Backpacking is more like a way of thinking and experiencing than something we do to save the money.

I suppose most of the people want to travel quite comfortably. They want to pay money for fancy hotels in city centres that serve breakfast free of extra charge and have a room service and a swimming pool. And you get fresh towels brought to you room instead of having to rent them from the receptions. And those sort of things.

Well, my idea of a good trip is quite different and I'd rather spend my money on something else. I've seen loads of hostels where you can actually get a bed for 8 euros a night, in a central location. So why would I pay hundreds of pounds/euros for my accommodation?

Hostels, B&B's and guesthouses are exciting. There are other people who might have decided to go backpacking for a month, and there are people who are looking for work. Everybody's coming from somewhere exciting and going to somewhere exciting. Maybe. If they even have plans on their supposed next destination.

They will tell you stories about worthwhile not-so-typical non-touristy attractions. And they'll tell you where to get the best pizza in the area. Of course you might get some funny people who walk around carrying knives on the common areas, staring at you funnily and falling asleep in random places such as a spare bed that happens to be in your dormitory, but hey, I suppose that's what too much good Guinness in Dublin does to you... But yeah, generally people are just lovely.

My relative has been to London over 200 times. He knows all the fancy overly-priced restaurants in the Soho area. But he doesn't know that you can actually get two chicken burger meals for £2.5 in Willesden. He's been to Tower Of London, The Houses of Parliament, HMS Belfast and The London Eye (okay, fair enough, so have I), but he's never ice-skated in an underground ice rink, taken a night bus to Kingston, been to Asda at 4 am or sat on the ground reafing a book in a randomly-appeared-from-somewhere-and-never-found-it-since-park in Southern London. He probably doesn't even know that if you manage to get in to the Tube around midnight when it's New Year, the journey is likely to be free of charge (though you're not likely to fit in or even be allowed to the stations)

Point being made: Did you know that if you save £60 a night on your accommodation each night for 7 nights a week, you can actually buy 840 pairs of black pants in Primark? And most importantly, you are likely to learn more, to see more and to live a bit more. At least if you value the same things as I do.

There's no feeling like standing on a junction far away from home, and having no obligations to go to a specified direction.

One thing in life I miss is the feeling you get on an aeroport when it's just you, a plane ticket, passport, backpack and the whole world ahead of you. When there's no obligations to be anywhere in particular, no people to tie you down, no promises to make and no knowledge of where you're gonna be tomorrow.

Those trips have definately been one of the best times I have had in my life.



To have a month to spend in a country you love. To sit somewhere in Kensington reading a book. To take an early train to Cambridge in order to find a Tesco store located 10 miles outside the town. To arrange a meeting with a Russian girl you've never met in Aberdeen at 6am to get keys to a flat in Southern London. To sleep at Stanstead airport. To not book a hostel in London because you're broke and go to Chinatown to spend the night instead. To get absolutely pissed in Dublin, get thrown away from a pub and escape by climbing on a fence and falling to the next pub. To get recognized by a Burger King salesperson because you've been eating there for the past 4 days, 3 times a day. To spend 2 hours in Newcastle and buy 3 pairs of shoes. To figure out the cheapest way to get from Aberdeen to London is to travel for 14 hours by bus. To sleep in a church in Durham after folk dancing the whole day. To notice there's no bus traffic to Sunderland before your coach departs from there. To buy a cheap blanket and hot water bottles in Sheffield after noticing your hostel room window cannot be closed. To come to Edinburgh and feel like you've came back home. ♥

Oh, the times I was young, careless and didn't work 6 days a week in order to get my rent paid..