What's with white people and backpacking?

[The_Dude8]

The whole idea of it sounds like a great adventure. The reality of it however not so much. I love hiking and backpacking but I have to tell you I have no desire to go to Europe and do it. It would take a lifetime to see all the things from hiking boots there is to see right here in north america. Why would I waste any of my time in miserable conditions on a vagabond trip around Europe. Give me the Colorado Rockies, The North Rim, Yosemite, the Canadien Rockies, glaciers, The inside passage, Denali, and Yellowstone from hiking boots and thats just for starters. The whole idea of those filthy hostels makes me queasy. On top of that it can be downright dangerous for foreigners. No thanks. When I strap on hiking boots and a backpack I want to get away from civilization not walk around looking at it with aching feet.

but you get hook up with horny European chicks.

 

[Zebo]

I need to go fishing more often. I haven't since I was a kid but enjoyed it then... Looks like I'm going to add that to my list of "reasonable and affordable adventures to be had during the summer"... As a city boy I need more nature in my life!

I don't know where you live but there is a town called Boynton, Oklahoma 99% black and 100% rednecks all of them. They go fishing all the time I sit next to them in boats all the time. Also Muskogee same way but less so. It aint about race it's culture.

 

[AreaCode707]

It's all about self sufficiency, you people wouldn't understand.

Somehow I view starting a career, saving for a house and kicking off a retirement account to be at least as self-sufficient as taking a 6 or 12 month trip. Probably more so since most of my backpacker friends have moved back in with mom and dad upon returning.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I actually enjoy unplanned vacations. Just go somewhere, and walk around and explore.

I've also found myself in the middle of a shipping container yard this way, on the last floor of a private office building, and even in a military naval yard. Always fun. It's kinda like "I don't know if were even suppose to be here, hey what's that over there, lets go check". Would probably be a bad idea to try this in the states. Probably get gunned down.

 

[slackerinabox]

FB, I get the goal oriented thing. I wish I could be a little less like that because some of the experiences my friends have made priorities in their life really do sound amazing! Unfortunately (fortunately? ambivalently?) I'm a person who needs structure and tangible progress to feel ok about life. Quitting my job to take off to Italy for a year would be incredible, but then I start running numbers in my head, thinking about the economy when I get back, could I get a job, who would take care of the pets, what if something happened to my parents, etc. and suddenly the effort, anxiety and uncertainty for me outweighs the pleasure in going.

People are just built different like that. And it's a good thing. My adventurous friends prompt me to do things I wouldn't otherwise do, and I'm here to help them find work or provide a crash couch when they get back broke from their adventures.

So for those of you criticizing him for being materialistic because his method of interacting with life is different than yours, cut a little slack. We all view the world differently, and it really does take all types.

You echo my uptight ways pretty well.. I have a mortgage to pay, a wife to live up to (who I sometimes feel like I don't deserve, so I need to pull my weight), pets to take care of.. 4 PETS AT THAT... I don't feel like I even have a choice to run off to adventure, so I suppose I'm both a little jealous of and feel sorry for people who can adventure. By that I mean that my friends were SHOCKED when I bought a house, yet they blow money left and right - sure, they enjoy themselves but, at the end of the day, I have property and stability while many of them still live with a dozen roommates. It's different priorities, one is not better than the other.

I lived *very* hard from say 20 to 24. I've woken up in strange bedrooms, skipped work to go on roadtrips because a pretty german girl asked me to.. Tried every drug I could get my hand on, got into fights.. Hurt people because I was selfish and cared only about my immediate needs. Done stupid, stupid shit until I hit 25 and saw that all this adventure may lead me to becoming the biggest loser possible at 30.. I had nothing then and, 4 years of being a boring, unadventurous sort lead me to being ultimately happier than I could have dreamed possible. The adventures that I had were to help me forget that I had absolutely nothing, and I'm not talking about property. Responsibilities to me mean that I have people that depend on me, and that's something that I missed for so long.

But that pang of jealousy that I'll admit to, that feeling of "that's the dumbest shit ever!" while whispering "I'd like to be that stupid one day" to myself.. Well, that may just inspire me to take a week long vacation somewhere totally random - that's a good balance, I think.

