Boo to the Backpackers

5starpool · 02-05-2007 03:19PM

I went away for a year, money only lasted 6 months so I came home. Might have been something to do with the fact that I made sure I rented apartments and stayed in decent accommodation for the most part in order to avoid the hippy stoners that you inevitably see in hostels and so on. The 3 weeks I was in Thailand involved a few 4 star hotels too as opposed to ant infested crapholes which I sadly got to experience also.

It beat the crap out of working, i'll tell you that. Also, beadwearers should be executed at dawn.

scojones · 02-05-2007 03:23PM

Pighead wrote:

Yeah you tell them sonners. They think they're all brave and masculine for travelling around the world with a bag on their back yet they don't even have the spine to defend their horrible hobby in this here thread. Backpackers are weak(and very stinky)

If Pighead were to pick 3 boardsies who have backpacked in their time I'd have to go with
Grimes
bluewolf
DeVore.
They all smell of backpacker to me.

There's a smell of want off of you Pighead.

Judt · 02-05-2007 03:24PM

Backpacking ain't the only way to travel when you're young, or old. I've seen plenty of the world without having done the whole backpacking "thing" at any stage.

It's an enjoyable piss-up for the kids, but you're right in that once they get back I don't really need to hear about it all day long.

Gaspode · 02-05-2007 03:40PM

daiixi wrote:

(p.s. if you're going to intentionally misspell "Sydney" it's "Sidonee" as pronounced when we won the Olympics)

You won the olympics?
I thought the United States won that with a goal late into extra time?

Anyway, I'm off to Cavan at the weekend to buy some pearls, ride some elephants (the women are really ugly up there), and find myself. Hopefully I'll find the rest of my family too, cant for the life of me remember where I put them. There will be a backpack in the boot of the car, so technically I will be backpacking.

Gaspode · 02-05-2007 03:41PM

Oops sorry, double post.

super_furry · 02-05-2007 03:43PM

ScumLord wrote:

What a bunch of misserable go nowhere buffers. :rolleyes:

You'll listen to my travel storeys and like it, We have to listen to your pat kenny and "scumbag spat on the bus storeys".

There's a difference between travelling and being a crusty backpacker.

L31mr0d · 02-05-2007 03:46PM

In my experience there are 2 types of backpackers. The ones who delude themselves into thinking they are on a journey of self discovery but, when the going gets really tough, would be on the next flight home to mommy and daddy and who will be rehashing their stories till kingdom come. They will follow the same routes as others, sleep in the same hostels and drink in the same bars and have pictures of themselves with the same lady boys. They delude themselves because they are basically on a package holiday for westerners where they can eat, sleep and live like a vagrant for a year.

Then theres the true backpackers, who dissapear for an unplanned amount of time, without the thought in their head that they'll ever come home. Who don't book themselves into the hippest hostels along the way, because they don't have a way. They never call home regardless of the situation, and are only seen or heard from again once they return, if ever.

My cousin did this on his own, he dissappeared for around 4 years into europe, with only a tin whistle for busking and a few changes of clothes. He has no photos of his trip, no diaries, no amazing stories of beach parties or hanging out with fellow irish people around the world. He will never end a sentence with "this one time on my backpacking holiday.." but by god is he the best person to have around a fire because when asked for a story he has ones that will move you through the full spectrum of emotions, notably his stories when he was in croatia during the war or his time spent sleeping on the streets of berlin.

True backpackers are people you don't envy but admire for their fortitude

Rabies · 02-05-2007 03:50PM

sonners wrote:

Could somebody also tell these people that:

a) the countries they have visited have been seen by millions of people before them and they subsequently are not the only ones to have done/seen these things.
b) said countries are not dissappearing off the map and I therefore do not need to quite my job IMMEDIATELY and go see them.

and most importantly:

c) If they were that great what the f*ck did you come home for??????

How are your mother's apron strings?

travelling is something most people do. You can do it the cheaply like a backpacker or spend a bit and use hotels. I have tried to mix the two. Enjoy a bit of comfort and still try to go easy on money.

sonners, the world is a big place. Very few people will get to see more than 15-20% of the world. I, like millions more, want to see as much as I can.

