TOO OLD FOR ADVENTURE?
The very word backpacking is a misnomer for my generation, implying as it does carrying a tent, sleeping bags, cooking gear and everything required for survival in the wild. Hilary Bradt, it seems, alone uses the word in its original sense today, to distinguish it from the easier form of trekking with guides, porters and maybe pack animals. Most of the world has adopted the Lonely Planet usage, travel as cheaply as you can, use a rucksack, but make it light and carry it as little as possible, and if you must trek then use a day-sack. So there you have it, modern backpacking offers flexible adventure travel, without undue hardship, by local transport - trains, buses, river boats, taxis, collectivos, tuk-tuks, rickshaws, horses and camels.
It’s widely known that a large number of young students use their gap year in this way, increasingly joined by those in their 20’s and 30’s who are about to embark on a career change or to settle down to family life. What is certainly less known is that there are an increasing number in the later stages of their working life, free of responsibility for their grown up families, and even OAPs like us. This summer in Peru we met pensioners Peter and Diane from the United States who were just completing a fantastic 30-month jaunt around the globe. We would miss the grandchildren too much to do it in a single block, but they were taking advantage of what they saw as their opportunity. Their middle class friends, like ours, considered them mildly mad for trading the comforts of old age for adventure.
More recently we have chosen to go a little upmarket, because we think we deserve the certainty of comfortable beds and en-suite bathrooms, not that much of the backpacker accommodation, outside major cities, doesn’t also offer this at bargain prices. Like the young, we pensioners have a good deal more time than money, so we tend to prefer the third world where it is much cheaper, and life such a colourful contrast. It certainly raises questions about our consumer lifestyle. In fact the economic conditions frequently remind us of the more austere days of our youth. Are they just fifty years behind? Often it seems so, particularly in fast developing Asia.
With enough notches on our belts already we now travel in depth rather than seek to cover as much ground as quickly as possible. I use my eyes, not a guidebook when looking for somewhere to eat. Flourishing trade, with locals or independent tourists, is almost always a good sign. Often I prefer cheaper local food cooked to order, although when craving the familiarity of western food it’s good to know that pizzas, mountains of chips, banana pancakes, beer and companionship are always available at the popular backpacker haunts.
We almost always find the company of the young backpackers exhilarating, for they have a soft spot for paternal figures when they are so far from home, and we definitely have a soft spot for them. ‘I couldn’t imagine my parents doing this’, has been said so often. ‘How old are you?’ ‘You do give me hope for the future’ said the confirmed vagabond years ago, as we climbed onto the plateau of Phru Kradung in Thailand.
For those with a little more money the backpacker technique works well in Europe at half the price of the cheapest package holidays, though public transport is more restricted because every one else has a car. So my wife and I mix and match - this year two weeks sight seeing, swimming, eating and hiking in the Cinque Terre preceded two months of adventure in darkest Peru, followed by two weeks of ‘culture’ from Venice to Milan.
In advance of such holidays there are only three decisions to be made, where to go, when to go and what to take. A little flexibility can make a big difference to travel costs, especially on low-cost airlines. In fact the same three decisions are faced daily for there is no such thing as a fixed itinerary on this kind of trip, and excess baggage can always be left in store at the last hotel or posted home. That’s the nub of the attraction, for what seems a stressful way to holiday is in fact very relaxing after the uncertainty of first couple of days. Like a place, then stay longer; feeling tired from too much travelling or site seeing, then take time out. A typical package trip to the Galapagos Islands would be a few days; the people we met this summer had been there for over a month and loved every day.
Advance research is invaluable in providing a framework, but it’s amazing how much ideas progress through on the spot learning and chance encounters. As for packing we take less each time and still bring back unworn clothes, even though today everything has to go in my rucksack, for with two artificial knees Joan is excused the heavy duties. One change of lightweight quick-dry outer clothing and multiple sets of underwear are all that’s really required, plus things to keep you warm and dry, and a good camera to guard against failing memories.
