Backpacker's lifestyle

[luv24nic8]

They just settle down in a third world shithole where their white privilege would help them score some random corporate position in any country that adores white skin.

Damn- tell me where to go- Seriously - I will exploit the living $hit out of my white privilege-

 

[luv24nic8]

i backpacked Thailand years ago, While at a hotel in Bangkok, i found a map left by my strange, whacked-out neighbor, who just committed suicide. The map supposedly lead to a legendary island paradise where some other wayward souls have settled, so off i went to find it, i convinced a couple to come with me.
to reach the island we had to swim to it,
When we first arrive on the island, we come across an enormous marijuana plantation guarded by these local farmers armed with AK-47 assault rifles, we barely manage to evade detection. After jumping off cliff and landing in a lake below, this cunt sees us and takes us to this beach community. the cunts interrogated us regarding our knowledge of the island, we didnt have a fucking clue what they were on about but we were accepted. we were introduced to everybody and over the next few days got integrated into the community.
fucking weirdos, i fucked all the chicks and swam out of there

Peanut butter and Jelllouuuusss!!

 

[AgonyandIrony]

I agree with this. I've been a 'bum' who lived in some great places with next to no money. Experiences are the most valuable thing and are the building block of a 'life worth living', IMO. A lot of backpackers are just looking to explore and collect experiences.

OTOH a small portion of backpackers are assholes. I have no problems with the backpacker lifestyle other than the following:

- don't complain about what you don't have. If you make the choice to travel and not accumulate stuff then don't complain about not having stuff and being broke

- be a citizen wherever you travel and respect the place and people that are hosting you. Nothing worse than backpackers who talk endlessly about how great the place they come from is. Australians, I'm looking at you!!

- Finally, I don't think much of backpackers who just hang out with other backpackers. Usually they just spend their time bragging to other backpackers of where they've been.

It's like any other sub-culture -- a portion of the sub-culture are ass holes.

I don't really hang out with backpackers. I'm friends with people who travel a lot. My friend I'm meeting in New Orleans generally moves somewhere every 3-6 months. I like to do week long trips and I would eventually like to do a week in a different city for about a year.

I love the individual cultures of each city or town I'm in. I can shoot the shit with just about anyone and I'm overly friendly and polite to people. I also try not to shit on other peoples lifestyles, everyone has a story... And while a loy of people can be garbage storytellers I generally find almost everyone I meet interesting.

 

[Boomb]

 

[MarloStanfield]

Peanut butter and Jelllouuuusss!!

it wasnt all easy going, i went out spear fishing id catch dinner every night for the camp, anyway i was attacked by a young mako shark, i stabbed it to death and when i got back to shore i was basically the king lol it was crazy. it was cult like actually,
not long after these 2 Swedish dudes Sten and Christo got attacked by a shark while fishing, big this one was, Sten died straight away but Christo survived all fucked up, so he didnt go to hospital because these freaks were against it, he got real bad so we take him out into the middle of the jungle and leave him to die, i made my mind up im outta there real soon,
i told these surfers about the island back in Bangkok and we could see that they were coming to join us, they just had to swim from one island to ours, but to get to our camp you had to pass the dudes with ak47s guarding the dope plants, this is fucked, the surfers got killed by the gun weilding psychos, we all panick this chick that was my main fuck, Étienne wouldnt leave Christo behind, hes basically on his death bed, i cant even believe he hasnt died yet,
we seriously have to fuckoff unless we want to die aswell, Étienne leaves me and Christo for a moment, fuck im tearing up atm thinking about this, please dont hold it against me but i suffocated Christo.
im sorry i cant go on atm im breaking down recalling all this

 

[Roca]

Of course some of you need to turn this into a dick-waving contest convinced you've found the right way of life and everyone else is wrong

 

[MarloStanfield]

Of course some of you need to turn this into a dick-waving contest convinced you've found the right way of life and everyone else is wrong

live ya life as you choose i never hang shit on cunts for the way they live unless im in the WR

 

[Oblivian]

I honestly only know one person that has successfully lived this lifestyle and it's because he is in the culinary industry. He can basically get a short term job anywhere he goes.

I know several others who have lived that lifestyle for a while and one of a few things happened.
1. They got burned out on it
2. They couldn't financially make it.
3. They had a kid.
4. They realized they needed to do something for their future.

I'm 35 now, and I think it hits a lot of people by the time their 30. I know of a lot of people that can drift around in their early 20's, but to continue that into your 30's is probably only for a very small portion of the population.

And lol at people acting as though saving for life in your 50 and 60's is stupid as if your life is over at those ages. I remember when I was in my teens thinking 35 was so old. I know a lot of 50 year olds and 60 year olds completely living it up. That's a really ignorant, short-sighted point of view.

