What's with white people and backpacking?

[slackerinabox]

its cause white people be trippin

I'm only quoting you because Black Dynamite's the funniest movie I've seen in a long time!

 

[AUMM]

These people are freaking nuts to go wandering around South America. Direct them to the nearest illegal South American immigrant and changing minds won't be a problem.

I've gone backpacking through South America, mainly Rio, Brazil and some parts of Argentina....had an awesome time....

 

[Patt]

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.

See, I didn't look at it as 'finding myself' per se ... it was more just the ultimate freedom. I could do what I want, when I wanted and could turn in any given direction at any moment and just go. I didn't need to do any of the things I did ... but I sure as hell enjoyed them. Edit: and I could have done this anywhere, but Europe was where I chose to go.

The point of my trip was initially get away after I left university, to give me some time to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. Ultimately, I'd say I started down the right path, and now am in a career and position in life that I'm very happy with, partly because I had the time and the freedom to not worry about normal life issues for a while.

I didn't even worry about where I was going to be staying, as I was self-sufficient, and ended up meeting the most brilliant people, even just briefly that touched my life. It is hard to describe maybe, especially if you don't have the interest in going ... but I wouldn't trade my experiences for anything.

 

[puffff]

not every second of backpacking is glamorous. but at the end of the trip, you do end up with a lot of memorable experiences.

you'll find the majority of these long term backpackers to be of certain races, because compared to the rest of the world, they are better off and can afford to do these things. and when people around you are coming home after their trip and recounting all the cool things they did and saw, its just more motivation to go.

 

[FuzzyDunlop]

I learnt more during my one year of travels than I did in all my years at university.

Yes, it is a coming of age thing. It helps many people mature beyond what they normally would have at home. It also gives perspective to life, helps them realize that a University degree is NOT the most important thing in the world.

For me the biggest lesson I learnt was that not everyone is the same, they dont all think the same, and that is OK. So stop pushing your ideals onto others and just let them live they way they want. Why give a shit if they disagree with you?
That and European chicks are horny.

Anyway, thats my 2.2

 

[slackerinabox]

I learnt more during my one year of travels than I did in all my years at university.

Yes, it is a coming of age thing. It helps many people mature beyond what they normally would have at home. It also gives perspective to life, helps them realize that a University degree is NOT the most important thing in the world.

For me the biggest lesson I learnt was that not everyone is the same, they dont all think the same, and that is OK. So stop pushing your ideals onto others and just let them live they way they want. Why give a shit if they disagree with you?
That and European chicks are horny.

Anyway, thats my 2.2

Cool. I respect that - if you have the means and are honest about it ("it's a coming of age thing" not "I want to chronicle my adventures and show the world my new and amazing insight"), then I totally get it. What's interesting to me, and a thing that's a personal pet peeve more than anything, is that some people need to travel outside of the U.S. to experience real life... For example - people who live in Williamsburg Brooklyn (a hip, high rent area) need to travel to Africa to experience/"help" with poverty, all while Bedford Stuyvesant Brooklyn has enough poverty and sadness there for many lifetimes. Even poverty/heal the world bullshit aside, the thing I find so wonderful about the U.S.A is that NYC is very different from Omaha, NE.. That St. Louis MO has so much history and culture that's not valued... Heck, I was walking around cemetery in Key West and the place was dripping with history... Maybe I should backpack across the U.S.

 

[meltdown75]

white people - wiki wikki wikki wikki

black people - DOO DOO DOO DOO

 

[JulesMaximus]

Sometimes we just need to get away from it all.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

do u know AMDhunter? i confuse the 2 of you sometimes, but you come off as slightly more mature.

must be the indian (or black as he likes to call it) and the nyc connection.

 

[mchammer187]

I would have done it if I had the money. Not for the purpose of finding myself or soul searching but just because it would be fun.

I would not want to do it if I was in a committed relationship though. But to go through Europe with 2-3 of your best friends would be awesome. Just partying, visiting exciting places, and not knowing where you are going to end up. Trips like that would probably make memories that last a lifetime.

 

[zinfamous]

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?

It sounds like you're boring as hell. I'd much rather meet your friends than you, if you assume there is anything "shady" about the situations that they will encounter.

the reason is because they want to experience life. Educate themselves culturally, perhaps. You...not so much, obviously.

 

[Patt]

I would have done it if I had the money. Not for the purpose of finding myself or soul searching but just because it would be fun.

