Hostel in the Forest is

Less than an hour and a half south of Savannah, Brunswick’s Hostel in the Forest offers a unique way to experience nature and community. If you’re wanting time away from deadlines and hustle, the hostel may be what you’re looking for.

Veggies from the garden and free-range eggs are part of most dinners at the hostel.

It’s definitely not the Hilton, glamping or even car camping. But for $40 a night you can stay in a screened-in tree house, explore trails, swim in or paddle on a spring-fed pond, and enjoy a nice vegetarian meal with guests.

Opened in summer 1975, Tom Dennard established the 133-acre wooded haven as a nonprofit “which promotes and teaches environmental sustainability, while also serving as spiritual retreat and hostel for international and domestic travelers.” It boasts nine tree houses, one dormitory and two geodesic dome common spaces. There’s room to be among people and ample space to enjoy solitude.

In line with its sustainability mission, there’s an organic vegetable garden, a cutting-edge gray-water system, solar powered irrigation, and a worm box that composts table scraps into fertilizer. Also on site are composting toilets — the very same system that the National Parks Service uses. There are the more than 30 free-range chickens and ducks running about during the day. Veggies from the garden and free-range eggs are part of most dinners at the hostel.

And though solitude and silent reflection are nice, necessary even, there’s an eloquent and brave kind of beauty in sharing a meal and opening up to people you don’t know — really, an authentic exercise in trust, respect and grace. And though not explicitly written in its mission statement, these values are surely inherent in every aim of the hostel’s 46-year endeavor.

Currently, the hostel is operating at limited capacity, and all guests must be vaccinated with proof of COVID-19 vaccination. The Hostel in the Forest also offers weekend workshops for the community. Past ones have included creative writing, meditation and tai chi, as well as ritual and ecotherapy.

Every weekend, the hostel participates in “power down Sunday,” in which electricity is cut to a minimum and the nightly meal is cooked outdoors in the cobb oven or rocket stove. All guests are asked to pitch in and help with chores at some point during their stay and are welcome to help with larger work projects.

SAVANNAH MORNING NEWS The trail to the tree house at The Nest. The 133-acre Hostel in the Forest was established as a nonprofit “which promotes and teaches environmental sustainability.”