Humour
Stuff Backpackers Like. 101 Things…
Mar
After having travelled South East Asia extensively and now embarking upon an adventure in South America, to launch South America Backpacker Magazine, we find it very interesting that despite being on a completely different continent, there are surprising similarities between backpackers all over the world, regardless of age, nationality or experience.
You don’t even realize that you’re part of a distinct subculture until you start to look at all of the things you have in common with your fellow travellers, from mindset to clothing to food choices and lifestyle preferences. Put us all together in one place and we’re like whole new country by ourselves with our own rich culture intact! Aaahh…. Backpackersland – where beer is cheap, massage courses are mandatory, coffee is Fair Trade, happy hour lasts all year, yoga is free, beds are abolished in favour of hammocks and no one ever wears shoes. We decided to put together a list of 101 things backpackers like…
Can you recognize yourself amidst the list? Can you add any more stuff backpackers like?
- Book swaps
- Haviana flip flops
- Textiled goods
- Taking a Thai massage course
- Paying to volunteer
- Happy hours
- Cross body hemp tote bags
- Getting a bamboo tattoo in Sanskrit language
- Hammocks
- The Power of Now by Eckart Thole
- Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts
- Burma
- Beer
- Drinking alcohol out of buckets
- Rooftop reggae bars
- Wife beaters (as in the singlets)
- Beards
- Fast WIFI
- Spinning poi
- Cheap street food
- Colourful markets
- Travel photography courses
- Showing locals photos you take of them
- Journaling
- Sarongs
- Studying Buddhism
- Free breakfast
- String bracelets
- Flag patches on your backpack
- Stamps in your passport
- Knowing everyone at home is getting up for work
- Fruit shakes
- Capturing five people and a dog on a motorbike
- Fried rice
- One night stands
- Indigenous tribal villages
- Silent meditation retreats
- The juxtaposition between east and west
- Monk chats
- On the Road by Jack Kerouac
- Teaching English with an NGO
- Blogging
- Bagels
- Yoga
- Spirulina
- Playing the ukelele around a bonfire
- Writing ‘World Traveller’ in the occupation space on forms
- Documentary films
- Wheatgrass
- Fisherman pants
- Headbands / bandanas
- Scooters
- Couchsurfing.com
- Collecting beer labels and bottle caps
- Fresh spring rolls
- Reiki
- Facebook likes on new travel pics
- Learning to say ‘cheers’ in different languages
- Bamboo huts
- Waving at smiling children
- Sticky rice
- Local moonshine
- GoPros
- Comparing tan lines
- Solid poos
- Comparing mosquito bites and motorbike scars
- Tribal prints
- Feather earrings
- Elephants
- Discussing the effects of malaria tablets
- Having photos taken with tigers
- Organic, Fair Trade, vegan food
- Skype
- Criticizing the Lonely Planet
- Free maps
- South East Asia Backpacker Magazine (we couldn’t miss that out)
- Movie nights at the hostel
- Tofu
- Local chicken buses
- “It’s about the journey not the destination”
- Authentic experiences
- Happy hours
- Home-stays
- Being barefoot
- Absorbing the culture
- Going to South America next
- Flyering / bar-work for accommodation
- Asking fellow travelers “Where you’re from?” “How long have you been traveling?”
- Jumping fire ropes
- Helium balloons
- Local festivals
- Paulo Coelho books
- Having ‘local experiences and connections’
- Triangle cushions
- Competing about how strict your budget is
- Talking about writing a novel
- Bottled water
- Giving something back
- Going to places where they haven’t seen a foreigner before
- Villages with no electricity
