Top Signs You are a Backpacker

thats right – shower, what shower? you mean that hose out back?

The things you mention are for the stereotypical backpacker. Some things of most backpackers which really annoy me are:
– Why the hell are they so smelly? I had to explain locals that really not all westerners are so dirty like backpackers. Even when you are backpacking you have plenty of opportunities to take that shower, whether you are in Europe, somewhere in Laos or God knows where. During my travels, I always kept a good hygiene, but apparently many backpackers think, when we are far away from home, we don’t have to care about it.

– Why do so many backpackers wear silly clothes? Clothes they would NEVER wear in their own countries, because that makes them look ridiculous, are being worn while backpacking. I never understood it. Some say that wear it because they are comfortable, but I disagree, a normal pants, are just as much comfortable. People who are backpacking know exactly what kind of clothes I mean. Or those backpackers who find it necessary to walk around shirt-less or just a bikini-top, not respecting the local culture at all. I always feel embarrassed meeting people like that.

– Then we come to the next point – a total, and I mean a total, lack of awareness of the local culture. Backpackers think, because we are far away from home, we can literally do anything we want. One of the worst examples was when backpackers started playing strip-poker in a hostel in Hue, Vietnam. Once they were naked, they thought it was a good idea to walk on street of that hostel (pham ngu lao). This completely shitty attitude towards local people is so degrading, and embarrassing for me and other sensible travelers. Why is it so difficult to be a bit sensible? To know, its not ok to be a complete idiot abroad. Why is it so difficult to behave in other countries the same as how you behave at home? Its truly sad. I honestly think that this is the biggest problem for backpacking world. Even in Laos they have to hand out leaflets to backpackers, reminding them to take a shower once in a while, because no one likes their smell!!! What an uncivilized bunch of idiots. Places like Vang Vieng, Laos or Khao San Road, Bangkok, make me feel sick.

– Why do backpackers automatically assume that everyone in their host-country should speak English, French or German? They are even so rude to shout at someone when that person is not understanding them. As if shouting, suddenly makes them understand English or French. It’s embarrassing. It truly is. Learn some phrases of the host-country’s language yourself. Anyone who has tried it knows that always new doors open. Even in industrialized countries, such as Japan or in Europe, every local is delighted when a tourist/foreigner is doing his/her best to learn the language.

– Alcohol & drugs…… backpacking is NOT about consuming alcohol and drugs as much as possible. Drinking can be done at home. You don’t have to go to the other side of the world, to become drunk everyday. The best backpackers I have encountered were traveling in Iran. This type of backpacker is culturally sensitive, and they don’t go to Iran for drinking, simply because it’s not allowed in this country. I usually stay away from backpackers, but in Iran, one of the few countries, it was a pleasant experience to meet other travelers.

– The backpacker’s scene – is such an inward looking community, which you wouldn’t expect from people traveling all over the world. But generally backpackers are not as cosmopolitan as they would wish to be. In many hostels, I would see backpackers, sitting inside all day, watching movies all day and would even consume their meals inside this hostel. I mean it’s fine to have some days to chill-out, but if this is your main activity of your journey??? Poor you…. I have always considered hostels, hotels, or guesthouses as places where I would sleep and nothing more than that. id rather chill out in a local coffee-shop or street-stall, than sitting inside that freaking hostel all the time. Why do you travel all over the world, just to stay with your own ” kind”? But a combination of a total lack of cultural awareness (and therefore being scared of meeting the unknown) and alcohol (the hangovers), makes the average backpacker into a lazy hostel-bum.

– Showing off…. i don’t care how many passport stamps you have, how good you are at bargaining or how much you hate local people. Interesting stories are always welcome, but the stories I often hear, annoy me and bore me to death.

– Thinking to know the locals, while the only people most backpackers meet are the people involved in the tourism industry. I am from Amsterdam, and when I go to the touristic areas in Amsterdam, i encounter a totally different world from the real Amsterdam. So don’t think that staying in the tourist parts of a city/country that you are able to meet many ‘ real’ locals’. So if you don’t try to meet locals, don’t pretend that you know them.

I know that not every backpacker is the same, but I have traveled enough to realize that I do not want to be associated as a backpacker. Id rather wish to be called a traveler with a backpack. Because it’s the travels I want to identify myself with, and not the backpack, which i only use because it’s comfortable. I don’t want to pretend that I am the perfect traveler. Sometimes I also find it difficult to adapt to a local culture, or to meet true locals – e.g. I found it difficult when traveling in Phnom Penh to become really ‘local’. But I do try to be culturally more sensible. Maybe it’s the age of the average backpacker or maybe I am not idealistic, but I usually tend to keep a far distance from its scene, and Im still travelling every happily.