Nor is it necessary to have an extensive break. We got hooked over a decade ago whilst we were still in hectic full time employment, and backpacking became the norm for most annual holidays until we retired. That first trip to Nepal was to be an adventure, an antidote to overwork, and so we did not even book ahead for the first night, and rarely do even today, unless arriving late at night. Nepal taught us to find accommodation, organise a trek and get around by local transport without a word of the language or even being able to identify the script, simply by mastering the sound of place names from a phonetic spelling or pointing at their script in a guide book. However, with a little knowledge of their language we would have gained so much more from amazing chance experiences, so now, with more leisure time, I learn some of the relevant language first.
Only once not booking the first night caused what most would consider a disaster, but we remember with delight. We arrived in Kuching, Sarawak, on the eve of the thirtieth anniversary of their independence from Britain, having been told months earlier that all rooms had been sold for the celebrations. Refusing to believe it we toured the hotels at midnight in a taxi, the sky alight with fireworks, before admitting defeat and spending the night on the tiled airport floor. Next morning we were able to join a jubilant national holiday crowd, a seemingly never-ending fancy dress parade representing the different tribes and cultures of Malaysia, from traditional head-hunters to the modern industries of Sarawak and the provinces of mainland Malaysia. If we had insisted on a hotel booking we would have arrived the next day and missed the fun.
Before deciding on Peru this last summer we had extra concerns since it followed several years of immobility with arthritis. It was also our first visit to South America. How would we respond to the highest altitudes of our life? Was street crime and thieving going to spoil our holiday? Would the people be friendly? (Such a bonus in Asia). Was poor hygiene going to lead to the misery of dysentery? The clinching thought was that you never know your limitations until you test them. It was this year or never for we knew if we chickened out we would never try again. Two months later we returned enthusiastic backpackers once again, already planning the next trip to Cambodia, Columbia, Chile or China. Do you know your limitations? We only know we are not giving up adventuring yet.
1305 words by BRIAN CORBETT 21 October 2003
basically as text submitted to the Independent 21 Oct 03
The very word backpacking is a misnomer for my generation, implying as it does carrying a tent, sleeping bags, cooking gear and everything required for survival in the wild. Hilary Bradt, it seems, alone uses the word in its original sense today, to distinguish it from the easier form of trekking with guides, porters and maybe pack animals. Most of the world has adopted the Lonely Planet usage, travel as cheaply as you can, use a rucksack, but make it light and carry it as little as possible, and if you must trek then use a day-sack. So there you have it, modern backpacking offers flexible adventure travel, without undue hardship, by local transport - trains, buses, river boats, taxis, collectivos, tuk-tuks, rickshaws, horses and camels.
It’s widely known that a large number of young students use their gap year in this way, increasingly joined by those in their 20’s and 30’s who are about to embark on a career change or to settle down to family life. What is certainly less known is that there are an increasing number in the later stages of their working life, free of responsibility for their grown up families, and even OAPs like us. This summer in Peru we met pensioners Peter and Diane from the United States who were just completing a fantastic 30-month jaunt around the globe. We would miss the grandchildren too much to do it in a single block, but they were taking advantage of what they saw as their opportunity. Their middle class friends, like ours, considered them mildly mad for trading the comforts of old age for adventure.
More recently we have chosen to go a little upmarket, because we think we deserve the certainty of comfortable beds and en-suite bathrooms, not that much of the backpacker accommodation, outside major cities, doesn’t also offer this at bargain prices. Like the young, we pensioners have a good deal more time than money, so we tend to prefer the third world where it is much cheaper, and life such a colourful contrast. It certainly raises questions about our consumer lifestyle. In fact the economic conditions frequently remind us of the more austere days of our youth. Are they just fifty years behind? Often it seems so, particularly in fast developing Asia.
With enough notches on our belts already we now travel in depth rather than seek to cover as much ground as quickly as possible. I use my eyes, not a guidebook when looking for somewhere to eat. Flourishing trade, with locals or independent tourists, is almost always a good sign. Often I prefer cheaper local food cooked to order, although when craving the familiarity of western food it’s good to know that pizzas, mountains of chips, banana pancakes, beer and companionship are always available at the popular backpacker haunts.
