THE GREAT REWARD of backpacking independently on a low budget is the people you meet. Because all roads have not been smoothed before you. Your feathers are likely to be ruffled when things don't turn out exactly as expected and because you are likely to be left in of a lurch now and then, you will have far greater opportunity to mix with local people, as well as backpackers from all over the world, than any tour group or first-class traveler.
Those spending massive bucks for guided travel get peace-of-mind in return. They are guaranteed no worries, no hassles, an experience as close as feasible to being home, without being home. They get an hour and fifteen minutes for the guaranteed-open museum, then a two-hour sightseeing ride that catches all the picture-postcard highlights. They break for lunch at a "recommended" restaurant, where the food is reasonable and ordering is simple and as the next bus pulls in they re-board theirs to repeat the method, ending with an simple check-in at a reasonable hotel, populated with lots of other tourists, much like themselves.
While all travel is nice for the human spirit, budget backpacking is unparalleled for meeting people & experiencing worlds on their own intimate terms. There's lots of travelers who have the resources for pampered-class but pick to strap on a backpack & see the world by the seat-of-their-pants because they know it is the best way to experience cultures & interact with local people.
The best travel is not about a list of monuments, museums, & landscapes. The best travel is about people and in the event you travel well it is people that you are going to keep in mind most. People that are unusual, unique, foreign, similar, friendly, lovely, hospitable, loving, kind, rude, outrageous, & normal. These will be the experiences that stay with you forever, that no postcard can ever reproduce.
Travelling Alone
Most would-be travelers are nervous about going alone. They think abroad travel is daunting to be tackled by themselves. For lots of of us, however, if they don't travel alone, they are not going to travel. It is difficult to discover a travel partner who is not only compatible, but also has the same time, money, & goals. Fortunately, most travelers will find themselves constantly meeting other solo travelers, lots of of whom will even be looking for companionship, to have a few beers, or to exchange information. By no means is travelling alone the same as travelling lonely.
Of coursework, the solo traveler will likely be alone some or much of the time. This can be a nice thing, however, as a companion might insulate you much from local culture or other travelers and the essence of nice travel (I think) is experiencing unusual new people & cultures.
Furthermore, there is no better or faster way to learn about yourself than by travelling by yourself. Goethe said he travelled not for pleasure, but to accomplish his full development as a man by the time he was forty. & venerable Swedish doctor (who for nice luck picked up every hitchhiker in sight while his son was hitchhiking in Asia and who eventually--after five or ten stops--delivered me to his summer cabin to meet his stunning spouse) waxed very mystical in saying he didn't feel he was travelling unless he was doing so alone.
Traveling With Someone
Travelling with someone demands you know yourself and your partner. It is often said there would be less divorce if couples travelled a few months together before tying the knot. As with marriage, in case you only think of your travel partner in terms of honeymoon than alliance, you are in for a tragic shock.
Travelling with someone is an intense experience. Seldom in normal life do people spend a lot time together, and make so plenty of decisions, often based on tiny knowledge. Selecting restaurants, taking buses, choosing museums, finding accommodation--all may cause great stress among couples. As a mate wrote, "Discovering you are hopelessly, absolutely incompatible in a tent at 8000 feet and it is thirty-two degrees outside is not a nice situation."
Because someone is a nice mate doesn't mean he would automatically be a nice travel partner. Travelling with someone with whom goals, funds, & even personal habits have not been fully discussed can be a relationship-destroyer and trip-ruiner. Get everything in the open before you commit yourself to a backpacking trip to hell.
The basic categories of travel friction are::
- has an every hour itinerary, the other doesn't own a watch.
- prefers first-class, the other prefers the back of the bus.
- One's makeup case is heavier than the other's backpack.
Do not underestimate profound differences such as these.
In case you and your travel partner are not perfectly meshing, try taking turns being the chief decision-maker. The first day chooses the restaurants & museums; the next day the other. (Me chief today, you chief tomorrow.) Also give each other time to explore alone, perhaps meeting for dinner, or next week in Paris. (But always have a standard plan for getting in contact if the original rendezvous fails, such as or twenty-four hours later at the same place.)
Both must understand a nice travel relationship requires compromise on both sides to accomplish a greater whole. Whining & nagging is usually the result of partner feeling like he or he is not being treated . Listening is the most important--yet most abused--skill between people.
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