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.