Some countries are amazing, but home will always be home. That is why we come back.

cornbb · 02-05-2007 04:05PM

Its seems to me a lot of backpackers are the sort who have never been west of the shannon, or up north, or in the bogs. I think its a bit hypocritical and short sighted to brag about seeing another tiny corner of the world when many have not ever explored any significant portion of this island. I don't get how it takes a trip to Australia to "discover" onesself.

02-05-2007 04:06PM

This post has been deleted.

NutJob · 02-05-2007 04:08PM

jeeez You auditiong for a remake of "Grumpy old Men"

On a serious note though what is with the beeds.

sonners · 02-05-2007 04:15PM

Rabies wrote:

How are your mother's apron strings?

travelling is something most people do. You can do it the cheaply like a backpacker or spend a bit and use hotels. I have tried to mix the two. Enjoy a bit of comfort and still try to go easy on money.

sonners, the world is a big place. Very few people will get to see more than 15-20% of the world. I, like millions more, want to see as much as I can.

Some countries are amazing, but home will always be home. That is why we come back.

I would'nt have a clue how my mothers apron strings are...I left home at 18 and never looked back.

I have no problem with people travelling the world and 'finding themselves'. The ones I have a problem with are the ones who go the Thailand/Oz/NZ route coz all their friends are doing it. They dont think about where THEY want to go, they just follow the crowd. Then they come straight home after a year and go straight back into the same job they had while they were at school and spend the next 5 years talking about their little trip.

As I've already said, I have alot of respect for people who go out and take chances and dont come crying to mammy as soon as things get tough. Again, its the ones who dont feel the need to tell every second person their tall tales that really have experienced something.

RuggieBear · 02-05-2007 04:18PM

L31mr0d wrote:

In my experience there are 2 types of backpackers. The ones who delude themselves into thinking they are on a journey of self discovery but, when the going gets really tough, would be on the next flight home to mommy and daddy and who will be rehashing their stories till kingdom come. They will follow the same routes as others, sleep in the same hostels and drink in the same bars and have pictures of themselves with the same lady boys. They delude themselves because they are basically on a package holiday for westerners where they can eat, sleep and live like a vagrant for a year.

Then theres the true backpackers, who dissapear for an unplanned amount of time, without the thought in their head that they'll ever come home. Who don't book themselves into the hippest hostels along the way, because they don't have a way. They never call home regardless of the situation, and are only seen or heard from again once they return, if ever.

My cousin did this on his own, he dissappeared for around 4 years into europe, with only a tin whistle for busking and a few changes of clothes. He has no photos of his trip, no diaries, no amazing stories of beach parties or hanging out with fellow irish people around the world. He will never end a sentence with "this one time on my backpacking holiday.." but by god is he the best person to have around a fire because when asked for a story he has ones that will move you through the full spectrum of emotions, notably his stories when he was in croatia during the war or his time spent sleeping on the streets of berlin.

True backpackers are people you don't envy but admire for their fortitude

so he ****ed off to europe to be a homeless person....

L31mr0d · 02-05-2007 04:27PM

RuggieBear wrote:

so he ****ed off to europe to be a homeless person....

surprisingly no, a very small portion of his trip was spent on the streets. He only ended up homeless in Berlin because a fellow busker he traveled with for a spell stole his tin whistle. What surprised him the most was that the further east you go in europe the more appreciative and receptive the people are to buskers. He says nearly every night of his trip he was either invited to sleep at the house of a fellow musician or he would have made enough money to sleep in an inn somewhere.

Mossy Monk · 02-05-2007 04:33PM

RuggieBear wrote:

so he ****ed off to europe to be a homeless person....

That's how I saw it too.

L31mr0d · 02-05-2007 04:38PM

Mossy Monk wrote:

That's how I saw it too.

sorry if this is too existential but isn't the essence of all backpacking to be homeless people?

Mossy Monk · 02-05-2007 04:53PM

If so then your point was put across. Have a pat on the back.

Degsy · 02-05-2007 05:01PM

Put them in prison..they just want to get drunk and not have to pay for aything.

Pighead · 02-05-2007 05:24PM

Snickers Man wrote:

Yeah y'are.

If you're not that curmudgeonly old grump David Hanley who once wrote a famously cranky column about how terrible it was that so many noisy Spanish students used to come to Dublin in the summer then you're at least cut from the same begrudging cloth.

My backpacker days are long behind me but they were probably the best in my life.

