A case against backpacking it
A decade of backpacking through countries like Laos, Armenia, and El Salvador has taught me that travel makes poor therapy, finding yourself abroad won’t solve the problems waiting for you back at home, and focusing on the journey rather than the destination isn’t as straightforward as it sounds.
I thought this article by a seasoned backpacker tells the other half of the story that is rarely told by the influencer, digital nomad, and travel industry – one that some of us more seasoned travelers know to be true but rarely talk about.
Modern backpack travel had its roots in things like the Grand Tour in which elites would round out their educations for the top positions in society and government by traveling Europe’s finest museums and cities. Backpacking through many countries on a shoestring budget rose during the hippie culture of the 60’s and 70’s. But now it seems to have morphed into a kind of therapy that is largely a self-focused personal journey. And as Tim Brinkhof points out after his years of travel, it’s actually a pretty poor means of therapy. That self-centered focus may not actually be healthy for you – and probably even less helpful for the communities you are traveling through. When it’s all about fulfilling your desires, what does that do to communities you travel through? When treking the Nepal mountains and you now find locals now raise yak to make the hiker’s yak-burgers, it’s clear we’ve changed how local communities think and operate.
The traveling community ethos is actually an odd little cultural bubble that is unlike real life in any country. People in hostels are usually very friendly because they’re all kind of taking a holiday together with complete strangers. People largely put aside their nationalities and politics. Backpacker community also means existing in a world in which you’re not working – or not working a job more than to pay for the next ticket. When you’re backpacking, you’re actually kind of living outside of normal society in a quasi-flux.
Every now and again you’ll find that person in the hostel that’s been back-packing it a bit too long. They’re a little bit ‘burned out’. They have been everywhere but usually sit quietly around the place. This might be their 10th time through the city and only in town to meet up with some old friend at an obscure bar. They’ve got the air of a grizzled traveling vet with stories from everywhere. They often a little bit old looking for the usual backpacker crowd. They’ve often got buckets of friends in every country; but just a list of temporary relationships. You often find they are the employees at the hostel. They also seem to be looking for something more than just travel; but can’t find a place to really land.
And this is what he talks about. Besides the wide-eyed young adventurers encountering the world for the first time – you often you encounter people that are running from problems back home, can’t decide what they want, or are more often than not, running from themselves. This was something I saw a lot of. You find people going through mid/quarter life or career crisis, others recovering from burnout, others on sabbaticals from work they hate, others trying to figure out what is next, and people who simply haven’t found a purpose or path in life.
This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes taking a big step back and taking a break from routine can give you perspective. Traveling definitely helped me with that over the years. It makes you ask why you have, or are, making the choices you are making. These are good things. But we’re not meant to live like that forever:
Backpack for too long, and you’ll forget who you were prior to leaving home. Backpack too often, and you’ll start to feel like you’re in a constant state of passing through, even when you aren’t on the road.
I find it interesting if you look at most of the van-life and travel blog people you followed 5 or 10 years ago, how many of them shut down. Eventually, almost all settle down and largely live ‘normal’ lives with houses, mortgages, in a communities they have connected with, or even got married/had kids. I don’t think that’s an accident.
I backpacked around Europe in my 20’s on more than a few trips. It was an economical and very fast way to see and experience a lot of new things in a short time. It was awesome – and probably the only way I could have done it as a traveler with minimal means.
As the decades went on, I made bucket lists of exotic places and experience I wanted to go see – and did at least 75% of them. Russia, Japan, New Zealand, and many others. But now in my 50’s – I stopped making that list. It was after I took a package from my job and really pulled back on my running around that I realized how much time I was wasting chasing something I was never going to find ‘out there’. I learned this from hiking every weekend. You keep chasing more and more exciting places and longer adventures to fill the same hole that you’ll still feel when it’s done. You run into the same people chasing peaks and outdoor experiences here in the Pacific Northwest. You just keep running after the next thing.
As a person of faith, I should have known this. But sometimes you have to re-learn the hard way. Travel absolutely enriches our lived experience and helps us realize that the world doesn’t have to work the same ways. Hiking was a great way to stay in shape.
But that is not what is what your heart is truly seeking. We desire meaning and relationship. You don’t find that in an ephemeral life of a backpacking community.
You’re not going find answers ‘out there’. You’re going to find them ‘in here’ – in your soul – wherever you are. Yes, there are circumstances that will make that harder and maybe environments you should leave. But some of the deepest, happiest days of my life were not spent traveling to an exotic location or some exciting show or trying an exotic dish – it was sitting in a quiet chapel praying to a God who loves me and who’s relationship with me was completely fulfilling. Without words. Without doing. Without moving. In my local church. Simply sitting in endless peace and being loved.
Try it. Instead of a big trip – take a big sit. Turn off the phone and all social media. Interiorly open yourself to something new. Go sit somewhere quietly and ask God to come into your heart and open your eyes. Give yourself to Him, and ask Him to give Himself to you.
