In case you didn't know... Back packing SUCKS !!
 

I've got just back from a months trip in India. I wanted to give back packing a proper try.

Anyway.. It really sucked. Trains, buses, taxis etc are fun for a couple of days but OH MAN, how I missed the freedom of my bike.

For one, It's really hard to get off the gringo trail. Being stuck with hoards of other back packers in places made for tourists doesn't feel like travelling at all..
All the waiting around for cramped, dirty buses in back packer tourist towns made me want to scream. I'd have to get up HOURS before my bus and try and work out where I was meant to be only then to be herded into a tin box and seeing practically nothing of the country I was travelling though.. So So limiting.
I could only really go where the trains and tourist buses went until I really put some major effort in. Where usually I could just jump on my bike and go somewhere on a whim, any excursion off the back packer routes would be a major hassle.

Anyway, any time I'm having a long hard day on the bike, I'll now think about how worse it could be.. I could be backpacking. Perspective is a great thing..

Moral of the story is... Having your own wheels (2, 3 or 4) is DEFINITELY the only way to travel.

Carry on..:scooter:

So did you have nice weather then?

30c and clear blue skies everyday.....

Can't complain really ;)

Re-in-car-nation
 

Ted,

Most probably why the Hindi are into..... Re "in car" nation. (4 wheels)

In our case it might be..... Re "on bike" nation, (2 wheels) but then

again we can only share such inane meanderings among friends here at the bar

Ted, Always happy to hear your observations. Good you are O K, some

friends recently toured India and concur with you about backpacking they

ended up pony trekking, and getting very sick.

I think the good fresh air we

breath while riding stimulates the immune system.

xfiltrate

What was the average age of your co-travellers Ted? Did you feel that you 'fitted-in'? [the 'psyche' etc .. thinking of this satire take].

cheers

KEITH

ps - you still thinking of coming down to Cornwall next month?

.

Well.. There is a good mix of travellers but as always, the back packers are always 18-25 ish. That's okay though as I'm pretty immature :rofl:

Where I was in Goa, it was REALLY REALLY touristic. Loads of couples on package holidays and even more Russians doing trance parties. It was really hard to find solo travellers. Lots of Israelis in groups who as always didn't want to talk to anyone.....I didn't like Goa that much at all really. It's really quickly turning into the Costa del Sol :(

Further south though and it all gets lovely again... Paradise beaches and laid back living. A few travellers knocking about but no hostels to meet at. It's all beach huts and bars so very hard to congregate. I was told by others that this was just a 'beach' thing and that's not the case in the rest of India. I met LOADS of people in the hostel in Bombay..

I was only there a month and only really saw Bombay and the west coast. I only had a snap shot and probably didn't see the real India at all.

I am totally inspired to go back and do it all on 2 or 4 wheels. The roads are pretty nuts and just MANIC in the cities but no worse African cities or roads..

Everyone goes on about how dangerous Indian driving is but I hired bikes and scooters for a few days at a time and I found it no different to Egypt for example.

Hi Ted
Have I missed any of your previous threads somewhere? I thought you brought Dazzers berlingo and was driving round Europe with a GF ?doh

I tried to buy his Van but he never replied to my messages. I ended up buying a Berlingo on Ebay to travel with the now EX.....

Yeah, relationship all went pear shaped when she realised that I wasn't going to settle down and be a good little boy after our Euro trip. So she had a major kick off and we broke up in December. I went to India for a month to cheer myself up.

So, I've still got the Berlingo which I'll be using for Surfing/camping trips and it will be really handy for buying/selling bikes etc.

So yeah.. Plans all up in the air. I'm looking to Canoe the Yukon this Summer then flying to San Francisco then to Hawaii in August with my new lady friend.

After that I'm heading to Aus to do a lap of the continent on a bike/camper (aint decided yet).