I worked my way around Europe and the Middle East for a couple of years, no set itinerary, just up and leave when you hear a good report about a place or get a hankering to go somewhere, no responsibilities, no ties, no stress.

Maybe not the best life training, as some impertinent curmudgeon has said but that's the point. It's not "life" in all its humdrum, regimented, repetitive responsibility-laden drudge. It's being free to up sticks and head off where the sun is shinier or the grass is greener or things are just a little more exotic.

Of course you can do this when you're older and have a bit more money and you can stay in branded hotels that are the same the world over and fly in and out of airports that are exactly the same the world over but you don't get the same feel for travelling as you do overlanding in a truck or a ramshackle old train where you can actually see the terrain changing as you movefrom one region to the other.

You also probably won't get as much sex as a carefree young backpacker. Long hair, beard, smelly body and loads of road anecdotes---the girls just love it.

Some besuited twat with a trolley suitcase and a load of frequent flyer miles? Fugeddaboutit!!

Make the most of your youth while you still have it kids. Get on those backpacks and hit the road. Leave pighead to grumble about his mortgage payments and how his superior body hygiene counts for nothing at the end of the day.

Jesus, theres a horrid stink of smugness of this one. "Oh look at me, I'm much better than you Pighead, I've travelled here there and everywhere".

It seems to Pighead you do a lot of travelling. Unfortunately the journey you're taking seems to be up your own arse. I bet you manage to let people know about your travels at every given opportunity.

Snickers Man's buddy: Hey ya Snickers Man, you got the time on you?

Snickers Man: 5.23. Speaking of time, did I ever tell you about the time I was in Laos. Oh my God, fcuking 79 degrees in the shade and me there in my long sleeved t-shirt. Amateur backpackers were strippe dto the waist but me being the expert traveller cleverly left my t shirt on, thus avoiding the hideous sting of the twat twat stingy Fly.

Snickers Man's buddy: You're a spanner. I'm going home.

pred racer · 02-05-2007 05:53PM

Pighead wrote:

Snickers Man: 5.23. Speaking of time, did I ever tell you about the time I was in Laos. Oh my God, fcuking 79 degrees in the shade and me there in my long sleeved t-shirt. Amateur backpackers were strippe dto the waist but me being the expert traveller cleverly left my t shirt on, thus avoiding the hideous sting of the twat twat stingy Fly.

FlutterinBantam · 02-05-2007 05:56PM

Pigser... I hate the fcukers too, but secretly you would love to do it.

I KNOW you would.

WindSock · 02-05-2007 06:41PM

Backpacker twats that go on and on about their 'adventures' annoy the bejaysus out on me too. I was away for 4 years and I tried not to go on about it, but it was hard because it was all I had experienced for the last few years. If something came up in conversation that was relevant that I could relate to then I would give my opinion or story. I did try to refrain a bit too, because I know it can bore the pants off people who havent a clue what you could be on about

FlutterinBantam · 02-05-2007 07:05PM

If those backpacker dudes want to "go ferral" why not go to Africa instead of civilised areas like SE Asia and OZ ...

Get down and dirty in the Congo and Uganda and see how you get on.!!!

Thats the way to sort out the men from the poofs.

Try a trek into Mozambique if you want to experience a butt flutter.

Harare-Mutare- Vumba Hills -into the big Z

crybaby · 02-05-2007 07:50PM

ill be a backpacker for many years to come but i dont think i have ever bored or tried to bore anyone with stories usually just kept my experiences to myself

L31mr0ds post was great but unfortunatley 99% of us dont have the tin whistle skills to pull off living homeless and so we do need to use hostels and drink water along the way

Mahatma coat · 03-05-2007 02:14AM

Have Backpacked round Australia SE Asia and a bit of Europe, I will say tho lads yer not a proper backpacker till you have stories that you vow never to tell another living soul, like the time Eamo n me........................, wouldnt do that to ya mate, the other was bad enough

people who travel in groups annoy thew ****e out of me, I hae occasionaly teamed up with people when we've been pointed the same direction but thats about it, and I try to avoid staying at places that are excessivley Irish.

I also do try to get off the beaten path a bit and experience a bit of whereve I am at the time, thats where you get the best tales that you can actualy tell people.

