I stumbled across a new show on channel4 called the ultimate traveller. It consists of 6 people with no history of backpacking, or extensive travel for that matter, thrown into Indonesia (starting from Jakarta) and making their way down the country on a budget of $12 each per person per night.
Its actually quite an interesting show, although they don't seem too enthusiastic about travelling and most have so far not tried to experience their surroundings. One guy left on the second day for no real reason at all, to each his own I guess, but at least he could have given it a try, I mean he did apply for the experience so must have known what he was getting into.
Anyways, I just wanted to know if anyone's seen the show and what are your thoughts so far.
Also if anyone has been to Indonesia and watched the show (unlikely), how do you think they are doing in terms of budget and making the most of the experience.
For those of you in the uk (it might work for other countries but not sure), you can watch the first 2 episodes here:
Reply to this Its actually quite an interesting show, although they don't seem too enthusiastic about travelling and most have so far not tried to experience their surroundings. One guy left on the second day for no real reason at all, to each his own I guess, but at least he could have given it a try, I mean he did apply for the experience so must have known what he was getting into.
I havent watched the show yet, but from this quote I am guessing those in it are very young and inexperienced travellers. I will watch it later.
As another discussion point, I would like to know if those reading would participate in something like this if they got the opportunity? Also, state why or why not.
I am not sure if I would want to participate. It seems like a group travel thing, and that would likely restrict my personal freedom. Also, doing things for a camera would feel a bit weird. But, I havent tried anything like this, so maybe I am wrong about it and it is fun and/or interesting.
Reply to this Oh, the youtube clips won't work for me. I think I would have enjoyed them, even it they dont represent my personal travel style. 😞
Reply to this Hey Mel,
I think the group travel thing wouldn't be too bad as long as you're with people who are easy going and want to explore rather than stay in nice hotels and sit in a pool all day (nothing wrong with that on some days...but all the time........no thanks).
If youtube doesn't work maybe you can watch from the channel 4 website:
Reply to this ...who are easy going and want to explore
I tend to have more resistance to the ones that want to do a bit too much exploring. I wouldnt mind them running around all day, if they werent judgemental about what I am doing or expecting me to join them. It is a real pain to not be able to sit and read at cafes, or sleep as late as I want without people describing what I am doing as 'doing nothing'. And there are the really terrible ones who join me for hanging around, but clearly are only doing it because they want company, and keep pestering me to go for walks and whatever else they want to do, because they are unable to sit still. This wanting to relax and soak up the atmospere has turned me into a bit of a loner when I travel.
The link in msg 4 wont play for me either. What a pity!
Reply to this Oh no, I'll try and find a link that will work 😊
I agree with you here, I don't like to be rushed when travelling I would much rather prefer to wing it and see where the day takes me, at the end of the day you're travelling to enjoy yourself.
Reply to this Oh no, I'll try and find a link that will work 😊
I will be delighted if you manage to find one. Me and my 9 year old daughter excitedly pulled up our chairs to watch the clips, but then were a bit disappointed when we couldnt. She loves travel too. We watched 'A map for Saturday' last year together. Have you seen that one? It is about a backpacker on a year long world trip who interviewed and filmed other backpackers he met on his travels, and then followed up with a second interview with each, at the end of the year.
...at the end of the day you're travelling to enjoy yourself.
Yeah, it is certainly a personal experience for each of us. We love it for reasons of our own, and enjoying it is what matters when it comes doing and remembering it.
Reply to this I have heard of a map for Saturday but can't find it anywhere. I would really like to watch it so I'll keep looking.
Reply to this You can buy it on the internet. I think there is also a trailer available for it, on the internet. I forget where.
Reply to this Excellent, thanks for that Mel, much appreciated.
I've tried to find this show all over the net but unless your watching from the UK, it won't work I'm afraid 😞
Reply to this i love this programme! actually one of the reasons why i want to visit Indonesia.. but daaaamn that blonde girl is annoying! lol who do you think is going to win?
Reply to this What does the blonde girl do that is annoying, Greg? I wish I could watch the doccumentary to see for myself. I found the Dutch girl in 'A map for Saturday' pretty annoying.
Reply to this I kinda gave the blonde girl the benefit of the doubt in the earlier episodes because she did seem like the one who organised everything, but my thoughts later changed when it wasn't really organising but the constant need to be in charge. Also as soon as she said "I'm backpacking like a peasant" I went off her.
Her need to spend all her money on nice hotels and then think she'd be bailed out by the rest of her group also didn't help.
I've got no idea who's going to win, if I was to make a prediction I'd go with Nathan, although I think he's easily manipulated by the american/british business guy (forgot his name) and will be shafted out of it.
The other 2 girls are too dim imo to win.
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Her need to spend all her money on nice hotels and then think she'd be bailed out by the rest of her group also didn't help.
Would staying at nice hotels not be against her peasant backpacker philosophy. I imagine a peasant backpacker to be like a hobo who walks from place to place and works for food and a bed on farms along the way.
I take it the statement about backpacking like a peasant was whinging and whining about not having luxury conditions, rather than her travel philosophy?
Reply to this I've got no idea who's going to win
How will the winner be judged? Will it be the one who managed the money best, the one who saw the most, the one who travelled furthest...?
Reply to this To be honest I'm not entirely sure. Each week the group gets to vote for the traveller of the week, where the chosen winner gets an extra budget for the following week. I think it might be down to who gets the most traveller of the week accolades, but I could be wrong.
The peasant comment was probably said out of frustration more than anything, travelling with people you don't like and who don't like you can probably get too much.....but yeah also the fact they have to slum it on £12.50 a day, which seems very reasonable to me (the £12.50 a day....not the whinging lol).
Reply to this Yeah, I would travel happily enough in Indonesia for 12.50 per day.
It would be nice to see a doccumentary with experienced travellers in it, to see how they would handle things differently.
Reply to this Yes, I also accidently came across this programme last week and was lucky enough to be able to watch the first episode 'on demand' through my cable. I was very excited when I saw it but then was a bit disappointed as I watched further. It seems obvious to me that they have advertised for people to audition for this show the same way they do for people to audition for Big Brother and the likes. They didn't really seem to know what to expect at first and don't really have an appreciation for what they are doing. Mainly fear is what comes across. To be honest I think the people on this show applied purely to be on TV and thought they would get a holiday out of it too. However, I will continue watching as its the only thing on TV showing that type of travel and I do think these people will come out of it with something other than £10k prize money and 15 mins of fame. Although I have never done any travelling like this yet, I have been reading and researching about it for a while now, so I found it quite funny that their 'task' was to get from one place to another and arrange to see a very popular tourist attraction. I haven't got the impression from the blogs and forums that I read that this is a diifficult thing to do but maybe I am wrong.
Mell, you asked would I do this type of thing. I would if there was no camera hehe. Maybe if I was 20. Its a great opportunity to travel like that and not spend a penny of your own money I guess, as I am finding it very difficult to save the kinda money I feel I will need for a RTW. Not sure I could put up with having to spend all my time with the same 'strangers'. The blonde girl is particulalry annoying, born with a silver spoon and the editors are really showing the stereotype. Its quite likely, ofcourse, that she isn't really like that at all but that woudln't be good TV! Picking out the 'best' bits is their job I guess.
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