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Tips: Backpacking, Tours, and Travel Agencies Own only what you can carry with you; know language, know countries, know people. Let your memory be your travel bag. Backpacking Backpacking ? named after the large backpacks that most backpackers don ? at its simplest implies traveling between the great sites of the planet cheaply (usually $25-50 a day) following one or more of the beaten backpacker trails. The backpacker trail (note: the word backpacker in the USA can mean people who hike and camp as well as backpackers who travel cheaply around the world) extends throughout the globe. In Latin America, it is called the ?Gringo Trail?. In Asia, it is called the ?Hippie Trail? and has become so large that entire cities like Kuta, Bali, Indonesia and Pushkar, India exist primarily to serve the needs of backpackers. Most backpackers stay together in hostels and small guesthouses recommended by guidebooks like Lonely Planet and Let?s Go. Backpacking allows more opportunities to travel like a local than traditional cruises, tours, and resorts. Yet, it doesn?t allow the same type of connection to people and places as the exchange programs, homestays, learning vacations, and volunteer vacations. Backpacking is plagued by some of the same issues as traditional travel like cruises and resorts. Most backpackers don?t spend enough time in one place to feel like they are part of its daily rhythms. Plus, outside of workers involved in the tourist industry, backpackers don?t have a lot of opportunities to meet locals. Backpackers can spend quite a bit of money on transportation since most only stay in one pass for awhile. However, they are better able to save money than more traditional travelers because they ask local residents and other backpackers for cost saving tips and try to use local public transportation as much as possible. Nonetheless, all travelers can learn a lot from backpackers. One of the best ways to tap into their knowledge is to hang out at a hostel. Many hostels do not require you to stay at the hostel to use their common areas. In addition, you can also meet backpackers at bars at night (in many parts of the Earth, they hang out in Irish pubs). Tours The word tour usually evokes an image of a group of Bermuda short clad tourists with heavy (almost phallic) cameras slung across their necks emerging from a large bus led by a local guide. The local guide, perfectly coiffed holding a red flag, recites the history of some ancient site into short, simple sound bites before escorting the group to a large, expensive restaurant. Yet, tours don?t have to fit this stereotype. Hundreds of small scale tours, usually called specialty tours by the tourism industry, are available that encourage travelers to learn about and participate in life in a different part of the globe. These small scale tours come in a variety of guises:
Want to learn more about small specialty tours? Check out these resources for listings and reviews of specialty tours
Should You Use Someone to Help You Plan Your Adventure? Typically, most neighborhood travel agencies will not handle ?travel like a local? adventures because they can?t earn a commission from the service provider. However, there are several organizations that can help you arrange your adventure. Unlike most travel firms, these organizations can be either non-profit and for-profit. Several non-profit agencies arrange some specialty tours and work with volunteer programs. For example, Global Exchange puts together ?reality? tours (designed to educate travelers about conditions throughout the world) and World Teach helps with volunteer placement assistance, counseling, training and office facilities. Some other non-profits (such as Volunteers for Peace) serve as a clearinghouse that lists programs and help make arrangements with the program provider. For-profit firms also can help you arrange some experiences. Several agencies (many deal with school placement, such as Amerispan) will help you find the right place for you while putting together packages of services to help make your experience safer and more enjoyable (like insurance and tours). Other companies maintain detailing listings of people who are interested in participating in exchange programs (see tips on home exchange, homestays, and hospitality exchanges). Your neighborhood travel agent can help you set up most small educational tours. A knowledgeable travel agent will help you find the tour is right for you. They should know useful information like the average age of your fellow travelers and the type of facilities feature on the tour (luxurious, modest, family oriented, etc). In addition, since agencies often deal with a few select providers, you will have some guarantees about the quality of your experience. You may pay more when you deal with an agency or organization than you would by dealing directly with the service provider (however, this is not always the case, since travel agencies often make special arrangements with providers that reduce the cost of travel for the consumer). Use travel agencies at your destination as well. With the advent of the internet, you can easily find and communicate with agencies around the globe. Overseas agencies are often able to put together good packages of services (schools, homestays, volunteer programs, etc) that are often more inexpensive than you can get at home (they do not have to pay as much overhead as agencies in the US or Europe). For example, the trip I took to Argentina mentioned earlier was arranged through Alojargentina, a travel agency in Buenos Aires. Whenever you use a travel agency, check to find out if they are reputable. If you decide to use an agency in another country, read guidebooks to the destination for referrals. You can also find up-to-date referrals to good agencies overseas on the various on-line bulletin boards maintained by large guidebook publishers like Lonely Planet?s Thorn Tree or Rough Guide?s bulletin board It is always possible to create a travel like a local adventure without using an agency or organization. In the case of language schools (which will usually also arrange a homestay as well, if desired), it is easy to find schools on the internet and make arrangements directly with the school. For volunteer and exchange programs, it is hard (but not impossible) to do it yourself.
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