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Backpacking Europe a cure for wanderlust
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By Tina Hammond
March 14, 2005 | "Some people
just about to graduate just aren't cut out for
a suit and tie job in the city, the four-bedroom
house in the suburbs and the 2.5 kids," said Ed
Dischler, current head of marketing and sales
for Busabout Tours in the UK. "Many people feel
pressured into that because it is the 'norm,'
but if you have dreams follow them."
Dischler said he got the travel bug after taking
a 10 week trip to Western Europe the summer after
his college graduation, before he settled into
a 9-5 job in New York City that fall. "I returned
and worked for 4 years in a suit and tie environment
and realized quickly this was not for me." said
Dischler.
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GROUP MUG: Making
friends on the night train to Rome. / Photo
by Tina Hammond |
"I quit my job, bought an around-the-world airline
ticket and set off for 18 months of traveling and working
my way around the world."
After his return he pursued a career in the travel
industry and has been traveling ever since. Currently
residing the UK, Dischler is only a weekend trip away
from Venice or Prague.
The art of backpacking was first acknowledged in 1973
by sociologist and anthropologist Eric Cohen, said Jana
Binder of Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University, Frankfurt,
in The Whole Point of Backpacking. The contemporary
social characteristics of backpackers may include preferring
to stay in low budget accommodation, spending more time
traveling around than the average visitor, enjoying
interaction with locals and other travelers, and they
are more likely to independently organize their travels,
Binder said.
"This type of travel involves two things above all
others: an overstuffed nylon backpack and a severe budget
ethic," explains Aaron Cooley of North Caroline State
University's Ethnographic Field School in Against
Commoditization: Backpacking Culture. "Each has
its own significance, neither more important than the
other." The backpack is a visual marker to other members
of this transitory culture and the budget ethic shapes
the entirety of their experiences while traveling, said
Cooley.
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The search for "the other" is the
starting point for many backpackers and tourists,
said Binder. "'The other' is supposed to be as
far away from home and as different as possible,
as spatial distance and cultural difference seem
to be interlinked. Experiencing 'the other' is
seen as a chance to question, confirm or judge
the 'self."
Noah Zelvis, from St. Joseph, Michigan, will
be traveling to Europe this summer after he finishes
his last semester of college. He's getting in
one last vacation before he starts his career.
"It's also a chance to stop and reflect of where
I'm at right now in life and where I want to go
in the future. You know, whether to do the career
thing, start my own business, or maybe just move
to Europe and see where that takes me," said Zelvis.
"Traveling to Europe is the best way to have
a great time and achieve a better understanding
of the world," said Josh Schellenberg in
"Touring
Europe, simpler than you think," in The Daily
Campus at the University of Connecticut. Europe
provides a unique experience because "there is
such an astounding variety of well-established
languages and cultures to explore in an area only
slightly larger than the United States," said
Schellenberg. "Other regions of the world do not
offer so much diversity in such a small space."
Heather Hammond, a current student at Utah State
University who traveled to Europe for two months
in the fall of 2003, said she chose Europe because
it is safe and easy to travel around. It has a
lot of history and a lot of sights to see, and
is easy to maneuver through when the only language
you know is English. Through experiencing new
places, new cultures, and new people she said
it really broadened her understanding of the world
around her.
"It really gives you an appreciation for America
and what we have here," said Hammond.
Whether your destination be Europe or anywhere
else in the world, the Internet may be your best
starting point. According to Schellenberg, the
Internet saves a considerable amount of time and
money and makes planning your trip a breeze. There's
just no need to pay a travel agent or organization,
he said. By using sites such as studentuniverse.com,
which cater exclusively to poor college students,
students can save at least $100 to $200 on flights,
said Schellenberg.
Traveling Europe is easier than ever due to the
different options of rail, bus and air travel.
Nearly every city and large village in Europe
is connected by rail, and "riding the rail" is
a popular way of travel for backpackers. A Eurail
pass gives you the freedom to go anywhere,
said Dischler, however, "I've been caught on more
than one occasion sitting on my backpack on the
floor across from a smelly toilet on a train without
air conditioning in 90 degree heat and humidity
-- not fun." If you're planning on taking a summer
trip, keep in mind that the trains will be packed,
said Dischler, and that there are other options.
Busabout Tours
is a bus company that picks up and drops off travelers
right at a hostel door in each city. The buses
are air-conditioned and have multi-media entertainment
systems on board, as well as an English-speaking
guide on board to answer any and all questions
about the cities. You can start in any city on
the network you'd like, change your travel plans
as much as you'd like, and finish where ever you'd
like. Most people who use this service are backpackers
so it's easy to meet other travelers and make
new friends, said Dischler.