 

[IIIIIIII]

I honestly only know one person that has successfully lived this lifestyle and it's because he is in the culinary industry. He can basically get a short term job anywhere he goes.

I know several others who have lived that lifestyle for a while and one of a few things happened.
1. They got burned out on it
2. They couldn't financially make it.
3. They had a kid.
4. They realized they needed to do something for their future.

I'm 35 now, and I think it hits a lot of people by the time their 30. I know of a lot of people that can drift around in their early 20's, but to continue that into your 30's is probably only for a very small portion of the population.

And lol at people acting as though saving for life in your 50 and 60's is stupid as if your life is over at those ages. I remember when I was in my teens thinking 35 was so old. I know a lot of 50 year olds and 60 year olds completely living it up. That's a really ignorant, short-sighted point of view.

very good post. i think this post illustrates the need to have balance in life. backpacking is a lot of fun, but it takes a certain type of person to sustain it as a lifestyle. most end up settling down, which makes sense. in my mid-twenties i dreamed of finding a job where i could work half the year, and travel the other half. when i did the math, i realized quickly it wasn't enough money lol, so i've settled for traveling a month out of the year, which at my ripe age of 36, is plenty for me lol.

i'm totally with you about older folks, "living it up". i see it whenever i travel. there are always older folks on the road doing their thing.

 

[Deleted member 409801]

I honestly only know one person that has successfully lived this lifestyle and it's because he is in the culinary industry. He can basically get a short term job anywhere he goes.

I know several others who have lived that lifestyle for a while and one of a few things happened.
1. They got burned out on it
2. They couldn't financially make it.
3. They had a kid.
4. They realized they needed to do something for their future.

I'm 35 now, and I think it hits a lot of people by the time their 30. I know of a lot of people that can drift around in their early 20's, but to continue that into your 30's is probably only for a very small portion of the population.

And lol at people acting as though saving for life in your 50 and 60's is stupid as if your life is over at those ages. I remember when I was in my teens thinking 35 was so old. I know a lot of 50 year olds and 60 year olds completely living it up. That's a really ignorant, short-sighted point of view.

The years click by and it gets here before you know it , only the very young that have zero perspective to relate to think otherwise.

Obviously balance is the key and nobody should live as if today isn't as valuable or possibly even more so than tomorrow, but tomorrow almost inevitably become today for most of us . 50 without a pot to poss in is a depressing thought , 50 and beginning to coast on the previous 30 years has the potential to be fantastic.

 

[boingyman]

What criteria has to be met to consider a 'backpackers lifestyle'? I just ask this because I know a lot of people that do a lot of traveling, although not sure what criteria you are using to meet the standard you are stating. I know a physician who takes off months at a time to travel and do street photography, which is his passion. Luckily his job allows him to do so. I have friends that have government jobs that accumulate tons of vacation or work a lot of OT that is compensated with more vacation time. They would take trips anywhere between 6-8 weeks at a time. Some of them have cheap rent, live with their parents and/or live a modest lifestyle.

Personally if I still had my state job (as well as my wife), had no kids, still lived in my first home I bought while renting out 1-2 rooms, we could easily take 6-8 week backpacking trips each year and still be fairly aggressive with our retirement. We would be making maybe 25% less (than our current income), but make up for it to an extent with lower bills and better pension if we stuck it out our entire careers.

 

[IIIIIIII]

What criteria has to be met to consider a 'backpackers lifestyle'? I just ask this because I know a lot of people that do a lot of traveling, although not sure what criteria you are using to meet the standard you are stating. I know a physician who takes off months at a time to travel and do street photography, which is his passion. Luckily his job allows him to do so. I have friends that have government jobs that accumulate tons of vacation or work a lot of OT that is compensated with more vacation time. They would take trips anywhere between 6-8 weeks at a time. Some of them have cheap rent, live with their parents and/or live a modest lifestyle.

Personally if I still had my state job (as well as my wife), had no kids, still lived in my first home I bought while renting out 1-2 rooms, we could easily take 6-8 week backpacking trips each year and still be fairly aggressive with our retirement. We would be making maybe 25% less (than our current income), but make up for it to an extent with lower bills and better pension if we stuck it out our entire careers.

the criteria i'm sure varies for everyone. to me, it's when backpacking takes up the majority of your time. if you're using vacation time to do it, i wouldn't consider you a backpacker. if you're working while backpacking and are in need of that money to continue to backpack, then i would call you a backpacker. i think certain people can become stuck being a backpacker, because at least to me, it's an ultimate sense of freedom. never have i felt so free as when i was backpacking, with the knowledge that i could literally go wherever i want to, money-depending of course. that's hard for some people to let go.

