Traditional backpackers seem to be an almost extinct species, anyway that’s how it seems here in Thailand. They can still be seen with the standard must have back pack but now they obviously have more money and stay in better accommodation than a shack on the beach. And of course MUST have phone charging facilities.
Very few, if any really old style economy backpacking places around anymore.
And as mentioned by someone earlier the Chinese are everywhere.
No no no, literally everything was better when that poster was in their youth. 100% of the people on the planet were hard working, adventurous, and courteous. Every person on the planet now only stops staring at their phones to be rude to their elders.
Now get off the lawn and turn down that noise!
For what it’s worth, we still routinely stay in grass shacks on beaches. On islands with no cars. Sometimes no power. Sometimes it’s all that there is available, on some islands!
But it’d be wrong to say cellphones haven’t changed this kind of travel, they definitely have. We started before this technology, and are still at it, having a blast. But it has changed things about how people travel. So few people jump off a bus or train without a room booked, these days, that the horde of cabbies, trishaw drivers and touts that knew all the best places are fast disappearing. It is far more challenging to just ‘turn up’ and get a room, even in guesthouses and losmen, especially during the months of high season. Of course, into the rural backwaters things remain unchanged largely. Yet even there everyone’s got a cell. (Usually an Appo)
Arriving at some odd hour and setting about locating a room, is very often the start of some amazing adventures. That search can take you into some truly amazing places and sights, while bonding with your driver, now also part of the hunt. All bypassed now by trip adviser reviews and photos, prebooked. There was something very empowering about confidently knowing you could turn up in Surabaya, at four AM on a delayed train, get dropped into an unfamiliar city, and you’d be fine. Simply find a room, grab a bite, get some sleep, no sweat.
There still seem to be plenty in Panama, especially in funkier places like Bocas del Toro or surfing beaches.
If accomodations are full, the cause is not cellphones or Tripadvisor, but the increasing number of travelers. That’s a good thing, because it means there are more middle-class people all over the world who can afford to travel. And before Tripadvisor there were Let’s Go and Lonely Planet books, it used to be that if you traveled during high season you didn’t even bother with anything mentioned in those books cause they’d be full.
Last couple of times I traveled without prebooking, I had no trouble finding accomodations. This is in Central America and Canada, high season even.
So? It’s a nice change from the Americans and the Ausies, and the Chinese have a wonderful culture going back thousands of years. Given the choice, I’d much rather share a table or have a fireside chat with the Chinese. Keep in mind, 30 years ago everybody talked about the Japanese businessmen being everywhere with their cameras.
Again, the fact their are so many Chinese travelers is a great sign. It means there are lots of them who can afford to travel, lots of middle-class Chinese. Mind you, many of the “Chinese” are not from China. For instance there are tons of Canadians with Chinese ethnicity and there are tons of tour agencies here who cater to them specifically.
In a perfect world, travelers should be uniformaly divided between all countries, Chinese, East-Asians, Europeans, Africans, Latin Americans, Indians, Arabs, etc, the more diverse the better. Last time I stayed in a hostel in Mexico, I was happy to run into several backpackers from Eastern Europe. A fellow American backpacker grumbled about the commies sneaking out of their countries, but to me it meant that they too can now afford to travel anywhere, a great sign.
Oh wow I sooo wish I had done this type of thing when I was younger. But, always working for the man.
Question: How did you afford it?
The closest I ever did to this was staying in some cheap youth hostels in Canada and Hawaii. Maybe $5 for a bunk or maybe free if you worked.
do they still exist?
I’m doing a tiny bit of it right now (and I do mean tiny). I’m posting this from a hostel in Granada, Spain. I’m 51 years old and until now, I have never travelled alone internationally (outside of airports or work trips, where there would be someone to meet me, or a simple taxi ride to a pre booked hotel), so I thought I’d give it a try.
My mother lives in southern Spain (near Cartagena(, so I flew out and spent a few days with her; today I caught a bus to Granada - two nights here, then another bus to Seville - two nights there, then home.
