Backpacking... For Ever.

[Dectomax]

Europe is a very strange place, dodging winter doesn't work! The weather here is very strange!

a good peice of advice would also to have a route set, so you know roughly where you're walking and what direction you should be going. Be careful with borders, they don't take kindly to people walking over the mountains into their country.

This can be easily done, I know a few lads from my unit who done a month through France and Germany, living off the land and they said it was great.

On the border point, the Ukraine does NOT like people crossing borders. I would HIGHLY recommend avoiding there. Also be aware, eastern europe does have a rather large Bear population. Some basic research before hand ( what countries you're going to pass through and what wildlife they have ) is recommended.

As everyone else has stated, start light. Weekends, weeks and maybe two week practice runs would be ideal. so you get a feel for living in the dirt and walking. ( Trust me, when on RT one of the exercises' was a five day wilderness exercise, it will drain you and it will get you down at times - Or maybe that's just dartmoor? - but it's rewarding )

 

[Drake_Dercon]

Good idea to learn to hunt and trap. You can even sell some of your meat if you can find a nearby market. I hear bear is quite the delicacy (that wasn't sarcastic, I hear it's really good).

Honestly, I wish I had your courage rather than my ambitions. The best I can think of doing is moving out of town for university.

Courage? Pah, it's willpower my friend. the way I see it is:

Life is a book in which to write your story, a tome to keep your memories, your heartbreak and your love, make it an interesting one. Also, wrestling bears comes later.[/quote]

I'd say it's courage. The only reason I won't set off on my own is because I'm afraid of leaving everything behind and never coming back. I think you're quite brave doing what you do, but I think I'll stay here where it's comfortable. Programming is too much fun to leave behind to set out on the road.

And I was serious about the bear thing. No wrestling, just get up close with a couple friends, aim a slug for its head and pray that the spirits will have mercy on you (that last bit is unnecessary if you've done it before).

But me? I'm city folk. Soft and squishy. Sure I'll leave from time to time, but this is where I belong, at least for now.

Anyway, good luck to you. I commend you for having the guts to leave your comfort zone and try something new.

Edit: My book will be one of debauchery and intrigue... or something. I'll be sure to do some travelling at least once, though.

 

[FallenRainbows]

Europe is a very strange place, dodging winter doesn't work! The weather here is very strange!

a good peice of advice would also to have a route set, so you know roughly where you're walking and what direction you should be going. Be careful with borders, they don't take kindly to people walking over the mountains into their country.

This can be easily done, I know a few lads from my unit who done a month through France and Germany, living off the land and they said it was great.

On the border point, the Ukraine does NOT like people crossing borders. I would HIGHLY recommend avoiding there. Also be aware, eastern europe does have a rather large Bear population. Some basic research before hand ( what countries you're going to pass through and what wildlife they have ) is recommended.

As everyone else has stated, start light. Weekends, weeks and maybe two week practice runs would be ideal. so you get a feel for living in the dirt and walking. ( Trust me, when on RT one of the exercises' was a five day wilderness exercise, it will drain you and it will get you down at times - Or maybe that's just dartmoor? - but it's rewarding )

We are English, and we both have good communion with mainland Europe so we know the weather is bad, by dodge, we mean dodge the 60% snow cover. Furthermore, borders are not an issue (in Europe) Eurozone! As for the bears, we plan to start in the north, move down through Germany, head west, back up on ourselves (through different countries)then east, ending up in Russia and seeing what we can do from there.

Good idea to learn to hunt and trap. You can even sell some of your meat if you can find a nearby market. I hear bear is quite the delicacy (that wasn't sarcastic, I hear it's really good).

Honestly, I wish I had your courage rather than my ambitions. The best I can think of doing is moving out of town for university.

Courage? Pah, it's willpower my friend. the way I see it is:

Life is a book in which to write your story, a tome to keep your memories, your heartbreak and your love, make it an interesting one. Also, wrestling bears comes later.

I'd say it's courage. The only reason I won't set off on my own is because I'm afraid of leaving everything behind and never coming back. I think you're quite brave doing what you do, but I think I'll stay here where it's comfortable. Programming is too much fun to leave behind to set out on the road.

And I was serious about the bear thing. No wrestling, just get up close with a couple friends, aim a slug for its head and pray that the spirits will have mercy on you (that last bit is unnecessary if you've done it before).

But me? I'm city folk. Soft and squishy. Sure I'll leave from time to time, but this is where I belong, at least for now.

Anyway, good luck to you. I commend you for having the guts to leave your comfort zone and try something new.

Edit: My book will be one of debauchery and intrigue... or something. I'll be sure to do some travelling at least once, though.

I'd be glad to help out in the intrigue, and believe me Charles will be most welcoming to the debauchery. Seriously though, if you do travel, drop us a line, if we are nearby we will make sure to say hello.

 

[uphillbothways]

Americans in this thread: the word "backpacking" does not mean what you think it means.

Everywhere else in the world, backpacking refers to a variety of adventure travel characterised by low budgets, exotic locations, youth hostels and dreadlocks, as opposed to wild country hiking. Big boots, water filters and all that guff have nothing to do with what the rest of the world calls backpacking.

OP: Your local library will almost certainly have a copy of "Work Your Way Around The World" by Susan Griffith. It is considered the definitive text on the subject and is a fairly comprehensive list of what work is available around the world for backpackers. There's lots of excellent advice on visas, work permits and the like. If they don't have a copy (or if theirs is ten years old) it's only a tenner on Amazon.