Also if someone was a boring ****e that ya couldnt stand before they left, chances are they havent changed, just gotten a bigger repotoire of **** stories

Snickers Man · 03-05-2007 04:22AM

Pighead wrote:

Jesus, theres a horrid stink of smugness of this one. "Oh look at me, I'm much better than you Pighead, I've travelled here there and everywhere".

Hey Pigman. Tell us YOUR stories about lying on a sun lounger in Torremolinos, why don't you?

Getting your pasty white skin burned red raw before noon and then chatting up German birds while pretending to be a local called Manolito.

Pigman:in fake Spanish accent Ah Bella Donna. Jure hair is like the corn blowing in the gentle summer breeze; Jure eyes the colour of a cloudless sky; jure breasts like the curve of the ocean's gentle waves against my fishing boat. Come, let us venture forth together in a search for paradise.

Beautiful German girl Get lost, creep. You're Irish aren't you.

Pigman/Manolito Irlandez? What do you mean? I am Manolito, the world's greatest Latin Lover.

Beautiful German girl Jawohl, right. You're wearing socks with your sandals, your face is the colour of a lobster, you can only speak English and it if wasn't for all the cheap deodorant you've smeared over yourself, you would smell just like all those Irish backpackers in the hostel where I;m staying.
But at least they've got some good stories to tell.

Pigman/Manolito It's a fair cop. Do you know where the nearest Millets is?

Our man in Havana · 03-05-2007 07:35AM

Do you not know for every packpacker we export to Australia, they export one back to us? It's part of some bilatteral agreement we have with the Austrailians.

Pighead · 03-05-2007 08:26AM

Snickers Man wrote:

Hey Pigman. Tell us YOUR stories about lying on a sun lounger in Torremolinos, why don't you?

Getting your pasty white skin burned red raw before noon and then chatting up German birds while pretending to be a local called Manolito.

Pigman:in fake Spanish accent Ah Bella Donna. Jure hair is like the corn blowing in the gentle summer breeze; Jure eyes the colour of a cloudless sky; jure breasts like the curve of the ocean's gentle waves against my fishing boat. Come, let us venture forth together in a search for paradise.

Beautiful German girl Get lost, creep. You're Irish aren't you.

Pigman/Manolito Irlandez? What do you mean? I am Manolito, the world's greatest Latin Lover.

Beautiful German girl Jawohl, right. You're wearing socks with your sandals, your face is the colour of a lobster, you can only speak English and it if wasn't for all the cheap deodorant you've smeared over yourself, you would smell just like all those Irish backpackers in the hostel where I;m staying.
But at least they've got some good stories to tell.

Pigman/Manolito It's a fair cop. Do you know where the nearest Millets is?

Listen Smuggy McSmuggerson, Pighead couldn't even tell you where Torremiwhatchamaycallit is. You on the other hand seem to know a great deal about the place.

Pigheads travels always include adventures, danger and Lap Dancing clubs. Your travels involve smelly trains, uncomfortable sleeping and lots of masturbation. You got a tattoo in Bangcock which you were told meant Peace Love and Serenity in Vietnamese. Little did you know that the tattooist had written "Hitchhikers are cunts" on your arm

You heartily drank what you thought was the national drink of Laos in an effort to fit in with the locals. If only you could have spoke Lao you would have heard the barman saying to his mate "Hey Pockie, check this out, I've got another one of those dickhead backpackers to drink a cup of donkey cum"

Face it Snickers Man, backpackers are fcukers.

rivers · 03-05-2007 08:28AM

if people want to go to S.E.A or australia along the same road a million irish have gone before then let them. you dont have to listen to their stories. if you like staying at home pighead, then stay at home. im sure you have a great time thinking up a new way to refer to yourself in the third person while going on some boring rant...Some people like seeing other countries even if those countries are just like ireland (oz) and they just meet the same people and do the same things they did at home. (even if i dont tend to agree with them). it sounds like you need to get out there a little...

John Mason · 03-05-2007 08:33AM

Pighead wrote:

Oh fantastic. So basicallywhat your saying is, backpacking makes you selfish and teaches you to run away when the going gets tough. Fantastic life training there.

yes, that is it exactly pighead, we spent enough of our life stuck doing things we dont want to do like working, paying mortgages putting up with mother-in-laws, boyfriends etc. so i think one year be being selfish is good for the soul

Boo to the Backpackers

Comments