 

[marincounty]

One of my great regrets in life was not taking a trip to central America with a friend many years ago. His dad passed away and he inherited some money and bought a new Mazda. He had plans to drive down through Mexico and parts of central America. He invited me to go but I thought he was nuts and would get jacked for sure. He returned after his trip, and not only did he not get jacked he had the most amazing time, telling us of diving for lobsters in the ocean and eating mushrooms at the pyramids. I am still kicking myself for not going.

 

[blackhawk]

Its called the pilgrims trail, goes from rome to northern spain where the apostle james is supposed to be buried, thus its the Santiago Pilgrims trail

one way to meet a lot of different people from all over europe primarily and the food is basic but cheap and wine is cheap or free

I backpack remote areas myself, looking for solitude etc.

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.

 

[arrfep]

Most of it's been said already, but let me add my 2 euro. It's definitely not a race thing. The ironic thing is that it's only your inexperience with the "phenomenon" that makes you think only "whites" do it.

If by "whites," you mean "American," then you're dead wrong. It's literally almost a national pastime for Aussie's to take their Gap Year and travel after high school or college. Same with Israelis. After fulfilling their mandatory military duty, 20-somethings head out for a year to see the world and escape the tension they've lived their lives under. It happens everywhere. Every hostel I stayed at, I met multiple "whites" of a different ethnicity. Surprisingly, or not, most all of them were fluent, if not functional, in English.

If by "whites," you actually mean white-skinned caucasians, then you're wrong again. See the comment about Israelis above, plus countless Asians and South Americans. I'll give you that I didn't see many black backpackers in Europe. But to say they were all white is just preposterous.

As for the concept of "why," that's difficult to explain. I hate to go down this road, but it's one of those things where if you have to ask, you won't understand. Believe me, I'm about the least pretentious person you'll meet. And I do my best to not let my lack of pretension become its own pretension. But I do know what you mean by the type of people you are describing your friends as. Love that Pulp song. The thing about backpacking is that, like ANYTHING ELSE IN THIS WORLD, it takes all types.

Plenty of people go backpacking for the Wild On! experience. Ever seen "Rules of Attraction?" Like Kip Pardue's European trip. And even still, to each his own. I, personally, backpacked partially to get in touch with my roots. Both of my parents are immigrants, and I visited their homes for the first time in my life. I spent about 2 weeks doing that.

And then I spent the other 2 weeks seeing buildings that were built 2000 years ago, works of art by the masters of the craft, talking to people from all over the world about the things they care and worry about, and generally having the best time of my life. Believe it or not, most of the idealist hippie liberals that travel do care about their fellow man, and we could all stand to learn a little about eachother. This thread probably wouldn't have happened if that happened more often.



Oh, and sometimes it is just all about waking up in a co-ed hostel next to Brazilian girls:

 

[zerocool84]

Why wasn't this thread locked? If someone made a thread about why Black people move closer to Popeye's chicken, I'm sure it'd be locked and they'd get banned.

 

[Inspector Jihad]

just so you guys understand, spend a few weeks in a country doesn't mean you're 'cultured'. it just means you visited some place and experienced it superficially.

 

[StageLeft]

Fvck if I know. Backpacking to me is like manual labor. I just don't get it. I like to run and exercise, but walking/hiking just feels slow. My brother likes it but it is absolutely not my cup of tea. I hate camping in general, though. I WISH I liked it, but hell I hate it. I like beds and LCD screens and that is just that, sad or not it's a fact.

Now, bumming around Europe would be fun but I would not quit a job in this economy to do it, but then I am a boring family man and think of the future.

 

[Riceninja]

its because the type of people that go on backpacking trips are the ones who's had a middle class upbringing and never experienced true hardship - these people are most often white. this is why they subject themselves to all this sleeping in hostels and hitching rides and eating on the penny, so they can feel themselves cultured and enlightened, knowing that in the end they will come back to their middle class lives and the comfort of american suburbia.

you think a hard working immigrant will ever go backpacking on his vacation? no, because it will remind him too much of his old life.

 

[zerocool84]

you think a hard working immigrant will ever go backpacking on his vacation? no, because it will remind him too much of his old life.

Hard working immigrants don't go on vacation.