All I need to do is win the lottery or sell a Kidney to pay for it all doh

[QUOTE=*Touring Ted*;365062 with my new lady friend.
[/QUOTE]

d'uh! he don't learn so good does he? Good luck with new victim dude! ah erm.... I mean girlie! djee complaning about a month in India- that sux why not be happy ? many only dream of going there

It's a case of being with the right person. My ex wasn't the right person as we didn't share the same dreams, hobbies etc etc.

My new lady friend is uber keen to travel the whole world, she loves motorbikes and she's an award winning tattooist... :thumbup1:

And I ain't complaining about India... I'm just saying how much better it would of been with my own wheels :scooter:

Totally agree about having your own means (or rented or whatever, but that you can yourself "steer"bier).

What I still don't get is the completely misleading image about backpacking India as a laid-back, spiritual experience, take-it-easy-man, no worries, no hurries, no plans ahead, Rishikesh's yoga, Pushkar's grass, etc.

Transport (when backpacking) is an absolute pain: before you arrive to a place you should "book" your train ticket to leave... and I just cannot. What if you like the place and want to stay longer? What if you want to leave earlier? Then go for a bus, and they are a pain. Flights? Sorry, what if you like to stay in contact with the ground? Other places may be harder to move around than India, but much more rewarding. May I say that in general I didn't like the people there who "loved" India and said "you didn't find the soul of India"? Don't like them in India, nor at home. Sorry, I still don't get it, I couldn't find that karma, that soul (not "smoking" doesn't help, it seems).

Congrats that you found a right partner (your "spares" supplier was very efficient! :thumbup1:). Good luck with all the projects and keep in mind that OZ is reeeeally expensive, consider working there (and if selling the kidney, do it there, you'll get more $$$:blushing:)!

I told you so, well maybe I didn't but that is no excuse someone of your age should know better.
You should have bought a couple of bicycles, they might be further down the pecking order than motorcycles but in terms of travel are up on buses and taxis.:palm:

You have to try things for yourself don't you....

I already did know but since I'd never really tried the whole bus/train/taxi thing PROPERLY in a 3rd world country, I couldn't know for sure.

Once can't preach about which mode of transport is better until they've tried them all really...

I'm not stranger to the bicycle. I used to race and tour on them and plan to do so again. With only a month though, it wasn't practical. I did hire plenty of scooters and smaller bikes to zip around the places I was staying which was great fun.


As to estebangc's comment..... I have to agree also. There is a lot of all that hippy and yoga hype about and most of it is totally transparently fake.

People on two week Yoga retreats calling themselves "Moon" and "Starshine" when you just know they're down the pub when they get back swearing at the football..

As all travel... It is what it is to yourself. It's all a state of mind.

Ted, the title says it all and I think I can speak for most people on this forum when I say, that is no surprise, elementary my dear Watson!

This is very true and we shouldn't forget it. Because without a (functional) bike then we would all be backpackers with way too much kit! :smartass:

backpacking is fun
 

ahhhh come on - its not all that bad! I backpacked around for 5 years -even hauling 2 surfboards around on planes, trains and buses to add to the hassle!

I've found that when I've been without independent transport I was forced into various situations that I never would have chosen but ended up being some of the most unique experiences I had. I remember the trains in India were certainly a hassle, but man what a radical scene to be in the middle of!

Staying on or getting off of the tourist trail just depends what you're up for I think.

Ted
From my generation the term back packing means: to go hiking over night or for weeks ,like to the West Coast Trail or the Chilkoot Trail. Or like the canoe trip you are planning ,now thats back packing!!
which does not suck at all!:thumbup1:

Ted, We can absolutely relate.

We have just come home (to Australia) from 4 weeks travelling the North Island of New Zealand. We shipped the bikes home by sea from Auckland.

Between delivering the bikes to the freight depot and our flights home, it came as a shock how limiting (and expensive) our transport options were.

We decided that "bored and bikeless" is not a state of affairs that we will ever willingly participate in again.