 

[superpunch]

these people who use their wages/savings on traveling. How or are they saving for their future? They live a lifestyle most peolple would only dream of, work a little bit, quit, then travel to another city maybe country. Rinse repeat. It's an envious lifestyle but it seems shortsighted and designed for a healthy and young body. I understand life is too short and you gotta make most of it but how much preparation for late life?

A round trip economic class anywhere to Asia from anywhere in the US is $1000. Hostel rooms in Thailand, Cambodia, etc. are $3 a night and food is $2 a day. And that's just for Americans.

Europeans and Asians do it because they're within a $100 round trip flight of 20 different countries. It probably just seems weird to you because we're geographically isolated here in America.

You can also get paid and get free housing just working at the hostel. Backpacking is cheap as fuck.

 

[superpunch]

For sure. 10 years of 'traveling' is an amazing career goal. I'm glad it worked out for you. Sounds like really good advice.

You can make the same $$ living in places with 1/10th the CoL. A backpacker can save more money in 1 year than you will in 10.

 

[luv24nic8]

it wasnt all easy going, i went out spear fishing id catch dinner every night for the camp, anyway i was attacked by a young mako shark, i stabbed it to death and when i got back to shore i was basically the king lol it was crazy. it was cult like actually,
not long after these 2 Swedish dudes Sten and Christo got attacked by a shark while fishing, big this one was, Sten died straight away but Christo survived all fucked up, so he didnt go to hospital because these freaks were against it, he got real bad so we take him out into the middle of the jungle and leave him to die, i made my mind up im outta there real soon,
i told these surfers about the island back in Bangkok and we could see that they were coming to join us, they just had to swim from one island to ours, but to get to our camp you had to pass the dudes with ak47s guarding the dope plants, this is fucked, the surfers got killed by the gun weilding psychos, we all panick this chick that was my main fuck, Étienne wouldnt leave Christo behind, hes basically on his death bed, i cant even believe he hasnt died yet,
we seriously have to fuckoff unless we want to die aswell, Étienne leaves me and Christo for a moment, fuck im tearing up atm thinking about this, please dont hold it against me but i suffocated Christo.
im sorry i cant go on atm im breaking down recalling all this

U had to do what you had to do- Christo was going to die- you did the right thing- how is Etienne handling things?

 

[AgonyandIrony]

Slightly off but on topic. I'm seeing so many fine ass black women.

Also the Baton Rouge station sells crack and weed pipes lol.

 

[Der Eisbär]

The present doesn't exist. We live in the past and worry about and plan for the future.

What? The present is ALL that exists.

 

[boingyman]

the criteria i'm sure varies for everyone. to me, it's when backpacking takes up the majority of your time. if you're using vacation time to do it, i wouldn't consider you a backpacker. if you're working while backpacking and are in need of that money to continue to backpack, then i would call you a backpacker. i think certain people can become stuck being a backpacker, because at least to me, it's an ultimate sense of freedom. never have i felt so free as when i was backpacking, with the knowledge that i could literally go wherever i want to, money-depending of course. that's hard for some people to let go.

I see. If that's the case I don't know much people personally that do it. I have 2 close friends that took a year off work to travel for 1 year straight. Luckily their jobs allowed it and were able to get back to work. They have no kids, living in a apartment which one of their grandparents own the entire complex, not sure if they pay rent or not. Both make pretty good money.

I guess most friends I have are domesticated. Family, career, travel in bouts throughout the year, etc. That's how my wife and I are. We try to do 1 longer travel every year (3-4 weeks vacation), and then mini travels throughout the year (3-10 day vacations), however we slowed down a little since having a child.

Back in my mid 20s I think I could have pulled off some epic travelling, but wasn't that interested at the time. The only places I would go is Hawaii (home) and west coast of America. I had the perfect government job to compliment it with lot of vacation time and I was paying $350 rent for 4 years straight. When I quit I cashed out over 400 hours of vacation and went to Hawaii for 3 weeks before starting my new job. Sad thing I didn't even start work until 4 weeks later. I could have taken an nice 6 week trip all over Europe or Asia. Heck I could have let me vacation burn through longer and done 3 months of straight traveling, although at that time I already bought my first house and starting being more fiscally responsible.

 

[MarloStanfield]

U had to do what you had to do- Christo was going to die- you did the right thing- how is Etienne handling things?

once we left the island and got back to the mainland we all went our seperate ways, Etienne and Christo were very close, she knew what i did to christo and as much as it pains her im sure shes glad i ended his suffering, i call her a few christmases ago and her mother answered. she wasnt available and was going to call me back, she never did and i didnt expect her to

 

[mushishi]

Karl Taro Greenfeld lived this lifestyle when he was younger and wrote about it in Standard Deviations. He has a wife and family now.