My 2nd time ever staying at a hostel

My second time ever staying at a hostel was in New Orleans and it cost $16 a night. 
The first person I met there was a man who was about middle aged and dressed like an explorer. He walked into the dorm and we started talking. 
That's what I was starting to love about hostels; They are generally an open environment and very easy to meet people. I had read that they are like that but I was still surprised at how much of a sense of community I got from hostels. The first one I ever stayed at didn't have too many people in it while I was there, so I was still realizing what being a hostel stayer was like.
I told the man that I wanted to travel for 2 years and that I had just left home 2 weeks before. He said that he had also traveled for 2 years and now he is walking the Mississippi river. I was surprised. 
I had never met anyone else who have actually done what I'm doing. I remember thinking, Damn, that guy has lived my dream and now mine has only just begun. 

Later that night, someone in the hostel started talking to me. He sounded a bit redneck too and he was really friendly. He said I said go outside and have some beers.He led me outside to an area where several others were sitting around a table. 
He said, "hey everyone, this is Ben. He's going to hang out with y'all for a bit" and then he walked away. I thought that when he said I should come out, he was going to as well but I guess he had something to do, so he introduced me and left?
    Anyway, I sat down and drank beer and talked. I found out that they weren't just guests at the hostel; they lived there and paid rent every month.. They said that people from all over and other countries come and go. I was surprised that people were living at that hostel. They worked in construction and seemed to enjoy staying there.
The conversations were funny. The guy to my right, liked the idea of recording with my camera. The man sitting to my left was an old man with a big grizzly beard and everyone called him Pops.
I talked with him and recorded some of the things he said throughout our conversation.
I think it was a great video, feel free to check it out.
The man was a war veteran and I'm grateful to have listened to what he had to say.