Traveler Spotlight--Libby and Becky

Written by: Krista Baum

Happy 1st day of summer!! As part of my internship at HI-Chicago, I had the pleasure of doing my first traveler spotlight interview with two lovely ladies from England.

Libby and Becky have been friends for 6 years, are both 19yrs. old and live in Surrey, England. They decided that this summer was the right time to travel to the United States because Becky will be starting Uni in the fall and Libby is taking her gap year before Uni.

Their adventures started after flying out of London, England, and landing in Boston, Massachusetts. They have already traveled extensively on Amtrak to New York, Washington D.C. and Chicago.

But where did they stay?

After a poor experience at a private hostel in New York, they used Hostelworld.com to book beds at HI-Washington D.C. After a great experience at the D.C. hostel, they decided to stick with the HI brand in choosing HI-Chicago.

Currently they are at HI-Chicago! During their past four days they have seen a lot of things, including: the Lincoln Park Zoo and the Museum of Science and Industry. Along with famous tourist destinations, every town has it's own cuisine, and in Chicago it's the Chicago style hot dog! So what is on a Chicago style hot dog? A Chicago style hot dog consists of: an all beef hot dog on a poppy seed bun, yellow mustard, chopped white onions, sweet pickle relish, a dill pickle spear, tomato slices, pickled peppers, and celery salt. Yum! These ladies were in awe by all of the toppings! It was cute when we interviewed because they said they wanted ketchup on their hotdogs, I told them that ketchup was not put on a Chicago style hot dog, and then they understood as to why the hot dog vender was so perplexed when they asked for ketchup.

Before they leave Chicago, they plan on going to the Skydeck at Willis Tower, formerly Sears Tower. As well as will try some Chicago style pizza and hit up the shopping scene!

What are their favorite things about staying at HI-Chicago?

Libby loves the view from the dining room and watching the trains pass by. Both Libby and Becky are healthy chefs and love the conveniance of cooking in the communal kitchen.
However, there are always challenges for travelers. Becky misses her phone, which she left in England, but because HI-Chicago has complimentary wifi she was able to keep in touch with her friends and family.

Libby would rather not have to live out of her suitcase. I can totally relate to Libby's comment because living out of a suitcase is tricky. I always had clothes tossed around in my suitcase, and sometimes I could not tell which ones were clean and which were dirty. That's when I would just close my eyes and hope for the best. Then there was all of the bath products that would be scattered about, and commonly found at the very bottom of my suitcase.

After Chicago, they plan on taking the Amtrak to Tennesse, New Orleans, L.A., and San Francisco. Hopefully booking with HI hostels in each of their destinations.

In the future they hope to travel to Australia! It's neat because Becky has family there, so maybe they will be her tour guides.