The OP is flying out of Burbank.
But I agree with your point.
Why Hollywood?

Oh yeah I forgot about Burbank not LAX, good move that. Given that the stated primary interest is Getty, Santa Monica would be good if he is renting a car and depending on parking. Needs to do the math and read the fine print. Are the hostel kitchens open? They may not be due to COVID concerns, as with international travelers they may not want to encourage gatherings.

Not my trip but I'd not be looking at shared bedrooms during a likely "winter surge"or COVID, flu or anything else, even if vaxed and boosted to the max.

A private room at the Airbnb I posted about in Redondo is 2x the cost if I did it right.

Does one of these places look like a safer neighborhood than the other?

HI Los Angeles Santa Monica (the place does not have parking. I would have to find a place nearby and walk in the semi-dark to the hostel)

or

Orange Drive Hostel? (the place has some reservable parking spaces. If this should make the place seem less safe, it is 225 yards or less north of Hollywood boulevard)

As for COVID: I don't currently have a native fear level. I try to be polite and match my attitude or fear level to whoever I am around or whoever I am talking to at the moment. Twice since the pandemic started, once at home and once in Spain, I caught a virus, maybe norovirus or rotovirus or something travelers sometimes catch maybe from the water. Both times I tested negative for Coronavirus. Many people including myself prefer to believe they will not die or get seriously sick soon. You cannot functioning normally if you think you are quite likely to get a serious disease in the next 24 hours or in the next week. I figure fear of catching COVID is just a subset of the normal terror of upcoming death that everybody has to manage to sublimate or suppress. I'll bring two fabric masks in case I need them.

Do you ever read reviews?

Location is great, walking distance to Santa Monica Pier and beach. But: this area has the highest density of homeless people, with on average one every 15m (not kidding). There are always some handing around at the hostel entrances and some even book the hostel for a night. So the smell and vibe at the entrance is terrible and in our room there was one as well… terrible experience, disgusting smell, we felt very uncomfortable and disgusted the whole stay…no disrespect, just facts. Better avoid.

I'm sort of done with this adventure. Have stated my preferences previously. Yours differ. Good luck.

Almost done. (1) Cloth masks do very little. Don't even bother.

(2) Does getting sick from another traveler you are sharing a bedroom with for 8 hours/day (or listening to them cough all night) sound like a nice way to spend a holiday? Would the hostel require you to leave if you exhibit symptoms? Did you enjoy being ill on your previous vacations? I have caught a respiratory virus a few times (pre Covid), it wasn't fun and I had to miss some things I wanted to do. The time in Ecuador was especially sketchy. It was during the H1N1 (swine flu) epidemic and the pharmacies were banned from selling any cough medications. The country wanted anyone sick locked up in hospital.

OP says, “As for COVID: I don't currently have a native fear level. I try to be polite and match my attitude or fear level to whoever I am around or whoever I am talking to at the moment. . . . Many people including myself prefer to believe they will not die or get seriously sick soon. You cannot functioning normally if you think you are quite likely to get a serious disease in the next 24 hours or in the next week. I figure fear of catching COVID is just a subset of the normal terror of upcoming death that everybody has to manage to sublimate or suppress. I'll bring two fabric masks in case I need them.”

Hmmmm. Interesting. I guess COVID is just a belief system, and being polite will keep you healthy. Who knew.

Looking forward to this trip report.

I am so confused over this entire trip/plan.

From your other threads over the years you are VERY concerned about your own personal health, food and hygiene, going so far as to never eat in restaurants because they are so unhealthful/scary. Yet you are willing to stay in nasty hostels in some VERY dicey neighborhoods and rub shoulders with the down and out and worse.

Something just doesn't compute.

Are we being played?

My great-grandfather with my same last name had a heart attack and dropped dead (in 1934 if the date matters) just before he would have turned 50; my grandfather. on my dad's side brother i guess a great uncle to me, had a heart attack and dropped dead just before he would have turned 33. My top health worry has been having a similar problem. If this makes you feel better, in April 2020 I had a 2-week time when I was persuaded that everybody would catch COVID and get seriously sick or die and I would be in my apartment, in the bathroom, horribly sick, while outside, civilization was ending. I gained some confidence that I probably won't get COVID or get seriously sick or die soon. My mother always has horrible outbursts of anger when she finds out I am traveling somewhere and I feel like I am doing something wrong when I travel so I guess maybe there is some use in checking to see whether any of you have attitudes similar to my mother and/or if any of you feel like solo travel is too dangerous. ...I thought planning a trip within the USA would be simpler than traveling to Europe again or another country but I seem to be having more difficulty figuring out how to travel within my own country than when I went to Europe.

I doubt the pandemic will have an endpoint. It will always be here. So the issue is whether I can gain some confidence that I can leave Michigan again without catching it or without getting too sick. I thought my top risk was having a heart attack.

"so I guess maybe there is some use in checking to see whether any of you have attitudes similar to my mother and/or if any of you feel like solo travel is too dangerous"

No. I do not share your mother's attitude. I don't think solo travel is inherently "too dangerous". But I do think staying in hostels in sketchy neighborhoods could be.

You do need a plan in case you come down with Covid (traveling anywhere these days). Obviously you couldn't stay in the dorm if you get sick, so you need to have finances to be able to get a private room and food delivery somewhere until you test clear and can travel home.

Very good advice!
COVID does not care whatever your attitude is. Putting yourself in harms way is concerning.

I don't believe you are necessarily "putting yourself in harms way" just because you choose to travel. You can catch Covid at home.

Difference is that it is a lot more complicated if you get sick with it while traveling. At home you just need to quarantine until you test clear again, get groceries delivered, etc. When you are traveling there are a lot more moving parts and pieces if you come down Covid... where can you stay, how can you get medication, how do you get food, changing your flights to a later date, etc.

There is no quarantine or testing required anymore.

Even if he catches it on his flight to LA, he isn't that old and if he has symptoms he can pretend it's a "cold" or "allergies" like everyone else and get back on his original flight home along with all of the other unmasked flyers.

Most it not all of the people responding have far more experience than the OP traveling alone in "sketchier" places. We also appear to have more "common sense".

A news article yesterday reported that at the height of the pandemic about 40% of the U.S. lied to (or, more politely, "misled") others about their Covid status, vaccination status, personal preventative measures, compliance with pandemic protocols, etc. I happen to think a lot of people are still lying, and if they're not lying they're ready to challenge, "What are you going to do about it?"

https://www.chicagotribune.com/coron...wdi-story.html

Anyway, michaelpianko, do what you're gonna do, and I hope you have a good time... Happy Holidays in advance!

Interesting article. In addition to those who deliberately mislead, there are those in denial. e.g. not believing a scratchy throat or sniffles might be the start of infection only to test positive later, after potentially exposing others (such as at work, social gathering or on a flight or cruise) . Or not having symptoms at all.

I perhaps foolishly thought if someone came down with Covid during a vacation, that they would voluntarily stay in place, self-isolate, not continue to live in a group hostel, or go to an airport, or take a flight.

Not foolish. I hope the same.

Same dream world as thinking people are going to mask up on airplanes.

I double mask in crowded indoor situations, certainly in airports and airplanes. A study showed it is 84% effective FOR THE WEARER against COVID. I also mask in stores where the employees or other people are masked just out of respect.

Same here, shelemm. We always wear an N95 on planes.