Motorbikes have saved me from backpacker hell many times, Goa, Vang Vieng and Snookyville for examples where a little travel out of town made the place bearable (except Vang Vieng, what a dump)
Indian trains are fun but tickets and touts test your patience. One trip in particular where when escaping the Kumbh Mela (a large religious festival) my only option was a crammed and completely pitch black train, all night hands were trying to open my backpack. I was hiring bikes at each destination and while I sat crouched on my one square foot in the dark I decided to buy and ride full time.
I have never looked back

Backpacking, no thanks!
 

I've never been the sort of guy who was attracted to the phenomenon. Rather have my own wheels and means of escape when ending up somewhere nasty.
The whole group thing puts me off, smelly hippies looking down at you if you have the plague but are oh so eager to hitch a ride with you. White people with dreadlocks, I don't know.. I came across many while touring around Australia in my old Chrysler Valiant Stationwagon and they never seemed to be genuinely happy, always begging for a ride, a drink or some food. I was never offered any gas money and I was not going to ask for it , and no I didn't anticipate a quicky in return either. Call it Bad Karma but I'd stay away from that scene as far as possible....Long live individuality, a set of wheels and a full gas tank!

Rob

I've done a lot of backpacking and a lot of motorbike riding--both throughout the world. IMHO each has its place. Those who complain with such vigor about backpacking and backpackers need to think about not going to Goa or the Gold Coast if they find these places so objectionable.

Couple of points, chosen from many more. Backpacking always brought me into closer contact with local people, helped me learn bits of local language, introduced me to aspects of local lives, and (yes!) even took me to a variety of out-of-the-way places I'd never have seen had I control over where I was going. It's the great advantage and disadvantage simultaneously of traveling by local transport---you never know who's going to sit next to you, where you'll end up, or whether someone's baby will puke on you or the goat on the roof will urinate in terror while you're too packed in to move out of the way. Sometimes your transport breaks down and you suffer mightily....but this unpredictability is what leaves room for all the fun stuff to happen.

On the other hand, a bike is great fun in part because I get to decide where I'm going, who's going to sit with me, where I'll stop and what route to take. I like this more and more....and it's been a while since I was puked or peed on. But I miss the days when I wasn't so much in charge, and bigger adventures happened routinely....until I take a trip with no motorbike and miss the freedom and control they provide. It's a balance, and it's never quite perfect.

I've never been to Goa; don't like that shit. Went to the Gold Coast once, and didn't like that much either. As should be obvious, a lot of overland riders are jerks, and a lot of backpackers too. This has nothing to do with the inherent advantages and disadvantages of one mode of travel or the other.

Oh, and don't forget: backpacking's far cheaper and much more carefree too: no worries about where the bike is parked or whether you'll find a set of tires in time, and no need to fret about paying a thousand dollars here, another thousand there for bike transport. The OP'd be spending a lot more time traveling and a lot less working through the northern Europe winter if he left the bike behind. That's why he ended up bike-less in India in the first place, right? It was either that, or stay home. He's just got to choose his destinations better.

Humbly submitted,

Mark

On the first point, Mark, is that I have to go to a place to make my own mind up. The bike just gives people a quick out if it's crud, which makes for a more dynamic and less emotionally tiring trip.
If just travelling in one country it is my experience that I spend about the same either backpacking or bikepacking (try and get a single room in the touro hotspots!) I have stayed at farms, homes even stick-made fishing huts on beaches, all a world away from the general backpacker trail. It may be elitist but I don't think so. For an old jaded backpacker as myself I am so happy that bikes have given my adventuring a new lease of life.

I have done quite a lot of backpacking in my life and it is a fine and cheap way to see a country.

Last time I was travelling Central America and sitting in a bus with another mad driver and fearing for my life once again, I was fed up and tired so I went home. I said to myself: "no more"! and decided to revive my motorycle driving license, safe some money and travel SA on a bike. This time I wanted to be in control of where I go, how to get there (alive) and when.

Backpacking gave me the feeling that it's more like travelling from A to C and missing out B.

