Last Updated: 10/10/20 | October 10th, 2020
Backpacking. It’s more than just slinging a pack over your shoulder and setting off into the wild blue yonder. It’s a way of seeing the world and interacting with it. It embraces chaos, challenges, and serendipity. It’s wanting to get under the skin of a destination, to get out of your comfort zone, to try new foods, meet new people, and skip the fancy resorts.
Backpacking isn’t a vacation. It’s an adventure.
It’s a way of life.
When people ask me what kind of traveler I am, I always say I’m a backpacker. It’s just who I am as a person. Even as I get older, it’s a style of travel I continue to identify with.
But how do you know if you’re a backpacker at heart?
Here are 47 tell-tale signs that you too might be backpacker:
You don’t know what to write down when asked for your permanent address.
You don’t know what to write down for occupation on the customs forms.
Pasta has been your main meal for months in the hostel kitchen. Sometimes you mix it up by putting chicken in it.
You also live on rice, trail mix, and other cheap foods.
You wear the same shirt for a week (or longer).
You wear the same jeans for two weeks.
You do your laundry in hostel sinks.
Everything you own fits into one pack.
You think nothing of sharing a room with the stranger you just met five minutes ago.
Hot water is often seen as a luxury.
So is a comfy bed.
So is a bathroom IN your room.
So is air conditioning.
You will sleep anywhere as long as it is cheap and bed bug free.
You have a warped sense of cost. Three dollars for a room? Great deal! Three dollars for a meal? Outrageous! Five dollars for an Uber? I’ll walk the extra thirty minutes.
When you go back home, you find it weird that you can’t haggle over prices.
You can’t sleep without earplugs anymore, even if no one is snoring.
You haven’t slept in a room by yourself since you left home.
You can never remember what day of the week it is.
Or the month.
You’re excellent at using hand signs and pantomiming for things you want.
You ask people where they’re from before you ask them what their name is, and you remember them according to where they came from.
No matter where you go, the beer is never cheap enough.
You have permanent flip-flop tan lines on your feet.
You find it odd to be surrounded by people who have the same accent as you.
You can say “cheers” in more languages than you’d like to admit.
You are pleasantly surprised when you find toilet paper in the bathroom.
You believe that a good shower constitutes running water.
You have learned to say “beer” in 10 languages.
You fill your pockets with as many bread rolls and jam packets from the free breakfast as you can so you can eat lunch today.
You haven’t showered without flip-flops in months.
Your budget revolves around how much alcohol you can buy in one night.
You plan your travel around getting free accommodation on a train, plane, or bus.
You’ll spend a night in an airport to save money.
You know the nationality of everyone in the hostel just by looking at their backpacks.
You’re permanently tired.
You see a television as a luxury and a waste of time.
But you instantly want to become best friends with someone that has Netflix subscription with them!
You still think the three shirts you have been wearing for the past 6 months are fashionable.
You have fisherman’s pants.
You know what the words “visa run” entail and how painful one can be.
You consider a dorm with “only” 8 beds a luxury.
You get disappointed when you enter a new country and don’t get a stamp.
You repeatedly swear “this is your last time flying Ryanair” until the show up as the cheapest flight on your next search result.
You swear you’ll never take an overnight bus again and do it anyways.
As you get older, you swear you give up dorms and then book one for tomorrow night. It’s so cheap!
No matter where you are in the world, you know it’s exactly where you’re supposed to be.
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Geoff
Spot on with most of those, but I will never, NEVER lose my fashion sense enough to think that fisherman’s trousers are a good idea.
Craig
I am a backpacker! One thing I’ve been meaning to ask though Matt: what is a shower?
Alicia
God I miss backpacking, even though I’ve only done it for a couple weeks at a time. I’m hoping to be down in Thailand for Christmas actually, but only for 10 days 🙁
jamie
What in the world are fisherman’s pants/trousers? Like cargo pants?
Ben
Great post! Consider it dugg 🙂
Quickroute
Accurate list! – don’t forget the diet of crackers for when Delhi belly kicks in
C K
Hey, two more to add!
– you carry around a small compact medical box, which is stuffed with self adhesive plaster
– you have a map, neatly folded stuffed in one of your pockets
NomadicMatt
@craig: there is always time to shower!
@alicia: I miss it too!
@jamie: Fisherman’s pants are popular in asia. They are long and made out of a light and loose material to help keep you cool. Essential backpacker wear in the area.
@sarah: I don’t know what I will ever do with you!!!
Stevo | China Travel
So true. I hate flip-flops.
wandermom
It’s been a very long time since I’ve backpacked (hey, I have a 12-year-old), but it’s funny how familiar everything on this list still is.
Especially the ‘cheers in more languages…’ 🙂
lakshmi
Ah ! well, I do fit a few of them..but still need a clean room and a loo..thats probably luxury !
