Backpacking: 1994 vs 2000

My first trip overseas was when I was 21 and I did the "Europe backpacking thing”. A rite of passage for any young Aussie.

Back then I had no idea what I was doing. I booked my flights almost as an ultimatum to my best friend Fiona who was supposed to come with me. That didn’t work so there I was, in Europe, on my own.

Obviously it worked out well because I have been roaming around various nooks and crannies of this planet with some regularity ever since.

In 1994 the internet didn’t exist for common folk. Neither did mobile phones.

When you met people and hoped to meet up again, firm (well kind of) plans were made and it either worked out or didn’t. Mostly it did. I used to always make two meeting times just in case trains were late or you were held up for whatever reason. Quite often it was let’s meet outside the cathedral (there’s always a cathedral in Europe) at midday and then 6pm if midday doesn’t work. It was quite a successful strategy.

I exchanged addresses (and I mean postal addresses) with several people and we used to write each other letters and send Christmas cards.

To contact home, I would call reverse charges from some phone box, somewhere. When my credit card stopped working I’d call Mum reverse charges and she’d sort something out then I’d call back the next day to check everything was okay. Of course, we wouldn’t know if my card had been maxed out until she received the statement in the mail each month.

For entertainment on train journeys I had a walkman. I was regularly buying AA batteries and had limited myself to 20 cassette tapes. I had spent months preparing mixed tapes with enough variety to keep me amused before I left. The twenty tapes took up a sizeable chunk of space in my backpack but it was worth it. I can’t live without my music.

My camera was a lovely little Canon. I remember getting to Ireland towards the end of my trip and putting in 20 rolls of film to be developed. They took up a bit of space in the backpack too.

Sixteen years later and technology characterises the modern backpacker. I am not unique travelling with my Macbook Pro, Sony Lumix camera with HD Video and iPod classic which currently holds around 23,000 songs.

I can listen to music, watch movies, read books, check the news, manage my banking and sundry other admin on the computer. I skype family and friends regularly – for free! I am anti Facebook, that would make everything just too convenient. But I email friends to check where they’re at and to organise where we can meet again. I email photos to them too sometimes. When I am somewhere without electricity or wifi I feel slightly anxious - what if something is happening and I don’t hear about it straight away.

With friends, often time is spent sharing music and showing each other our favourite Youtube clips. There is some great stuff out there. One day in Antigua on my first visit there, we spent an entire afternoon playing theme songs from American TV programs on Youtube. Yes there were a few beers involved that day. I have discovered many new ways to waste time and amuse a group of people with a computer and wifi.

But aside from technology, everything else is the same. Travellers on a journey from somewhere to somewhere else. Some for months or years, some for days or weeks. Some seasoned, some first timers. Always interesting. Travellers are an interesting breed. Everyone is on some sort of budget so shouting drinks in bars is not part of the situation. But people are generous in other ways. Gifting things which are no longer required – books and clothes mainly and the odd bit of medication, sunscreen or bug spray. Travel stories and advice is a dominant part of any conversation. Most of the hostels I have stayed in have been based on recommendation rather than research.

Occasionally you meet someone who knows someone you know. The other day a friend bumped into some Aussies in Mexico who knew me. So I guess many conversations are where have you been, where are you going, and oh did you meet so-and-so. The best thing about travelling is these coincidences.

Now I’m on the way back down the isthmus. Oaxaca was my northernmost point (on land). Most travellers start in Mexico and work their way down so a lot of people I met at the beginning were towards the end of their trip. Now I’ve done a U-turn, I’m seeing the same people in different places. I’m looking forward to more of that over the next couple of months.