Like I said, a tiny step - if I’d done this as a younger man, no doubt it wouldn’t be so exciting now, but I feel like I’ve achieved a small personal victory - I navigated a foreign transport system, I traversed a foreign city on foot - I ordered my food in Spanish and tonight (well for the next 4 nights) I’m sleeping in a dorm room with 7 assorted strangers (probably all in their 20s)
Baby steps. I’m enjoying this
Cell phones. Do backpacking travelers these days have the faintest idea of what “poste restante” is? What about keeping up with news? I still remember going to China on the eve of the Aquino revolution in the Philippines, and travelled in the backwoods of China for close to 3 months before finding out that Marcos was out.
Did quite a bit of backpacking in my Boy Scout days, including to many places around Ohio and Pennsylvania, and also a memorable week at Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico. Good times. I’m still in touch with two of my buddies from back then, and recently reconnected with a third through Facebook. I did some non-Scout backpacking, too, including a very cold, wintry weekend in the Allegheny National Forest. My friend and I learned the next morning that it had gotten down to -40F that night!
Of course you count! Please reply back on here after your trip… I spent a month in Thailand and like to compare experiences to get a better grasp.
Only three years ago I showed up just before midnight in Surabaya without a room booking. Not quite 4am, but pretty close. I found a backpackers really easily, despite my taxi driver knowing very little English and us being utterly unable to communicate. Finding vegetarian food there turned out to be more of a challenge…
There’s still mad people around, don’t worry 
How would you compare the backpackers from 30 years ago?
Had a friend who traveled the S. E. Asia “Hippie Trail” in the early '70’s on his way to Australia.
It sounded interesting, (never got a chance to talk to him), but after college in 1975, I bought a one way ticket to Bangkok. Thailand was the only country in the area that allowed entry without proving one had a ticket out. Other countries didn’t want hippies arriving without money and no way to get home. Stopovers were in HNL, Tokyo and HKG.
Took me almost 2 years to finally arrive in BKK. From there down the Malaysian peninsula, over to Sumatra, Indonesia, ship to Jakarta, train/ bus to Bali. Low on funds, I flew to Taipei where I had heard the money was good teaching English. Spent almost 6 years in Taiwan.
While teaching at a university there, I was able to travel to many other places, Burma, India, Nepal,Sri Lanka, and the Philippines. Finally arrived back in LAX in 1983, (Taiwanese wife in tow) along with many, many great travel memories.
The area is all changed now. For a time I thought I had gotten to see these countries before the Westernization really took hold, then I ran into an old timer who said to me, “You really missed it. You should have seen these places in the 60’s when I was there”.
I remember going to Ayuttuhya (sp?) and walking into a bar, and seeing 5 Thai woman ALL on their phones. I was there for a month in 2012.
Back in the 1980’s, I spent between $200 and $300 per month total for everything in China. I traveled lean (foot, buses, trains and not planes), ate local, spent almost all of the time in southwest China far from any tourist centers, etc. I remember my cheapest bed, outside of when I was in a tent or taken in by nomads, was about fifteen cents out in the boondocks. I would trek for a month and literally spend a couple dollars beyond supplies I brought with me (there was nothing to buy and in a barter economy, being the first paleface was worth entertainment value). I used to take maybe $20 dollars in singles, and give those out to people who had never seen foreign money before. They would be totally psyched to get a dollar bill. And back in the 1980’s, a dollar would be worth less than 1/10th of the average urban wage.
In between trips, I taught English in Taiwan, free lance writer, and wrote a guidebook. In other words, I lived on a couple grand a year. I wrote a thread maybe 10 years ago when I was delayed in the Shanghai airport about the irony of my business class ticket to the US being greater than what I used to spend in one year of travel.
We traveled for 26 days while hiking the Annapurna Circuit in Nepal, staying at guest houses and buying lunch on the trail during the day. We were hard pressed to spend $10/day; very economical travel. This was in the mid-90s.
“backpacking”: what over-privileged (rich) white kids do when they don’t feel like going to university. or learning a trade. because they can just fuck off for a year or two, 'cos mommy and daddy will provide.
Thanks for sharing such insight. Not necessarily true, but truly a valuable contribution nonetheless based on real experience!