Climbing up and down the narrow, twisting staircase in a hostel isn’t too bad when your room is on the fourth floor; but if you’re booked into a room on the eighth floor, it’s not long before that slow, creaky antique elevator with manually operated doors starts to look pretty good. For some reason, last year I’d convinced myself that the elevator didn’t actually work and so I had to take the stairs. This year, I bravely climbed inside the cage — and before long I was having fun honing my skill at juggling bags in one hand while opening both doors with the other hand.

View from inside the elevator

Sorry for the blur! Taken with my phone while taking a slightly bumpy ride

The elevator in this 1914 era building never let me down during my stay, although it was extremely slow and had no lights to indicate which floor it was on. I counted it as just part of my fun experience staying in this hostel in San Francisco’s Theater District. I’m not sure if I’ll be staying there in the future, but if I do I won’t be shy of using the elevator again.