What's with white people and backpacking?

[slackerinabox]

Firstly, I'm being a bit tongue in cheek with this post. I'm not white but I love a white person, and the usual words of a bigot apply "I have a lot of white friends," but I ask this question not as a bigot but because I'm genuinely curious.

My best friend (and best man at my wedding) is currently back packing through Europe, with no timeline and no real plan. Him and his gf (also a close friend) had good jobs and quit them and are blowing through a lot of cash now, living in shitty hostels and roaming around without knowing any language other than English. This is not an isolated case- it seems like backpacking through Europe is sort of a coming of age ritual for a lot of people I know. Why?

I love going on vacations, sure. But spending weeks or months hopping from shady situation to another doesn't interest me. Hell, their pretentious travel-blog is full of how miserablely rain soaked their experience has been, and how they're running out of money and frustrated (well, duh).

So what's the deep down reason behind this rite of passage? My theory is that the children of immigrants, like myself, have ethnic traditions and culture up the wazoo, and young white americans often lack that, just growing up "White 'Merican"- is the whole Europe thing about finding your roots?

 

[Analog]

 

[MJinZ]

White = European.

Makes sense to me.

 

[drum]

I have never been tempted to do this. I am too cheap.

 

[slackerinabox]

White = European.

Makes sense to me.

So it is about finding your roots, and a culture other than apple pie and baseball then?

 

[bignateyk]

Beats me. My mom and a friend of hers backpacked along some religious pilgrimage route through spain. They mostly just backpacked for 10 miles a day, then got shitfaced drinking wine at all the cafes along the way.

Sounds like fun to me.

I don't think they had a reason to do it. Mostly just for the hell of it. A chance to talk and live care/worry free for a few weeks.

I go camping every summer for 1-2 weeks. Primitive camping.. no electricity, no bathrooms, etc...

It's incredible to be so isolated. The biggest decision you have to make is what type of whiskey you want to drink that night.

 

[gimmewhitecastles]

Firstly, I'm being a bit tongue in cheek with this post. I'm not white but I love a white person, and the usual words of a bigot apply "I have a lot of white friends," but I ask this question not as a bigot but because I'm genuinely curious.

My best friend (and best man at my wedding) is currently back packing through Europe, with no timeline and no real plan. Him and his gf (also a close friend) had good jobs and quit them and are blowing through a lot of cash now, living in shitty hostels and roaming around without knowing any language other than English. This is not an isolated case- it seems like backpacking through Europe is sort of a coming of age ritual for a lot of people I know. Why?

I love going on vacations, sure. But spending weeks or months hopping from shady situation to another doesn't interest me. Hell, they're pretentious travel-blog is full of how miserablely rain soaked their experience has been, and how they're running out of money and frustrated (well, duh).

So what's the deep down reason behind this rite of passage? My theory is that the children of immigrants, like myself, have ethnic traditions and culture up the wazoo, and young white americans often lack that, just growing up "White 'Merican"- is the whole Europe thing about finding your roots?

Sounds about right. But there could be that whole "I have a shitload of money, and I'm bored as hell" thing as well.

 

[Kntx]

It's fun. You roam around. You drink. You sleep with people who have interesting accents.

 

[Pepsei]

what? sheeeeet, kids in japan do that all the time, after graduating college, they take a year off to go "backpacking" in another country.... for example, Matsu did it, and he's got a tv show now in Japan...

http://matsu-eating.cocolog-nifty.com/blog/2007/07/ma_aabc.html

 

[Eli]

I'd love to go on a backpacking trip.. Not through Europe though.. Maybe Canada or Alaska.

Then again, I'm the type of person that thoroughly enjoys camping, and would love the challenge of living off the grid.

 

[MJinZ]

So it is about finding your roots, and a culture other than apple pie and baseball then?

Doesn't make sense to go backpacking anywhere else. Not safe in Africa, Asia, Middle-East etc.

 

[meltdown75]

it's just something fun to do when you're young. i wish i would have done something like that.

 

[techs]

We're ready at a moments notice to move out of our homes if a black person moves in next door.

 

[bignateyk]

We're ready at a moments notice to move out of our homes if a black person moves in next door.

