So you have spent time traveling, and now you want to inspire your friends to travel as well. This is certainly no easy task, especially if they have absolutely no desire to travel. However, for your friends who are sitting on the fence, here are a few simple ways to inspire the traveler that lies within. 1. Show them pictures from your own journey - everyone has seen TV programs, and brochures, but none of it ever seems very real. When you show your friends real pictures, taken with your low-end digital camera, out of focus and unscripted, it brings a [View Full Entry]

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The modern representation of what it means to be a backpacker certainly seems to follow this credo. Everything we see on television and in the brochures definitely adds weight to this argument. Even the people you meet who have been traveling will tell you that this is how they spent most of their time. The reality is that yes, partying is a huge part of the travel experience … for many people. For others, it never really factors in. I would argue that the pendulum has begun to swing, and far too much of the backpacking experience is dedicated to drinking. [View Full Entry]

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When I did my first backpacking trip to Australia, I went alone. None of my friends wanted to come with me, and frankly, I wanted to experience the adventure on my own. When I first arrived in Sydney, I had no idea what to expect. I had no idea what the hostels would be like, I had no idea what the food would be like, worst of all I had no idea what the people would be like. To be perfectly honest, I was a little bit afraid. The reality was that everyone and everything worked out to be awesomely unique [View Full Entry]

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