You've said it all in one sentence...... :smartass:

I like backpacking. I like biking. Sometimes I like backpacking more than biking. Sometimes I think biking is better than backpacking. I like stuff.

The world is big and varied, and sometimes it's nice to see it from a different angle.

There have been times when I've felt so grateful for my own transport, other times when I've been fussing with paperwork, or having to pay for shipping etc, when I wish for the lack of hassle you get when you cut your luggage to just a bag.

Than again, I am a white guy with dreads!

Birdy

Ted with all you have done recently and plan to do you don't sound too skint to me :smile3:

Priorities my friend... .And sacrifices.

I live in my mums spare room (rent free but mentally suicidal), work one full time job and two smaller (travel money) jobs too..

I save about £700 a month and that is all for travelling... It adds up FAST. I usually travel in cheap countries at cheap times. You won't catch me doing a six month tour of western Europe in peak season.

My actual total yearly income is probably under £15,000 and I manage to travel A LOT on that and still have a comfortable home life..

The trick is how you spend your money. I don't ride a £15,000 touratwated BWW with shiney boxes.. I ride a £2000 (fully kitted out) second hand V-strom and buy my riding gear on Ebay. I pay £5 a month for my mobile phone, brew my own booze and don't drop tons of cash on new TV's or bling etc.

One of the funniest clichés in the ABR world is the old "I'd love to travel but I just can't afford it"...

It usually comes from the guy taking a picture of his £15,000 bike with his brand new Iphone etc..

You get my point... It's how you prioritise your spending. ;)

Obviously, I don't have a wife and kids. I think that's a major factor too lol.

bier

India
 

Ahh Ted, I have been following this thread with a little amusement, We (Jan & I) leave for Nepal in 3 weeks, the plan is to hire a Enfield and ride around Nepal for about 3 weeks, and then move to India & backpack till the end of May.
The misses wants a break from the bikes, but to be honest I am looking forward to it & have to agree with Birdy a bit on both modes of travel is in fact fine for who ever choosers to go that way. I am no stranger to backpacking either having backpacked thru 40 countries over 5 years in my early 20s, however I am a little apprehensive about not having a bike:( but I am very sure I will enjoy it (I hope) Also if you have any must see or must stay please advise.
Cheersbier
Paul
PS I still ride a BMW !!! LOL

Hey Ted
so you didn't get to walking the Camino de Compostela then! no buses or bicycles just your legs for transport!
Cost = €3.50 a night in Albergues + whatever food you need.
You could save the cost of the Albergue and wild camp too but you still have to stop there to get your daily 'passport' stamped.
Cheaper than chips and very good for the soul. (not so easy on the body though....)

Brilliant fun, one of the best travel experiences of my life, and so cheap like you say! It was the Camino that convinced me of the virtues of bikeless travel as an alternative (I didn't have the money to do anything else at the time.)

Birdy

Mate, I reckon if you couldn't get off the gringo trail you weren't very creative. Local transport goes everywhere. Maybe those places aren't listed in the LP but if you look beyond that book I'm sure you can still find interesting places to visit

I ended up hitch hiking a lot to get out of the buses and trains. Loved it.

The problem I now find with backpacking is that I'm now finding it boring. Just walking around looking at things, eating, drinking. Riding a bike gives you the action of finding an awesome challenging dirt road with maybe a magic camping spot at the end. But with that it's each to their own.

It's not that I couldn't... It's just that it was really hard to make the effort.

But like you said, the bike gives you sooo many more options and the ability to be spontaneous.

Hitch hiking is something I need to try one day though. :thumbup1:

Nope, sorry, you're going to hate it ;)

Hoi Ted,

Took me several years staring out of a window before I realized.LOL.

Bike Rest
 

Well we are going to rent an Enfield in Nepal, so with a bit of luck after 3 weeks,:innocent: the misses may have a change of heart:thumbup1:
I can actually see the cracks now as she has been reading this thread also !bier