The Philosophy of the Backpacker

So I am writing this pretty late at night because I can't sleep for some reason. I am not sure where it is going to go, but I have been wanting to write on this subject for quite some time.

Until very recently, I have been completely unaware of the true meaning of backpacking. I can tell you right now that what Riley and I are doing in Australia is NOT backpacking. We are merely surviving in a different country.

The true backpackers have one priority...travel. They all have itchy feet that coerce them to move from place to place with no strings attached. This overwhelming desire to keep moving is where I find myself in opposition to the standard backpacker. In my humble opinion, I feel that traveling to a country completely across the world and staying in one city to truly understand the local customs and establish a "second home" is much more rewarding that absorbing a small amount of a large amount of locations.

This polarization of opinions could stem from personal preferences, but the more I converse with backpackers from all over the world, the more I realize that it is a cultural decision.

Europeans tend to make up the majority of the backpacking community. At first, I thought that this was because they are edgy people that want to really push the envelope and support their "football" clubs in foreign lands.

Recently, however, I have discovered, what I believe to be, the true motivation for each of the world's nationalities style of travel/backpacking:

Asia: Asians are not typical backpackers. Instead, they travel to hot spot tourist locations (Eiffel Tower, The Colosseum, NYC, et cetera), take an obnoxious amount of pictures that will most likely be deleted or forgotten and get the hell out of dodge before they are detained for insubordination.

South America: I have met two or three South American backpackers, but they have all been from well-developed areas. They seem to be traveling thanks to some sort of financial windfall or a business related venture.

African: I've met one African on my journey, but he currently lives in Chicago, so he doesn't really count. I approached him at a bar because he was wearing a Chicago White Sox hat, aka a garbage bag on his head. Turns out he was an African living in the US on business in Australia. Hardly a backpacker.

Europe: As previously mentioned, the Euros are by far and away the most prevalent backpackers. At first, I was not sure why this was the case until I decided to use the critical thinking skills that I so humbly acquired from the political science department at the University of Michigan. All Europeans want to travel because their countries have no geographical variety! If you are English, you are used to cold flat lands with loads of pale drunk white folk. If you are Irish, you are the same, just with a few more hills, pints, and red hair. If you are Swedish, you are used to extrodinarily dim witted folks with a penchant for skiing. The list goes on, but the point is that most countries in Europe lack Geographical variety.

Which brings me to my main point...

AMERICANS DO NOT TYPICALLY BACKPACK...for a few reasons:

!) Our country has every sort of topography one could ever enjoy
2) We are on the cutting edge of every technology known to man
3) We are told, from day one, that after college, you get a job and work for the rest of your life in order to support a family and continue the human race as we see fit.
3a) This is significant different from the Europeans. They tend to wait until much later to settle down. This difference is highlighted by the fact that we have met all sorts of Euros that are still backpacking with no ambitions at the ages of 25-30. Very odd.


Anyway, I've ranted enough. Time to sleep. Cheers!