:awe:

 

[soulcougher73]

Wish i could do that. Sounds like fun.

 

[AreaCode707]

I have a friend who spent six months backpacking but it was through South America, not Europe.

I think this is less about cultural heritage and more about college and post-college kids not knowing WTF to do with their lives and not being ready to buckle down and work for "the man." A lot of them have lived on mommy and daddy's dime for so long they don't give a second thought to the fact that they're delaying their adolescence a little longer.

(This wasn't true for my friend, since he worked for a year to save his trip money before he went.)

The Millennial generation isn't big on doing things the normal way, and they don't like constraints. Long term backpacking trips is just one manifestation of that, for good or ill. I don't think it has to do with race so much, thought there might be a class/location connection that makes it look a bit race-related.

 

[Ticky]

Backcountry backpacking is way better...

 

[Lotheron]

We're ready at a moments notice to move out of our homes if a black person moves in next door.

WTH does this have to do with back packing through Europe.

Actually now that you think of it, I'm ready in a moments notice if you moved in next door.

 

[slackerinabox]

I'd love to go on a backpacking trip.. Not through Europe though.. Maybe Canada or Alaska.

Then again, I'm the type of person that thoroughly enjoys camping, and would love the challenge of living off the grid.

Oh, I completely get it if you're an outdoorsman - hell, that sounds like a lot of fun. But a lot of these European backpackers are city kids, liberal arts grads looking to document and share their experiences, while not understanding that they really can't understand a culture from the outside, and that summarizing say the people of Spain based off of living in a roach infested hostel and eating nothing but bread and cheese isn't really insight into the culture, but insight into how *not* to travel.. Bah!

 

[vi edit]

I have a friend who spent six months backpacking but it was through South America, not Europe.

I think this is less about cultural heritage and more about college and post-college kids not knowing WTF to do with their lives and not being ready to buckle down and work for "the man." A lot of them have lived on mommy and daddy's dime for so long they don't give a second thought to the fact that they're delaying their adolescence a little longer.

(This wasn't true for my friend, since he worked for a year to save his trip money before he went.)

The Millennial generation isn't big on doing things the normal way, and they don't like constraints. Long term backpacking trips is just one manifestation of that, for good or ill. I don't think it has to do with race so much, thought there might be a class/location connection that makes it look a bit race-related.

Bingo.:thumbsup:

 

[bignateyk]

I have a friend who spent six months backpacking but it was through South America, not Europe.

Backpacking through South America. Now that takes some balls.

 

[purbeast0]

since you seem to have so many friends who do this, why dont you ask them?

 

[slackerinabox]

I have a friend who spent six months backpacking but it was through South America, not Europe.

I think this is less about cultural heritage and more about college and post-college kids not knowing WTF to do with their lives and not being ready to buckle down and work for "the man." A lot of them have lived on mommy and daddy's dime for so long they don't give a second thought to the fact that they're delaying their adolescence a little longer.

(This wasn't true for my friend, since he worked for a year to save his trip money before he went.)

The Millennial generation isn't big on doing things the normal way, and they don't like constraints. Long term backpacking trips is just one manifestation of that, for good or ill. I don't think it has to do with race so much, thought there might be a class/location connection that makes it look a bit race-related.

Interesting observations.. I think I'm confusing race and class - my parents were highly educated but were very, very working class. Maybe that's why I don't get it at all. I mean, I'm panicking about being unemployed for a month - to willingly give up a career during your crucial sub-30 years seems foolish to me, even if you're just out of college (get an internship! build that resume!). But that's more to do with the way I was raised, and less to do with race and culture.

 

[Gooberlx2]

i wish i would have done something like that.

Ditto. It's a life experience to have before settling down and having responsibilities you can't be separated from.

I wish I had spent significant time overseas, either by backpacking, or volunteering, or joining a JET-type program, etc... But yes, I'd say the primary motivation is to experience something different, and perhaps gain a little "culture".

 

[slackerinabox]

since you seem to have so many friends who do this, why dont you ask them?

Because I'm enough of a square as is... I whined about how silly my best friend was for doing this to an acquaintance and they looked at me like I was an alien - "What are you talking about, that sounds like the best time ever!"