A Tale of Two Cities: Finding Cheap Accommodation in Pittsburgh and Cincinnati

When my proposal to present an academic paper on travel literature at the Mid-Atlantic Popular & American Culture Association (MAPACA) in Pittsburgh was accepted, I instantly began to worry about accommodation. I had never been to Pittsburgh, so I didn't know what to expect. After tirelessly searching for a decent place, my luck changed when a friend recommended Airbnb. For those of you unfamiliar with Airbnb, Wikipedia has a succinct yet thorough summary of how the system works, "Airbnb is an online service that matches people seeking vacation rentals and other short-term accommodations with hosts who have an unused space to rent, generally private parties that are not professional hoteliers.The site was founded in August 2008 by Nathan Blecharczyk, Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia. In July 2012, the company had over 200,000 listings in more than 26,000 cities and present in 192 countries with over 1,000,000 hosts and travellers on its platform.Listings include private rooms, entire apartments, castles, boats, manors, tree houses, tipis, igloos, speciality design housing, private islands and other properties."

The living room area at Not Another Hostel

While browsing through Airbnb, I stumbled upon Not Another Hostel. This amazing hostel (the only one in Pittsburgh by the way) was founded by Jon, and his vision for the entire project is inspirational and impressive. Jon runs the hostel on a donation-based policy. I'll let him speak for himself, "Hostelling started as a way to help travelers. Period. Unfortunately, people have tried to cash in on a travelers' need for a cheap place to stay. This is not one of those places...This is my home, and I'm opening up the doors to help travelers. I ask for donations simply to help me pay bills. I recommend donating 25 USD per person, per night." Read more about his mission statement here. Sounds suspicious? Think again.

The map on the hostel wall