Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Backpacker Plus
A vital resource for any backpacker is a website listing all the available hostels in a chosen area. These types of websites contain all the information about the hostel but, more importantly, customer ratings and reviews. After staying in a hostel, backpackers can rate them under certain categories such as Location, Fun, Cleanliness, Security etc. It's a sad day when you realise that on making a decision about a potential hostel, the 'Cleanliness' rating is more important than the 'Fun' rating!
Being backpackers in our mid(-late) twenties having owned our own house for the last 4 and a half years, we have slightly more requirements than your average straight-out-of-university backpacker. We like to think of ourselves as living the slightly upgraded 'Backpacker Plus' lifestyle.
For example, before we left I had visions of us saving loads of money by staying in dorm rooms. It will be fun, I thought naively. However 3 nights in Japan sharing with people who watch dvds on their laptops all day or snore at night after coming in at ridiculous o'clock was enough to change my mind. Sod the expense, we're getting private rooms from now on and preferably ensuite.
Another factor of the 'Backpacker Plus' lifestyle is our intolerance of smoking in communal areas. This was particularly bad in China and we took to tutting at the offenders and moving away from them whilst huffing and puffing in their general direction.
Since our last backpacking trip 6 years ago, we have found that all hostels now make a big thing out of having 'DVD rooms' and 'Movie Nights'. There is nothing more disconcerting than checking into a new hostel and walking past the lounge area only to find it in total silence with a room full of people staring gormlessly at the TV. As most of you know, Rhod and I just about manage an annual trip to the cinema and we only possess 3 films on DVD so there is no point striking up a conversation with us about films. When we were here last, people used to sit around drinking and chatting to one another. Most hostels had a friendly social atmosphere. It seems strange that this is what some backpackers come away for.
Maybe we're getting older or maybe we're not backpacking like it should be done. We don't care, we're still seeing the world (but in a slightly more luxurious way to everyone else!)
Being backpackers in our mid(-late) twenties having owned our own house for the last 4 and a half years, we have slightly more requirements than your average straight-out-of-university backpacker. We like to think of ourselves as living the slightly upgraded 'Backpacker Plus' lifestyle.
For example, before we left I had visions of us saving loads of money by staying in dorm rooms. It will be fun, I thought naively. However 3 nights in Japan sharing with people who watch dvds on their laptops all day or snore at night after coming in at ridiculous o'clock was enough to change my mind. Sod the expense, we're getting private rooms from now on and preferably ensuite.
Another factor of the 'Backpacker Plus' lifestyle is our intolerance of smoking in communal areas. This was particularly bad in China and we took to tutting at the offenders and moving away from them whilst huffing and puffing in their general direction.
Since our last backpacking trip 6 years ago, we have found that all hostels now make a big thing out of having 'DVD rooms' and 'Movie Nights'. There is nothing more disconcerting than checking into a new hostel and walking past the lounge area only to find it in total silence with a room full of people staring gormlessly at the TV. As most of you know, Rhod and I just about manage an annual trip to the cinema and we only possess 3 films on DVD so there is no point striking up a conversation with us about films. When we were here last, people used to sit around drinking and chatting to one another. Most hostels had a friendly social atmosphere. It seems strange that this is what some backpackers come away for.
Maybe we're getting older or maybe we're not backpacking like it should be done. We don't care, we're still seeing the world (but in a slightly more luxurious way to everyone else!)
# posted by Rhodri @ 6:06 am 