We almost always find the company of the young backpackers exhilarating, for they have a soft spot for paternal figures when they are so far from home, and we definitely have a soft spot for them. ‘I couldn’t imagine my parents doing this’, has been said so often. ‘How old are you?’ ‘You do give me hope for the future’ said the confirmed vagabond years ago, as we climbed onto the plateau of Phru Kradung in Thailand.
For those with a little more money the backpacker technique works well in Europe at half the price of the cheapest package holidays, though public transport is more restricted because every one else has a car. So my wife and I mix and match - this year two weeks sight seeing, swimming, eating and hiking in the Cinque Terre preceded two months of adventure in darkest Peru, followed by two weeks of ‘culture’ from Venice to Milan.
In advance of such holidays there are only three decisions to be made, where to go, when to go and what to take. A little flexibility can make a big difference to travel costs, especially on low-cost airlines. In fact the same three decisions are faced daily for there is no such thing as a fixed itinerary on this kind of trip, and excess baggage can always be left in store at the last hotel or posted home. That’s the nub of the attraction, for what seems a stressful way to holiday is in fact very relaxing after the uncertainty of first couple of days. Like a place, then stay longer; feeling tired from too much travelling or site seeing, then take time out. A typical package trip to the Galapagos Islands would be a few days; the people we met this summer had been there for over a month and loved every day.
Advance research is invaluable in providing a framework, but it’s amazing how much ideas progress through on the spot learning and chance encounters. As for packing we take less each time and still bring back unworn clothes, even though today everything has to go in my rucksack, for with two artificial knees Joan is excused the heavy duties. One change of lightweight quick-dry outer clothing and multiple sets of underwear are all that’s really required, plus things to keep you warm and dry, and a good camera to guard against failing memories.
Nor is it necessary to have an extensive break. We got hooked over a decade ago whilst we were still in hectic full time employment, and backpacking became the norm for most annual holidays until we retired. That first trip to Nepal was to be an adventure, an antidote to overwork, and so we did not even book ahead for the first night, and rarely do even today, unless arriving late at night. Nepal taught us to find accommodation, organise a trek and get around by local transport without a word of the language or even being able to identify the script, simply by mastering the sound of place names from a phonetic spelling or pointing at their script in a guide book. However, with a little knowledge of their language we would have gained so much more from amazing chance experiences, so now, with more leisure time, I learn some of the relevant language first.
Only once not booking the first night caused what most would consider a disaster, but we remember with delight. We arrived in Kuching, Sarawak, on the eve of the thirtieth anniversary of their independence from Britain, having been told months earlier that all rooms had been sold for the celebrations. Refusing to believe it we toured the hotels at midnight in a taxi, the sky alight with fireworks, before admitting defeat and spending the night on the tiled airport floor. Next morning we were able to join a jubilant national holiday crowd, a seemingly never-ending fancy dress parade representing the different tribes and cultures of Malaysia, from traditional head-hunters to the modern industries of Sarawak and the provinces of mainland Malaysia. If we had insisted on a hotel booking we would have arrived the next day and missed the fun.
Before deciding on Peru this last summer we had extra concerns since it followed several years of immobility with arthritis. It was also our first visit to South America. How would we respond to the highest altitudes of our life? Was street crime and thieving going to spoil our holiday? Would the people be friendly? (Such a bonus in Asia). Was poor hygiene going to lead to the misery of dysentery? The clinching thought was that you never know your limitations until you test them. It was this year or never for we knew if we chickened out we would never try again. Two months later we returned enthusiastic backpackers once again, already planning the next trip to Cambodia, Columbia, Chile or China. Do you know your limitations? We only know we are not giving up adventuring yet.
1305 words by BRIAN CORBETT 21 October 2003
basically as text submitted to the Independent 21 Oct 03
