is too long to have a HH in a hostel?


I don't like HH's in my hostel longer than 3 months. If I'm going out of town I visit it and rotate them out so it may be sooner or slightly later. I take home the ones I pulled and give the HH owners a full report on any that I have found (listing all their travels). I do any repairs to them or mail them home if the owners want them back.

However, if it is a Kirbert HH, I immediately tear out that page so there is no evidence it was in a hostel and quietly slip it on to another box.
Re: Hostel Question
Board: Hitchhikers, Cooties, and Fleas
Reply to: #148414 by The Wolf Family
Nov 1, 2007 3:53pm
Thread (disabled) Board
However, if it is a Kirbert HH...


I hope you know I'm teasing here-- I'd pamper his HH too (I just wouldn't "rat out" the 'boxer that put it there). ;)
Re: Hostel Question
Board: Hitchhikers, Cooties, and Fleas
Reply to: #148415 by The Wolf Family
Nov 1, 2007 4:12pm
Thread (disabled) Board
Quote
I hope you know I'm teasing here-- I'd pamper his HH too (I just wouldn't "rat out" the 'boxer that put it there). ;)


Wouldn't the HH look a little funny with tiny diapers on it? Wait, many of them are wrapped in nappies, aren't they?