Backpackers Thread

[CRASHiC]

This is a thread for those who either frequently go on trips, or are interested and working to plan a sort of travel trip. I use to fall into the first category at a younger age, but haven't traveled except to move in recent years. Now that I am planning a trip across America this summer, I figured why not share the information I have and get some helpful info from others as well.

Part 1. Where to go?

Before you start anything, the first question that should be ask is where you would most like to go to right now. In your mind, the sky is the limit and there are plenty of options to get to where you need to go, but we will touch on that later. Think up a list, do some research, and find a place that suits your current wants and desires. There is no right way to go about this or right place to pick and the right time.

However, let me propose the idea of having no set location. You can find some beautiful unexpected things this way, though still do research and plan out a general path as to not find yourself in somewhere unexpected and in a dangerious situation like running out of gas in the middle of the desert.

Acapulco is the Fort Lauderdale of Mexico: too urban for a beach resort. And the European plan at our hotel doesn’t turn out to be such a bargain when we are served canned spaghetti for dinner. So we look at the map, and there up the coast at the very end of the road is a place called Zihuatanejo.

It’s that way literally. The coast road stops there. But it is also that way figuratively. It’s the name on the boat the Tim Robbins character in the “Shawshank Redemption” is working on after he’s escaped from prison and society. It’s the end of the world.

We follow the road along the coastal plain for 75 miles through villages of stick houses with thatched roofs and over rivers on the banks of which women have laid out their brightly colored wash to dry in the sun. Then the pavement stops. The last 40 miles is a dirt track full of potholes. We inch along. We pick up a hitchhiker who looks very much like a refugee from a Graham Greene novel. He is a small, middle-aged man wearing a dusty suit and a wide-brimmed hat and carrying a cardboard suitcase. He is Zihuatanejo’s minister of tourism, he tells us with a straight face. But, indeed, when we drop him off on the town’s only street, he unlocks the Office of Tourism and goes inside.

We find ourselves beside a broad, blue bay. Forested mountains rise behind us. Along the beach there are a few “hotels” that seem to consist of not much more than hammocks slung from the eaves of one long, low building. There are a couple of dirt-floored restaurants. There is a modest little church against the exterior wall of which, we are told, movies are sometimes shown. There is a radio telephone that can patch through to Acapulco in case of emergency (it is turned off at 11). There are brightly painted fishing boats anchored just off shore, bobbing in the waves.

The minister of tourism has told us about two new hotels that have been built on the bay south of town. The prefabricated units of one of these have been airlifted in by helicopter. We choose the other. To get to it we have to ford a rushing stream that proves a little deeper than we expect.

The Hotel Sotavento is built in terraces down the steep hillside to the beach. One terrace is a lovely open-air restaurant, an office and a lobby. The others are banks of rooms the common walls of which are stone, but the other two walls of which are screen and one of them opens onto a wide, private veranda hung with hammocks and overlooking the bay.

The beach is broad, white and nearly empty except for a couple topless Dutch girls down the way, a farmer and his cows which are grazing along its fringes and a barefoot waiter dressed all in white who appears out of nowhere at almost the exact moment you are thinking, “I believe I’m getting a little thirsty.”

The manager of the Sotavento is a Frenchman with a degree in architecture from the University of Illinois who has come to this quiet place “for my heart.” (We don’t know if his is bad or broken.) He invites us for a drink on the veranda of his private apartment, and when I am a bit too effusive about the beauty of the place, he turns his face toward the sea and cloudless sky and says, “Blue, blue, blue; sometimes I get so f______ sick of blue.”

But it really is astoundingly beautiful. Or was, for all of this took place nearly 40 years ago. If you go to Zihuatanejo today, there is a jetport and an adjoining resort called Ixtapa full of high rises, Starbucks and first-time American tourists.

So I tricked you, you say. Not really. Zihuatanejo is still somewhere. it’s just not there anymore. And it if were, by the time you’d be reading about it here, it wouldn’t be for long.

No, you have to find your own Zihuatanejo. It may be in Guatemala or Sri Lanka or the mountains of northern Thailand. It might be on the coast of Colombia, or off the coast of British Columbia or even, as is the case with a close friend I was just talking to on the phone, in South Dakota.

No, you won’t read about it here. The only way to find it is to go to Cartagena or Bangkok or Vancouver and ask the people who live there. They’ll tell you.

And how about me? Have I ever found another Zihuatanejo?

Of course.

http://www.worldhum.com/features/travel-stories/find-your-own-****-zihuatanejo-20091013/

Make sure to research all the potential legality issues about traveling to a country from both your countries requirements, UN requirements, and the country you wish to visit. Make sure you have all paper work necessary to legally reach your destination.