 

[meltdown75]

Most of it's been said already, but let me add my 2 euro. It's definitely not a race thing. The ironic thing is that it's only your inexperience with the "phenomenon" that makes you think only "whites" do it.

If by "whites," you mean "American," then you're dead wrong. It's literally almost a national pastime for Aussie's to take their Gap Year and travel after high school or college. Same with Israelis. After fulfilling their mandatory military duty, 20-somethings head out for a year to see the world and escape the tension they've lived their lives under. It happens everywhere. Every hostel I stayed at, I met multiple "whites" of a different ethnicity. Surprisingly, or not, most all of them were fluent, if not functional, in English.

If by "whites," you actually mean white-skinned caucasians, then you're wrong again. See the comment about Israelis above, plus countless Asians and South Americans. I'll give you that I didn't see many black backpackers in Europe. But to say they were all white is just preposterous.

As for the concept of "why," that's difficult to explain. I hate to go down this road, but it's one of those things where if you have to ask, you won't understand. Believe me, I'm about the least pretentious person you'll meet. And I do my best to not let my lack of pretension become its own pretension. But I do know what you mean by the type of people you are describing your friends as. Love that Pulp song. The thing about backpacking is that, like ANYTHING ELSE IN THIS WORLD, it takes all types.

Plenty of people go backpacking for the Wild On! experience. Ever seen "Rules of Attraction?" Like Kip Pardue's European trip. And even still, to each his own. I, personally, backpacked partially to get in touch with my roots. Both of my parents are immigrants, and I visited their homes for the first time in my life. I spent about 2 weeks doing that.

And then I spent the other 2 weeks seeing buildings that were built 2000 years ago, works of art by the masters of the craft, talking to people from all over the world about the things they care and worry about, and generally having the best time of my life. Believe it or not, most of the idealist hippie liberals that travel do care about their fellow man, and we could all stand to learn a little about eachother. This thread probably wouldn't have happened if that happened more often.



Oh, and sometimes it is just all about waking up in a co-ed hostel next to Brazilian girls:

awesome post. good day to you, sir.

 

[olds]

Backpacking
http://www.pbclibrary.org/images/rl-backpacking.jpg

 

[dennilfloss]

Beats me. My mom and a friend of hers backpacked along some religious pilgrimage route through spain.

Compostelle?()

 

[zinfamous]

Fvck if I know. Backpacking to me is like manual labor. I just don't get it. I like to run and exercise, but walking/hiking just feels slow. My brother likes it but it is absolutely not my cup of tea. I hate camping in general, though. I WISH I liked it, but hell I hate it. I like beds and LCD screens and that is just that, sad or not it's a fact.

Now, bumming around Europe would be fun but I would not quit a job in this economy to do it, but then I am a boring family man and think of the future.

Hike 20 miles over 3-10k ft elevation, switchbacks, with 40lbs strapped to your back and say that isn't exercise, or that it's slow...

 

[Cookie]

Though you're right - my parents are in their late 60s, have a ton of money saved up (from hard work, mind you) and don't travel. THEY SHOULD. They've earned it. When I'm retired I hope to do the same. 20 year olds? I personally think that you can get more life experience volunteering at a shelter... I actively do that while no one I personally know does so - this does not make me a better person, but saying that taking a year off from your adult life to "see the world" makes one more enlightened seems... I don't know the right word. Not foolish.. Just odd.

My guess is that you will end up doing the same as your parents and keep working and saving money for the future for the rest of your life. You think you will travel later, but there is always more future to save for. By the time you stop working you will be too old and sore to travel and wish you'd done it when you were younger. This is just a prediction, I hope for your sake that I am wrong.

I also find it funny that you claim you wasted 3-4 years of your young life with drinking and drugs and partying, but you think it's odd that others would use those years to travel. I used those years to travel and meet new people and see new places and I find it 'odd' that you would waste them with the amount of drugs and alcohol that you claim you did. Could you agree that someone would gain more value from traveling during those years than they would from heavy drug use?

Certainly it's not for everyone. Especially staying in hostels. Personally I prefer hostels as long as they're clean and not crowded or excessively noisy. You meet a lot more people that way which, for me, is what it's about. It's also a lot cheaper, in some cases it's less than paying rent at home.

