I figure I better include this one before people start to question me. HostelWorld.com is the site to go to for booking hostels. I’d venture a guess that most their business comes from the European backpacker hostels…although I could be wrong. Past their booking engine, they offer a simple backpacker network, where users can create an account and rate hostels, create a map where they’ve been, talk to other travelers, share tips, yada yada yada. It’s probably not as elaborate or widely used as some other travel boards, but it’s not bad.