If you don't have any particular job skills, you'll probably end up on the ping-pong - work a couple of months in the developed world, then travelling the much cheaper developed world until the money runs out. Rinse and repeat until you get bored. A popular option is to take advantage of Australia's Working Holiday Visa program, which allows young people to spend up to a year working in Australia with very little bureaucracy. Australia has constant labour shortages and work is fairly easy to find if you're prepared to get your hands dirty.

Teaching English as a Foreign Language is a good option, but to get work in the developed world you really need a degree and TEFL certificate. You can get work without in a lot of poorer countries, but the money is rubbish so it's mainly an option for spending time in a country rather than building up a warchest.

You're not going to die. Practically every youngster from Australia and New Zealand (and a whole lot of Europeans) goes backpacking on gap years or after uni. There's an established trail and it's possible to see large parts of the world without ever really having to fear for your personal safety or spend too long away from people like yourself - studenty backpacker sorts. There's an established Lonely Planet trail around the world that requires no more skill to negotiate than a package holiday to Magaluf. If you want to travel somewhere scary and dangerous you can, but it's also easy to avoid.

The best general guide on backpacking in my opinion is John Gregory's www.artoftravel.com . He has done a hell of a lot of travel on very little money and his guide is incredibly practical and pragmatic. It's ostensibly about the day-to-day tasks of travel, but the real lesson it teaches is the necessary mindset to stay safe and sane on the road.

 

[Dr Snakeman]

Americans in this thread: the word "backpacking" does not mean what you think it means.

Everywhere else in the world, backpacking refers to a variety of adventure travel characterised by low budgets, exotic locations, youth hostels and dreadlocks, as opposed to wild country hiking. Big boots, water filters and all that guff have nothing to do with what the rest of the world calls backpacking.

Gah! Why do all the British English words mean different things?! I can't keep track of two different forms of the same language, dammit! I just can't! /nervous breakdown

So, yeah. When I posted my last comment, I was under the impression that this expedition the OP is embarking on was of a much more "outdoorsy" nature, a la extremely primitive camping, possibly while climbing a mountain.

The reality, as I now understand, is much... tamer. Still pretty cool, though.

 

[FallenRainbows]

I've always wanted to do something like this. Not forever, or anything. But a month.

Either way, good luck with this. I'd just like to say that if you did decide to vlog I would totally watch it.

edit: Sorry missed you out:

Thank you, and if all goes according to plan closer to the time I'll make sure I make a new thread for anyone interested.

Americans in this thread: the word "backpacking" does not mean what you think it means.

Everywhere else in the world, backpacking refers to a variety of adventure travel characterised by low budgets, exotic locations, youth hostels and dreadlocks, as opposed to wild country hiking. Big boots, water filters and all that guff have nothing to do with what the rest of the world calls backpacking.

OP: Your local library will almost certainly have a copy of "Work Your Way Around The World" by Susan Griffith. It is considered the definitive text on the subject and is a fairly comprehensive list of what work is available around the world for backpackers. There's lots of excellent advice on visas, work permits and the like. If they don't have a copy (or if theirs is ten years old) it's only a tenner on Amazon.

If you don't have any particular job skills, you'll probably end up on the ping-pong - work a couple of months in the developed world, then travelling the much cheaper developed world until the money runs out. Rinse and repeat until you get bored. A popular option is to take advantage of Australia's Working Holiday Visa program, which allows young people to spend up to a year working in Australia with very little bureaucracy. Australia has constant labour shortages and work is fairly easy to find if you're prepared to get your hands dirty.

Teaching English as a Foreign Language is a good option, but to get work in the developed world you really need a degree and TEFL certificate. You can get work without in a lot of poorer countries, but the money is rubbish so it's mainly an option for spending time in a country rather than building up a warchest.

You're not going to die. Practically every youngster from Australia and New Zealand (and a whole lot of Europeans) goes backpacking on gap years or after uni. There's an established trail and it's possible to see large parts of the world without ever really having to fear for your personal safety or spend too long away from people like yourself - studenty backpacker sorts. There's an established Lonely Planet trail around the world that requires no more skill to negotiate than a package holiday to Magaluf. If you want to travel somewhere scary and dangerous you can, but it's also easy to avoid.

The best general guide on backpacking in my opinion is John Gregory's www.artoftravel.com . He has done a hell of a lot of travel on very little money and his guide is incredibly practical and pragmatic. It's ostensibly about the day-to-day tasks of travel, but the real lesson it teaches is the necessary mindset to stay safe and sane on the road.

Thank you for the sound advice, but yeah to a certain extent we do plan to go quite wild, maybe not at first but it's a road for us, we are planning to dodge hostels for the most part and go 'wild camping' as they call it, however I'll look up that book if I so can.

Americans in this thread: the word "backpacking" does not mean what you think it means.

Everywhere else in the world, backpacking refers to a variety of adventure travel characterised by low budgets, exotic locations, youth hostels and dreadlocks, as opposed to wild country hiking. Big boots, water filters and all that guff have nothing to do with what the rest of the world calls backpacking.

Gah! Why do all the British English words mean different things?! I can't keep track of two different forms of the same language, dammit! I just can't! /nervous breakdown

So, yeah. When I posted my last comment, I was under the impression that this expedition the OP is embarking on was of a much more "outdoorsy" nature, a la extremely primitive camping, possibly while climbing a mountain.

The reality, as I now understand, is much... tamer. Still pretty cool, though.

Same as above.