All about your backpack

Here is a vedio about how to choose a good backpack.

 

And this one is about how to fit your backpack in the right way. Are you ready to go now? Enjoy your trip!

Backpacker 101 (part 2)

Step 3: Route and transportation

Once you have enough information, you can start to plan your route. My suggestion is: don’t make your route plan to tight since it’s quite frequent to change your route during your trip. Furthermore, it’s not like “the more places you have been, the better trip you will have”. So you’d better determine where are the places you have to see and where you don’t really have to. A flexible route plan will be really helpful for planning for a fun trip.

Step Four: Before you go

The next step is to prepare for the paperwork, such as applying the visa, booking flights, applying for International Student Identity Card and International Youth Hostel Membership Card (these two cards will save you a lot of money in tickets and accommodations), getting a travel insurance and exchanging currency.

In addition, if you are going to somewhere like India or Africa, to inject a vaccine is essential to keep you safe.

Step Five: Pack your luggage

If you are going to somewhere like America, Australia or Europe, maybe a suitcase is not really a bad idea for those who don’t want to carry a huge backpack, since those countries have wheelchair accessible channels where you can pull your suitcase easily. But to go to somewhere not that well-developed, backpack is your best choice.

You need a good backpack (50L-70L) for a long trip. When choosing them, comfy and light are the most important. You don’t need an expensive and attractive one – you will have more chance to get robbed. Maybe you also need a small backpack for your phone, camera, passport and other stuff you need to carry every day.

Believe me, the lighter your backpack is, the happier you will be. I have a 70L backpack and when I put everything in, it’s huge and crazy heavy for almost 25 pounds. It drove me crazy when carrying them for an only 20 minutes walk. So only bring what you really need for your trip is the smart choice.

And also be aware of the plug seat difference if you need electronics to be charged.

Step Six：Go!

Check the documents and all your equipments, and then go! Enjoy your trip! But you also need to remember to respect the local culture and environment. Be a responsible traveler while having fun!

I will post some videos of how to choose your backpack in my next post.

Backpacker 101 (part 1)

After reading about backpacking trips in the past posts, have you come up with an idea of what  backpacker is?

Backpacking is about to plan your trip, determine your route and take care of yourself. It is a positive, proactive, unconstrained, profound, frugal but full of poetical traveling style. Backpackers have their own style- you can walk in the cities, drive on the highways or hike in the natures. Backpackers need to be responsible to themselves including care about accommodations, transportations and their own safety.  But their work is also rewarding, you can not only learn how to be independent, take care of yourself, but also own the journey only belongs to yourself.

What is the hardest part? For many people, it’s to take the first step - having a heart that is ready to go out of your comfort zone, to step to the world you may never know.

Here are 6 steps for backpackers. 

Step one: Recognize yourself

To recognize yourself, you need to know:

• How much money and time you are willing to spend
• ŸWhat do you want to see in your trip? Nature or culture? Bushwalking or shopping in big cities?

Once you understand what you want deeply, it’s easier for you to start to plan.

Step two: research and determine your destination

The basic research you need to do is about the scenery spot, climate, transportation, price of commodities. If you pursue a depth of your trip, you might also want to research on local history, culture, language, holidays, architectures and arts. For the newbie backpackers, you should start your research early. The more information you have, the more smooth and fun you trip will be.

I will talk about other steps in my next post.

Help exchange - the special way to travel

I have worked in a farm and a hostel through HELPX.

I applied to about 3 farms that match my schedule and one of them took me. I was really picky when choosing these farms. I was looking for the farms with different kinds animals I really like to work with, while a lot of them only specifically have a few kinds. I ended up working in a farm has sheep, cattle, goats, ducks, chicken, big parrots, and even two ostriches. I also looked for private room, free meals and the farm owner need to have good comments. Most importantly, they don’t ask me to work long hours so that I can have my own time to have fun. And those are all possible in Helpx.

I worked 2-3 hours per day and took one day off in that week. My job included feeding animals, digging potatoes and cleaning house. They are not really hard and I surely had lots of fun during working. The best experience I got was to sell animals and vegetables in a farmers market. We sold more than 10 chickens, 3 ducks and a lot of potatoes that day.

The couple in that farm was really nice. They tried to let me have all the experiences I can ever have in a farm. They showed me how to feed animals, how to inseminate a cow and they even shaved their sheep earlier because I was leaving the next day.

Help exchange is a good and special way to explore the world you don’t know. It’s not about how much money you can make or how important your job is. You volunteer your time and receive free accommodation. Remember, the amazing experiences that you don’t have in your daily life are what you will treasure the most.

A "smiling" goat. It ran toward me every time I walked to the fence.