Tanya
Not only do you know others by their nationality, but you also put descriptive words before said nationality according to their personality to help distinguish them from others of the same nationality: the crazy german, the hot norwegian, the weird australian, etc.
SammyK
“You ask people where they’re from, before you ask them what their name is and you remember them according to where they came from, not their name.”
I thought I was the only one!
Beth Whitman
I laughed out loud at this. There are more here that are true than I’m willing to admit to.
Thanks for sharing and being so thorough. LOVED IT!
Beth
Cuckoo
Aah, I am a half backpacker then. 🙂 Prefer a dry & clean loo though. Its another thing that I don’t get it most of the time unless checking into a (nice) hotel.
Scribetrotter’s points made me laugh.
Mircea
“You get pleasantly surprised to find toilet paper in the bathroom.”
LMAO :)))) …this was so funny and true.
Clarkson
In summary: backpackers are cheap and smelly. Yup, you got it.
vira
awesome list!
Some people obviously have mistaken “backpackers” for simply “travelers with backpacks”
Chris A
Im a backpacker. but i dont think its true about beer. i travel to see the world. not to drink, i can do that at home.
georginal
how about.. when you get home, you are amazed that you can understand everything… and everyone can understand you……
Belinda
All so true!!! And how you are amazed if you don’t have to PAY someone for small squares of toilet paper when you find toilets (and are happy if you find flush toilets rather than some of the options)! And how you can sit upon or curl up on your backpack as a bed if need be. You know you are a backpacker when after months you have every pocket/pouch of your backpack arranged for certain items so that when you unpack you miss finding things so easily.
Jerry
“When asked what day it is, you can’t remember.”
HAHA! That is perfect.
Nicole
Loved the list!!
I am not a backpacker YET but I am actually very much looking forward to being able to tick off those items on your list! One would think seeing that list it would scare someone off backpacking, but I CANT WAIT to have those experiences! 🙂
NomadicMatt
Something to look forward to!
kanuk
thats right – shower, what shower? you mean that hose out back?
Ruby
Haha, Matt, you are awesome!
I came to this age (46!) still craving to experience the true meaning of backpacking;)
Thanks for sharing…It made me decide “I will go for it!” 😉
Muca
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.
NomadicMatt
I would have to agree with all your sentiments.
Adrienne Morton
I am SOO laughing, and SO back in time reading this. I agree that “You always, always have a jar of peanut butter in your backpack” has got to go on the list. That is me.
Please add this: “You hook up with guys/girls that sleep in hotels just so you can sleep in a bed”. (Also me)
See you at the next hostel….
Laussie
I can’t tick these off yet but if I really tried I would probably become one of those backpackers trying to one-up everyone else as to how many of these I can tick off… I think this list is somewhat location-specific and different backpackers would need to do things differently depending on where they are. Such as it being perfectly acceptable for a backpacker in a snowy area not having a flip-flop tan.
But one I’d argue is done all over the world is that you know you are a backpacker if you are constantly reorganising your pack because you can never get it quite right!
Kevin Bates
from Muca: “- 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.”
yes ! “travel bores” are still bores..some can talk about NOTHING but their travels & are so into one-upmanship trying to list obscure places others in the group haven’t been to..
“What? you’ve never woken up on the side of Mt. Kilimanjaro with a goat in your sleeping bag? you haven’t LIVED” lol
Joshua Lance
I currently live in South Korea and itching to travel and do my art again. I would love to combine my passions and would love to hear some brainstorming ideas how to make it happen. Also, where’s a good place where other painters/artists reside? Thanks.
Cheli
These are so accurate!
Not only do you ask someone where they’re from before asking their name, but you also ask “where have you been”, “where are you going” and “how long have you been traveling”?
And I’ll add that you find yourself doing things that you wouldn’t even dream of doing back at home. Like taking a spontaneous 2 day/1 night tour on the back of a motorcycle with a guy you literally met five minutes earlier when he approached you on the street, but he seems nice and trustworthy. Then it ends up being one of the best experiences you had in Vietnam.
Yup, I’m a backpacker and love it!
Baldric
Thank you for making me feel good about wearing the same shirt for a week(s for a time). Everyone loves my travel photos, but wonder why I’m always in the same shirt. It’s because I’m a backpacker!
Ani
I can confess I could recognize a number of signs out of 47. A funny stuff. I am not a typical backpacker though, but I like backpacks and chatting with backpackers I meet during my travels. In a way, all travelers are sort of backpackers…
Isabella
I am a total failure as a backpacker LOL. But I love all the points you raised and I am happy to notice I can embrace some of them… just a few 🙂 Like
You don’t know what to write down when asked for your permanent address.
You don’t know what to write down for occupation on the customs forms.
:)))
great reading, as usual!
cheers Matt and team 🙂 and happy travels!
Fausto
I am 47 years old and I am still as backpacker as in my first outing at 20.
The backpack is an attitude!!
NomadicMatt
It sure is!