Backpacking Forever

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I am not great at describing situations, scenery, cultures etc. I've come to love a magazine that I've found over here called Backpackers SE Asia. Its free and I've picked it up a couple times and love the read. Tris even steals it sometimes to read some of the articles. There is a article about good travel writing and they have a template for writing. I thought I'd use it here just so everyone can get a better feel for SE Asia and what it is really like. All countrys can relate to this. Im going to just use Thailand in the (insert country name here) as that is where we are.

Ahhh, Thailand, where the smell of saffron blends with the motorbike exhaust and smiling school children shout "helllloooooo" as they chase after you eager to make contact. Nestled in the bosom of the Orient, THailand is where old and new blend together better then a spicy fish curry. Thailand is every bit the exotic locale you envision it as, but now comes with a distinctly mondern twist. Holding tradition in one hand and grasping at modernization with the other, it is in Thailand that you can catch monks on mopeds and pesants using their worn fingers to send text messages. Thailand's colonial heritage will peek through from time to time, giving you a glimpse of the past.

Another article I read was about Backpacking forever. Don't worry family and friends, we are coming home after a year unless something magical happens... but I read this article I found interesting.. and I know at least Emily will enjoy reading it as shes a writing buff. So Em.. if no one else cares to read this article I hope you do. This is for YOU.

Its titled "Could you Backpack Forever?"

" I could get used to this" you think, as ou snorkel admist warm turquoise waters in a tropical bay. "I could get used to this" you think as you ride a bicycle through lush rice fields waving to friendly locals. "I could really get used to this" you think as you sin on a boat sipping a cool beer as the sun sets.

For many, ravelling is the time of your life. An inspring, fun-filled adventure that happens but once in a lifetime. It's a mere weekend break in the grand journey of life. Something you 'get out of your system' before resuming your position in the ' real world.'

But what if you decide you'd rather not go back to the 'real world'? Thanks very much and all, but I quite like it here. I'm having too much fun! I don't want to swap my backpack for a breifcase, just yet. An interesting idea, you think, but a far-fetched fantasty nonetheless!

In a hostel in Penang I met a 70 year old Californian who ha been 'on the road' for 40 years and there was no sign he was about to cease roaming any time soon! He goes home every now and again to save up... but always finds himself back out here. The travel bug firmly lodged in his system I guess. Another chap I met on the same trip, an Australian cyclist had been journeying around the world all his life, funding his trip through travel photography and giving slide show presentations of his adventure. His mission was to visit every country in the world, which he had amazingly achieved, which the exception of just one, the impenetrable North Korea.

My personal favorite, that unfortunately I've not had the pleasure of meeting, has to be a guy that one of my friends ended up on a boath with after responding to an innocuous flyer pinned to a tree. (You may of seen them..("Sail the world, live a sea gypsy lifestyle") - - Funny thing is, Tris and I saw one today. I said to him "I'm sure I read an article about this... sure enough haha - - The sailor being a nudist Frenchman in his 60's who had been floating around Asia for twenty years on a boat he built himself, occasionally picking up the odd tourist to fund his nomadic existence. No house, no clothes, no worries.

The thought of 'settling down' and getting a 'real job' is a bizarre and unatural to these long-term backpackers as the thought of endless roving is to most.

And while I'm not suggesting you shed your clothes and build a boat, what I deffinately am suggesting is that maybe there exists a different way to live your life than you'd ever thought possible, a different path than the one that leads to the inevitable nine to five.

But hang on a minute, you're thinking. This all sounds very good and well, but I've already blown a load of money on Chang and a silly tribal headgear, and that was just last night! I'm not gunna lie, filling in the occupational space on visa forms with the profession "backpacker" is a great buzz, but something tells me that this daydream can't last forever. Being a millionaire in Laos Kip is one thing, but the truth is I'm running out of money really fast!

Okay so you have a point. And, I hate to break it to you, but sadly money doesn't grow on coconut trees. Traditional backpacking practice is to work your guts off at home to save up for you 'gap year' then return once the cash has run out. Some travellers fund a few months in Asia with a stint working in Australia for example. Bar work, fruit picking, and other agricultural grafting is a way to make your time out here last longer.

However, it is possible to earn and travel in this part of the world, and although you may not make mega bucks, the cost of living is considerably less in Asia, so your pocket money goes alot further and the lifestyle could be more rewarding than you ever thought.

Probably one of the most popular ways to fund your travelling is to get yourself a job teaching english. Young enthusiastic students eager to learn will make your working day seem less work, more play.

THEN THE ARTICLE CONTINUES ON ABOUT TEACHING ENGLISH BLABLABLA.

As backpacking numbers increase despite the drop in tourism, it seems to me that many young people today, are leaving home in search of something different, see if there is anything else, tick off all the boxes and ultimately make sure they're not going to miss anything before resigning themselves to a 'normal' life.

I once heard a quote that said; " The only problem with the rat race is that even if you win, you're still a rat." With the recent global meltdown, hitting the West harder then the East, it seems that the lifestyle of the 'rat' and indeed Western society have been placed into question. To the office worker who hates his job and toils at his desk every day of his life to get a two-week holiday int he same destination as the fisherman works every day of his, it begs the question what are we working for?

By Nikki Scott

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