I would not want to do it if I was in a committed relationship though. But to go through Europe with 2-3 of your best friends would be awesome. Just partying, visiting exciting places, and not knowing where you are going to end up.

Myself, I preferred to go it alone ... more freedom, less compromising Started out with a family friend, and lasted all of about a week and a half. Much better for both of us. With my best friend(s), it would have been much more expensive, and centered around the partying aspect.

 

[zinfamous]

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!

Guess what: whatever their reasons for going, they will come out understanding a shit-load more about such cultures than you will ever hope to if you sit in your comfortable backwater town and criticize them for actually doing something.

I tend to ridicule the typical post-college kids who do it just ot party, b/c it is pointless in my mind, but at least they're actually going, and some of them will certainly get more out of it than they expected.

Your type that sits around, never wants to do anything outside of your comfort zone, is pretty much why we have ignorant polarizing ultra-nationalists causing most of the problems in this world. (Not YOU of course; it's just a general attitude that you're displaying, if but mildly )

 

[mchammer187]

Myself, I preferred to go it alone ... more freedom, less compromising Started out with a family friend, and lasted all of about a week and a half. Much better for both of us. With my best friend(s), it would have been much more expensive, and centered around the partying aspect.

How close were you and the other person though?

 

[Mani]

why was the first person on Everest a white man?
the Indians,the Chinese were there for thousands of years,why weren`t they just a bit curious?

Probably because you dont' climb everest for any practical reason. You don't learn anything, etc., you just get to say you did. That said, I'm sure someone from the region did at some point in history, it just wasn't documented.

 

[zinfamous]

Hah, maybe. Or maybe you're just white and I offended you?

Trust me, I know how to party. I wasted much time partying and not taking life seriously. But I wasted time with no pretense - I knew then that I was a lush and now live with the guilt of that (however minor the guilt is). I feel like life keeps ticking away, and spending six months roaming around seems like a huge waste of that valuable time, especially when the pretenses of "blogging my unique and wonderful experiences" comes into the mix..

...so if life is "just ticking away," how can you consider any of that time valuable? the "ticking away" comment always speaks towards a person who places little value on life experience, or life in general.

you should focus on doing something rather than the time that you have.

I think you're clueless. perhaps old and boring long before your time?

 

[olds]

Traveling through Europe, staying in hostels, is not backpacking.

 

[Lonyo]

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

What?
Europeans go backpacking in Africa and Asia all the time, Australia is another possibility (and a "safe" one at that).

 

[ccblazer44]

I'm white and I would LOVE to backpack through Europe. It's an area so densely populated by so many different cultures... it's almost too much. And as a student of history going around and seeing landmarks would simply be exciting. I understand where OP is coming from too though...

 

[tyler811]

nm

 

[mchammer187]

Traveling through Europe, staying in hostels, is not backpacking.

I will agree that it is not hiking or camping but I've seen it referred to as backpacking regularly.

 

[JS80]

Its a way for yuppie liberal suburban white kids to say they're cultured and world traveled without actually having to see anything thats really all different from their normal way of life.

damn well said

 

[meltdown75]

Traveling through Europe, staying in hostels, is not backpacking.

back... slacking?

:hmm:

 

[CraigRT]

What are you talking about? That sounds like the best time ever!

 

[InflatableBuddha]

I learnt more during my one year of travels than I did in all my years at university.

Yes, it is a coming of age thing. It helps many people mature beyond what they normally would have at home. It also gives perspective to life, helps them realize that a University degree is NOT the most important thing in the world.

For me the biggest lesson I learnt was that not everyone is the same, they dont all think the same, and that is OK. So stop pushing your ideals onto others and just let them live they way they want. Why give a shit if they disagree with you?
That and European chicks are horny.

Anyway, thats my 2.2

Totally agree. I did a Contiki tour 2 years ago. It comprised the majority of my 3 months abroad in Europe.

I traveled with other Canadians, Americans, Aussies, Kiwis and met some interesting foreign people along the way. While the ancient churches, statues and historical spots were beautiful and enriching, one of the best parts of the trip was learning about other peoples' views of the world and others personalities.

And of course, being out of my comfort zone made me really focus on what my own strengths and weaknesses are and how best to adapt.

Oh, and don't travel with your girlfriend either. We had some great times but we ended up breaking up at the end of the trip. Didn't tap any horny Euro chicks.

I've been in the career world since I got back and I think next year it'll be time to take off again, this time on a work visa. I just have to decide where...