Hostel-ities

I just booked my flight for the AAR conference. It involves a red-eye on the way back home, which will make Tuesday classes before Thanksgiving verrrry interesting. ("Ms. sigerson, would you care to describe Evans-Pritchard's approach to Azande religion?" "Nnnnnnuuggggggghh!") Not too happy about the cost, but it's not as bad as it could be, and the flights should be relatively painless.

What I'm pondering now is housing. I don't believe I know anyone in the immediate San Diego area, so the great setup from the Washington conference isn't available. (Which makes me sad. Staying with nadyezhda and haak0n was fabulous.) So I'm left with two options: hotel or hostel.

The hotels are all $150/night and up. The hostel is $25 a night for a dorm-style bed, $50 a night for a private room (double or twin beds). That settles that question, especially since the hostel is closer than some of the hotels. esqgirl has spoken highly of its quality and friendliness, too, so I feel confident about choosing it for housing.

The question is this: Dorm bed or private room? The dorm room has less security for my stuff (there's a locker for valuables, but I am *not* bringing the laptop), and the private room would be more secure. The real question is desired degree of social interaction. Do I need the social push that staying with several strangers would provide? Or do I need the retreat that a private room would give?

It's a real conundrum for me; I love having a retreat, a safe spot to consider everything at the end of the day. But in large social situations, I end up clamming up and retreating too much. I'm leaning towards the private room, partially so I can be grumpy and sour in the morning without consequence.

So naturally, I turn to you, Internets. Any advice? Random comments? Irrelevant wisdom?

ETA: Next year's conference is in Chicago!! You hear that, magdalene1? Minion #2 ready to deploy!