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OLD WORLD CHARM:
The Colisseum draws tourists,
even at night. Below, a canal in Venice. /
Photos by Tina Hammond
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If you're traveling Europe take advantage of cheap
flights on European airlines, such as Ryanair.
Flying in Europe is much cheaper than flying in the
United States and should be taken into consideration,
said Julianne Salisbury, a former USU student who studied
abroad in the Netherlands and was able to travel all
over Europe in the process.
"However," said Salisbury, "it does take a full day
of travel to get to your destination and a full day
to get back due to the whole flying process and the
lower-budget airports being out of town quite a bit."
Before you embark on your European adventure be sure
to read up and do your homework. "Read up all you can
as you'll get a lot more out of it if you already know
a basic history," said Hammond. "The more you know the
better off you'll be and the more you'll get out of
it."
Guidebooks like iLet's
Goi and iRick
Stevesi are popular among American travelers for
getting around Europe, said Dischler, but he prefers
Lonely Planet
guidebooks, such as Western Europe and Europe
on a Shoestring. When buying guidebooks be sure
to check on the original publishing date, said Dischler.
Things change from year to year, and having an outdated
guidebook is very frustrating. "But don't rely solely
on guidebooks," said Dischler, "as the Internet and
especially fellow travelers will provide a wealth of
knowledge in your travels."
Many first time travelers are concerned about personal
safety. In reality, most tourists from abroad have less
to fear in Europe than they do at home in terms of violent
crime. According to Franklin E. Zimring and Gordon Hawkins
in "Crime is not the Problem," the United States has
eight times as many murders of young men as Italy, and
robbers and burglars kill 54 victims in New York for
every victim death in London. However, caution should
still be taken.
According to europeforvisitors.com, pickpockets do exist and may be a problem if you're
not careful. Pickpockets frequently work in airports,
subways, and other crowded public places, but common
sense will go a long way in protecting your belongings.
Watch your wallet, guard loose belongings, wear a money
belt, and leave valuables at home to prevent being a
target.
Rob Garcia has lived his whole life as a nomadic traveler,
working and then traveling his way through new countries
by means such as the armed forces. "I enjoy the experience
of something new and unexpected," said Garcia, "I no
longer make plans when I travel into a country. I just
arrive, explore and find my way about with little trouble.
Sometime you'll find a proud local who will take you
around and tell you the history of the place. It's those
moments that I enjoy, mixing in with the locals."
Garcia has visited or lived in more than 20 countries
and is currently living and working in southern Iraq
as a contractor for an American company. "Of course
I'm not mixing with these locals or traveling on my
own here," said Garcia. "They're just not ready for
tourists yet."
If you have always dreamed of traveling start saving
up and just go. There's no better time than the present,
said Dischler, and once you're laden with responsibility
such as a mortgage, loans, or family it becomes much
more difficult to break away.
"Besides," said Schellenberg,"spending a couple grand
on traveling through Europe is much better than wasting
your summer and winter vacations drinking Keystone Light
and hanging out at the local eatery or diner. By acquiring
a better understanding of the world through observing
different people and cultures in their environment,
you will benefit your character as well as your understanding."
Wisdom From Around the World
"Travel allows you to continuously expand your
knowledge and learn. This type of education widens your
range of acceptance and compassion and potential to
give to society." --Ed Dischler of the UK, via New Jersey
"To see and appreciate the beauty and diversity
of a country different from your own. To open your eyes,
your mind and your heart to something bigger than yourself
and the little world you have grown up in." --Trista
Kite of Yakima, Washington
"It is a very daunting task to go half-way around
the all by yourself, but it was well worth it on a personal
level as well as on a cultural level. I can't wait to
go back." --James H. of San Jose, Calif.
"I believe you look at life differently when you
have experienced other 'worlds' and you learn to appreciate
what you have in your own back yard that much more."
--Maggie of Ottawa, Canada
"Success should not be judged by the things you
have but instead by living a happy, satisfying and interesting
life." --Ed Dischler
"I have two reasons for traveling--as a way to
relax and reward myself for finishing college and also
to educate my daughter on other cultures as well as
European history. It is my feeling that Americans are
FAR too ethnocentric and it is my goal to ensure that
that word is not part of my children's personalities
as adults." --Oriana of Fairfield, Calif.
"We all have dreams." --Heather Hammond of Cokeville,
Wyo.
"There are so many things in this world that were
meant to be seen and I just want to see them." --Heather
of Chicago
"I like to feel like I'm a global citizen." --Terence
Stevens of Ogden, Utah
"You can only learn so much from a book." --Trista
Kite
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