Mission

Hostelling is more than staying in a hostel. It's about traveling within the U.S. or to foreign lands, interacting with the world community and understanding other cultures. Hostelling is embarking on a trip with an open mind for adventure and experiencing the wonder of travel to its fullest.

Hostelling provides a venue for personal growth and a better understanding of the world and its people. Hostels and local councils give members and guests the opportunity to participate in educational programs and activities that promote interaction and socialization with the community they chose to visit.

Hostellers become caring world citizens who are catalysts for intercultural exchange and understanding stewards of the earth. The lives of people have been changed because of their hostelling experiences.

Hostelling seeks to:

Promote global awareness through a network of welcoming, comfortable and affordable hostels that encourage exploration and nurture cross-cultural communication, and through programs that interpret culture principally through interaction among hostellers and community members.

Encourage educational travel through information, activities and services that facilitate safe, affordable and culturally sensitive hostel travel for people of all ages.

Interpret the environment through activities that promote meaningful, low-impact travel using hostels and that focus on the conservation and interpretation of the built and natural environment.

Broaden community participation through involvement of all members of the community in hostel travel, council programs and volunteer participation.

By acting as change agents, Hostelling International USA fulfills our mission and carries out our vision every day in the United States and throughout the rest of the world.