A few years ago, I went to Amsterdam for the weekend. Knowing I didn’t have any accommodation booked, I arrived on a Friday afternoon in the middle of summer. I’m generally a pretty lucky person, so I figured it’d be ok, I’d stay at a hostel or something. They always have beds, right? Not so. Apparently all the usual suspects from my hostel guide were completely booked for the weekend. I got turned away time and time again, until I was left sitting outside the main train station, contemplating how comfortable the benches would be to sleep on. I’m sure I started looking a little homeless, too.

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