As for the people who claim it's not safe, certainly some places are safer than others. I think most places are safe enough to travel if you can pay attention to your surroundings. South America, most of Asia, Australia, most of Africa, Europe, and North America are all very popular travel destinations. Funny side note: I have the same fear about traveling to the states as some of the previous posters do about traveling to other continents. Something to do with getting shot I think.

 

[Pocatello]

White people like to go camping and fishing too. Sometimes they even sell their homes to buy RVs and drive around the country. I don't get that either.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

It's all about self sufficiency, you people wouldn't understand.

Who's "you people" pale face.?

"Coming of age,
Finding yourself,
Searching for meaning,
Awesome drugs, dude!,
Road trip,
Gettin' the ya yas out,
Freedom to be yourself 'cuz no one knows you,
Beats the hell out of a 9 to 5 while the money lasts."

 

[alkemyst]

without a backpack, how am I to carry me balls?

 

[iGas]

I'm a Vietnamese immigrant, and I love backpacking. In fact, for many years my email address were ________@backpacker.com

I have backpacked through out Mexico/Central America, Australia, much of South East Asia, as well as travel on a shoestring through out Western & Southern US, Western Canada & Alaska.

Life is a highway.

 

[iGas]

To be fair, my friends did pay their way, but I see where you're coming from. In fact, it makes a lot of sense now - mommy and daddy give you a budget for your post college trip. You can spend that for a nice week long vacation, or rough it for as long as possible, keeping money for booze and women (and giving you an adventure, while others need to find jobs). Nevermind the fact that you're basically homeless

Not everyone that travels do so on their parents money.

I traveled and put myself through school on scholarships, night/weekends and crazy hard bush jobs.

 

[Born2bwire]

Wouldn't being homeless be similar? See, I find it a little condescending - the notion that you need to live in a tent, hitch hike, and borrow bikes to find yourself. Maybe that's were my Eastern roots come in - to find yourself you must only look inward.

Jesus Christ, are you brain damaged? It isn't that hard to figure out. You go out, get see countries where you want to, when you want to and at a pace that you want. You could spend just as much money on a canned tour group that runs through 13 cities in a week and half and get only an inkling of the sights, food, people and culture that you would get if you stretched it out over a long period of time.

 

[KingGheedora]

That's another thing I never thought of - see this is valuable! I do live in a major city, and take the massive amounts of culture around me for granted. I mean, I enjoy it, but I forget that people say in Kansas don't have the same opportunities. I agree then, if I were born in a small town, I would certainly like to escape for a while. I can empathize with that. I can also empathize with the "this may be my only chance for adventure" train of thought, though I personally crave stability first and adventure later (call me a square, but I sincerely mean that I'm going to enjoy my money when I have it, not before I make something of myself). See, my priority is to make myself first, then discover the world later. Sure, that time may never come but I'm ok with that. I understand people who want to do things the other way around.

You're also right that no one can predict life or the changes in the road that may come. Heck, I may be that guy in "Up" who planned for adventure all of his life without ever getting a chance to experience it... That bothers me a lot, but I'm so goal driven that I feel that taking that trip and forgetting my responsibilities for even 6 months is selfish... I drank and drugged my way through my early 20s and hate myself for the time wasted, so I'm going to say that my personal situation and upbringing has more to do with my mentality than race.. In fact, I'll apologize for my racist flame bait title now..

It's easier tot take the time off when you are young as opposed to taking a break once you've started your career. Most of the travelers I met in Europe and South America were from Europe, not the US.

People backpack because it is fun and you get to see the world. I'd take 6 months of living in shitty hostels hopping from city to city over 6 months of slaving in an office any day. No reason to get jealous of the people who are able to do it. 6 months is insignificant amount of time in the grand scheme of things and once you have traveled like that the experience will stay with you forever. Plus its easier to do in your 20s before you have a serious career going and before you have commitments like marriage or kids. It's a personal journey, but def a waste of time if you spend all of it with the other Brits/Yanks getting smashed all the time. A break from the rat race in between two phases of life.

The thing to actually be annoyed about is the people who are pretentious about their traveling. I wouldn't blog about it because there is really nothing interesting for others to see in a blog about someone else's travels unless they are a great writer and doing really interesting and novel things. 99.99% of travelers never do anything noteworthy (or blogworthy).