Part 2. Planes Trains And Automobiles

Choosing the right transporation is important and comes down to necessity and personal preference. Each has its advantages and disadvantages.

Travel by Plane-
Advantages:
Speed, air travel is by far the quickest way to get long distances. What would take a boat a week a plane can travel in a matter of hours. If you need to go a thousand plus miles in a relatively short period of time, plane is the way to go.

Rest, planes require no work on your behalf while on them for the most part. You have the chance to rest and prepare yourself for your trip and destination ahead.

Safety, planes are relatevily safe, yes there are accidents, but compared to bus, boat, and car travel fewer accidents happen. Its hard to believe because of how much coverage a plane accident receives, but they receive such coverage because of how rare they are.


Disadvantages-

Dedication, to get a decent cost you must generally pay ahead for your flight, causing you to be dedicated to your start and your leave date for your trip. Plane travel offers little freedom. If you would like a flexible shecdule, plane travel is probably not the way to go.

Cost, during holiday seasons, plane travel is incredibly expensive, limiting your spending options upon arrival.

Invisible cities, traveling across country by plane means missing out many potential moments, making the people that you missed and their respected cities invisible and imaginary as far as you are concerned. If you wish to see as many things as possible in your trip and are not traveling across oceans, plane travel may not be your best option.

Plague Syndrome, plane travel is synonymous with its germ spreading ability. If you have a weak immune system or it is flu season, plane travel might be best avoided.

Missing panties, there is the potential that your luggage might become lost before or after flight. To avoid, cover your luggage in something that makes them standout to make sure no one mistakes it for their luggage, which is easier than you'd think after being on a plane. Wouldn't want another gal to end up with your bloomers, would you? Though from the receiving end, its rather nice

Travel by Boat-

Pros-

Sights, being on the open water, traveling along coast lines, catching glimpses of sea life. Travel by boat can be an exciting experience

Versatility, if cruises aren't your thing, there are multiple other options. You can catch a ride on a cargo ship for slightly cheaper. Generally the crew is very friendly and is just happy to finally see someone new.

Comfort, not only do you get a bed, but you get the freedom to walk about as you please.

Future travel, if you land a ferry, you can bring you car with you allowing you to use a familiar vehicle and cut cost on renting a car.

Cons-

Price, boats are actually more expensive than plane travel. On a cargo ship you can offer to work in exchange for travel if you wish to cut your cost.

Time, boat travel can take time, so if you don't enjoy the open water, consider something else.

Up and chuck, beware if you get sea sick. That could ruin your entire trip.

Danger, there is a higher risk here than on a plane. Storms, falling over board, ice bergs, there are a few things that cause boat travel to be one of the more dangerous ways to travel.

Automobiles and Motocycles/Mopeds to be done later.

Another option you have should you so choose is Dirtbagging. Dirtbagging requires only you, a bike, some boots, and a tent. Its going across country in a hippie sort of way. For trips through the wilderness, it may very well be your best option, be you the woodsman type.

I took an inflated old rubber tube, a homemade plastic bivy sack, and some snacks for a float down the Boardman River here in Michigan. I had a few warm things to wear to bed instead of using a sleeping bag. I carried a small umbrella to use on the river and over my head at night. Altogether, I had maybe 10 pounds in a bundle on my lap as I floated down the river sitting in the tube, with my butt and my feet in the water.

The trout were surfacing everywhere and the deer were stepping back from the riverbank at the sight of me. Blue heron were hunting for fish in the shallows. There were wild strawberries at every stop. No paddling, just going with the flow. It was very relaxing, and yet still had the element of unpredictability, and thus adventure.

I feasted on berries in the evening until the rain came. It rained all night, but I stayed dry in my garbage bag bivy sack (my dirtbagging shelter), with a small umbrella over my head. A large white-tail deer almost stepped on me in the middle of the night, and scared me half to death with his snorting. In the morning it was still raining.

It wasn't just raining, it was a thunderstorm. One thing about a bivy sack is that you don't have enough space to keep yourself entertained. So storm or not, it was time to get moving. I bundled up my few things, stepped into the cold river, and sat in the tube.

I drifted by beautiful houses, sitting in my tube in a heavy sweater, with my umbrella over my head. It was just getting light, late because of the storm. People looked up from their morning coffee, to see me in a flash of lightning. I waved and floated on. I had a great time slogging through knee-deep mud in a portage around a dam, and arrived home safely a couple hours later. That's dirtbagging.

http://www.the-ultralight-site.com/dirtbagging.html

UNFINISHED, more to come later.