Here I am, 13 different cities and 50 days later...back in the States writing on my laptop in the comfort of my home instead of in a random internet cafe squished between someone who smells musty and someone overusing the free internet in the middle of Europe. The amount of lessons learned over the course of my trip are endless and to write about them would bore readers to death. What I gained though overall is how to become a professional backpacker who is now ready to embark on her next trip - well wannabe professional.
Before you actually start your trip, you need to hold your horses and prepare yourself both physically and mentally because you are about to dive head first into an organized mess of life changing happiness. And before any of that happens the first thing you need is a backpack.
1. Picking the right backpack.
If you are that princess who needs to check in luggage for more than five days of travel, you may need to rethink this entire trip in general. Actually....stop reading right now. If you can handle carrying all your belongings on your back for the next few weeks, pay attention. Everyone has a personal preference for what they want to use but what you must pay close attention to is the suspension system, which will help when the weight starts getting unbearable, and the size, which is determined by how much you will take with you, and for how long you will be gone. Any brand will do, any color will do, any design for that matter. My personal recommendation? The Osprey Fairpoint 55L backpack with daypack included. It was the backpack of my dreams, it opened all the way around so everything was easily accessible and it had a daypack that I could attach and detach to my liking, that was used for those long day trips or mini weekend getaways in the middle of my large getaway. It is loyal and stood true to its quality as it was sat on numerous times in order to close. The best part? It was a check-in size so traveling through airports was never a hassle. As cheap as we all like to be this is the one thing on your trip you have to invest in, if not three weeks into your trip you'll be carrying your panties, or as the British like to call it your pants and clothes in three different little backpacks and supermarket bags.
2. Pack right.
Now that you have the backpack of your dreams, customized to your pleasing it is time to fill him/her up. I am assuming you named your backpack because my baby Ozzy is actually my loyal child and trip companion. So, you're all packed? Did you spend hours watching youtube tutorials on how to use travel packs and roll up clothes? Good, you need to. After you do that... remember, everything you think you need you actually do not. Take out half your clothes and remove all your toiletries. Believe it or not, they do sell toothpaste and deodorant in other countries around the world, body odor is a choice, there are hygiene products out there my friends. Also that cold medicine that you have to carry with you just incase you get sick, they sell it in pharmacies around the world too, for a third of the price. When packing for a trip you need essential clothing that can be versatile and worn for all seasons of the year. Trust me no one is going to notice that you wore the same shirt five times in the span of six weeks, not even your Instagram followers. By eliminating clothes that are of no use not only are you making the load lighter to carry around, you are also leaving space for goodies you can purchase during your travels. Which you will be doing a lot of purchasing and I mean, a lot.
3. The Crew/Squad/FamBam.
It is everyone's lifelong dream to travel the globe with their pals, their amigos, their pack of friends that are all in one excessively large group chat. Newsflash. Do not do it! Take it from personal experience, traveling with your group, as amazing as it was and as it sounds is a pain and a half. When you are in a large group traveling becomes a little difficult. For one booking hostels is now harder as you have to find somewhere that will take you all, booking buses and flights is now also harder, and keeping track of everyone will take a little bite out of your carelessness during your travels. Traveling in large groups makes it harder to do things, for one meeting people, let's face it you think a couple from another part of the world isn't going to be overwhelmed by meeting you and your six best friends? Of course they are. The best is to keep it max at four, easy and still a fun time. If you are not going to listen to me and still want to make this a large event, be prepared to split up. It is best for convenience and to keep everyone happy. You cannot please everyone all the time, so be accepting of that and please yourself.
4. The Perfect Planning.
No amount of coffee, internet research and travel blogs can have you prepared for your trip. So, do not try and plan it to the T. Listen, I had a seven page itinerary prepared that took a week of non-stop planning and as awesome and extensive as it was I hated every living second of it. Realistically speaking the odds of you sticking to that during the entire trip is slim to none, and you are going to want to make wiggle room to do other things. Maybe you want to spend a little extra time in that one artist exhibit and maybe you want to add that one local restaurant you heard about from others in your hostel. Planning leads to expectations, and expectations leads to unhappiness. The best part of the backpacking experience is being excited for the unexpected, all my greatest memories on my trip came from things I did not know I was going to find. Like this one restaurant in Budapest that blew our minds away and the urban art neighborhood in Berlin. The best way to get it all out of your trip is to just listen to what locals tell you and go with the flow. Let go, and it will do the rewarding itself.
5. Respecting the Country and Staying Open Minded
Whether you like it or not, every country has its own rules, and you are going to have to listen to them. Do not, and I mean, absolutely do not be that self-entitled American tourist who thinks they can get away with whatever they want because there is a US Embassy around the corner. You will be hated, and you will most likely be cursed out in a language you will never be able to understand. Be open, be culturally aware, this is not your country. Every country has their rules and customs and you have to be willing to respect them, and out of that you will receive respect. If not? You are going to get a fat fine for not validating your metro ticket, and the excuse of "I am an American tourist, I do not speak German" they will wipe their butt with it. You cannot assume that everyone is going to speak English, if you try to speak their foreign tongue, locals will go out of their way to help you communicate, to ensure you enjoy their country just as much as they do. The best memories comes from being able to try new things, or being able to experience things differently than you would have at home - each country has something to offer, just because you do not know about it does not mean you have to reject the idea, sometimes watching the sunrise on a bridge is well worth it. And believe it or not, chocolate cafes exist; and they are popular.
5 basic tips is all it takes to get going on the right path. But let it be known that this is not all, it takes a lot of travel blogs and guidebooks to really grasp what your trip is about to be like. All I can say to you is, make sure you have that extra cloud storage on your phone for pictures, and that extra million in your bank account. The views are going to blow your mind, and as homesick as you get or as sick of coin laundries as are you are, nothing is worse than being back home on your computer looking at the pictures...wishing you could just go back in time.
