Tips From An Amateur Backpacker

Don't get me wrong, I know I am in no way qualified to give travel advice and expect anyone to listen to it, but I feel I've learned a few things along the way. So I thought I would share them just incase anyone out there is looking and happens upon this. This may or may not be anything helpful, and is most likely going to be a list of stuff that everyone already knows, but hey, no one told me before I went off on my own so this is just a bunch of (hopefully) helpful stuff that I had to discover for myself.

1. Keep a journal.

I have always done this anytime I have gone on big trips ever since I went to Europe for the first time in the 6th grade. I thought it was dumb at first and I always thought "what's the use of this, I know what I did today!" But my grandma would sit me down in the evenings and make me write about my day in my journal, and now, reading it back yeeears later I am so thankful she did that. You remember the things you did and the places you went, but you never remember exactly how you were feeling in a specific moment until you are able to read the words you wrote back. Another thing I recommend is that you get a journal with a pocket in the back so you can keep little mementos to tape into the pages, I always keep things like ticket stubs and maps. In New Zealand I even bought a little roll of tape that I kept on me and used to stick weird little things into my journal the whole time.

2. Take pictures, but don't live life through the lens.

I have always been glued to my camera whenever I travel. I love photography but am frequently finding that I completely missed out on experiencing things because I have been too focused on capturing the moment, instead of living in it. In New Zealand I did a complete 180 flip and hardly touched my camera. I am now wishing that I had pulled it out a bit more than I did, but the experiences I had just living in the moment are so much more than a picture to me. I wish I had taken more photos while out in nature since New Zealand is such a picturesque country, but what can you do. You just have to find the right balance.

3. Pick the right backpack.

This one's key. By the end of your trip, you will either have an emotional attachment to your backpack or you will want to burn it. Find one that is comfortable to carry on your back for a long time because once you are off you're stuck with it for however long your trip may be. I also would recommend on that opens in the front. Mine does not open in the front, only from the top and the bottom. A few of my friends had the kinds that zip open in the front, kind of like a suitcase, and I was sooo jealous. It seems like such a small thing, but when you have to spend an extra 10 minutes unpacking then repacking all your things just to get one shirt out of the middle of your backpack, you realize how convenient a front zip really is. Also, if you aren't doing a lot of hiking or walking with all you belongings on your back, I would say a backpack is kind of overrated. I met some people who were just traveling with suitcases and it made life so much easier not having to lug around your whole life on your back.

4. Don't be afraid to chat.

As a generally shy and awkward human being I found myself freaking out internally every time I had to make new friends. At first it got the best of me and I only met new people if they were the first to talk to me. But after a while I began to realize that everyone is in the same boat. You're mostly all traveling alone, and everyone wants to make friends. It's also great because everyone you meet in hostels have at least one thing in common with each other, you all love to travel. If I ever felt like I didn't have anything to talk about with someone, I'd just ask them about their travels. Once you get a backpacker talking about travel, they won't shut up. I could go on for AGES about travel. It's also so cool to hear about other peoples adventures and great stories from the places they have been. You can really learn a lot from the people around you.

5. Go with the flow.

You can plan and stress all you like, but the fact of the matter is not everything is going to go exactly to plan. Sh*t happens and there's nothing you can do about it besides accept it and move on from there. You're on the great adventure of life and you should be living it instead of stressing yourself that things didn't happen exactly how you might have liked. Travel is all about spontaneity. I think it makes it more fun. Things will generally work themselves out and if it ends up being terrible, hey, at least you got a good story out of it.

6. Don't trust your whites in the hostel laundry.

I learned this one the hard way. It's most likely that the washers and driers in your hostels have never been cleaned even though they're constantly being used. If you care about your light colored clothes getting stained or discolored, I'd go with a good old fashioned hand washing. I did a wash in one hostel and all my white or light colored clothes came out all grey-ish. Not good.

6. Bring a micro-fiber travel towel.

I don't know why, but I just didn't think to pack a towel. Dumb I know. I bought just a regular bath towel when I got there, but it was so bulky and didn't dry very fast. One of my lovely friends gave me her extra micro-fiber travel towel, and it changed my little backpacker life. It sounds like such a small trivial thing but just that little bit of extra space in my backpack made such a difference after I threw out my old towel. Forever towel indebted to you Chels.

7. Make a travel playlist.

I do this whenever I travel. I love making specific playlists for my trips of any songs that I am listening to at that time, or songs that I hear on my trip, or things my friends are listening to. These are the songs that will come on shuffle in 20 years and instantly take you back to this time in your life. This is sort of similar to keeping a journal, for the sake of memories. There are a few songs now that instantly remind me of a time or a person from my travels, and I love having that because it is something completely unique to my own experiences.

8. Read!!

New Zealand was the first time I had time off in 5 years. Ever since I was a freshman in high school I have worked and gone to school and played sports, so reading for fun was not exactly the first thing I did with any free time I could get. Traveling alone can be lonely, so I started reading a lot more to keep myself busy and if I got lonely. I forgot how much I actually enjoy reading!

There are a few tips/bits of advice that I think might be helpful for anyone traveling alone or for the first time. Thanks for reading :)

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