Anyone been backpacking solo?

[Sysman]

Absolutely. The journey is more interesting than the destination.

I always remember that even people out in the sticks in South Sudan got that. They figured correctly that we backpackers didn't actually need to travel on the cheap in order get somewhere, we were doing it in order to see what flights and comfortable hotels can not show you.

Something I read recently about a chap who was somewhere in Africa. A local said to him:

"You are not a tourist. You are a traveller."

That sums it up quite well.

[Cliphead]

Many excellent experiences hitchhiking and backpacking in my youth mostly around Europe. Got a lift in a Rolls Royce, a free lift all the way from Barcelona to Glasgow including a free ticket for the ferry, met many excellent people and made friends I wouldn't otherwise have met.

No matter where you want to travel in the world you'll be amazed by the kindness and generosity of strangers and come home with memories that will be with you for life.

[IR35FanClub]

I have worked out i have had 4 days off in the last 3 years and have decided I want to treat myself to a long break at the end of my current gig. All my friends are permies and would not be able to take more than 2 weeks off. So i was thinking of taking 3-6 months and do a bit of traveling. I am 28 now and think i need to do this now or i never will.

Has anyone ever done it on their own? how did they find it?

Eh, good on you - finally worked out why you should be a contractor - its not to earn more - it's to get more time off without having to get permission [and because you have more money]!

I've not done the back packing thing, but done "independent" travel. I.e book a flight and sort out accommodation once I get there. Done Bits of Africa, Europe and USA like this. The only bad experience I had was travelling from Rhode Island up through Massachusetts on a Friday night when the Boston crowd were doing the same - heading up to the white mountains . Ended up sleeping the worst motel ever 30 miles off the freeway as everywhere else was booked. On a cold water bed. It looked like a 1970s porn set. In fact...!?

What I've found is if you travel into the most dodgy part of the most dodgy city, buy some locals a few drinks you'll get good advice how to get home safely and some phone numbers - which you'll never ring again. Maybe. Just leave the smart phone in the UK, and take a cheap 2 line LCD display phone, plus a backup, and only take £20 in cash and leave the wallet behind. Then if you get robbed, you have a story not a problem. Been lucky so far though. Did get a crazy old man in Nairobi ranting at me about how my brothers were killing his people, but the guys I was drinking with steered him out of the bar and sent him home.

[norrahe]

Many excellent experiences hitchhiking and backpacking in my youth mostly around Europe. Got a lift in a Rolls Royce, a free lift all the way from Barcelona to Glasgow including a free ticket for the ferry, met many excellent people and made friends I wouldn't otherwise have met.

No matter where you want to travel in the world you'll be amazed by the kindness and generosity of strangers and come home with memories that will be with you for life.

I still have fond memories of a night in Kyoto where some "salarymen" paid for all the drinks and food at our table and then took us to a local karaoke bar, "moon l(r)iver" will never be the same again.

[Ignis Fatuus]

Something I read recently about a chap who was somewhere in Africa. A local said to him:

"You are not a tourist. You are a traveller."

That sums it up quite well.

He did not think of himself as a tourist; he was a traveler. The difference is partly one of time, he would explain. Whereas the tourist generally hurries back home at the end of a few weeks or months, the traveler belonging no more to one place than to the next, moves slowly over periods of years, from one part of the earth to another. Indeed, he would have found it difficult to tell, among the many places he had lived, precisely where it was he had felt most at home.

― Paul Bowles, The Sheltering Sky

In the book, a character is told a story that the Police retold as "Tea in the Sahara". I just thought you'd like to know.

The character is called Port. His full name is Port Moresby. Port Moresby is the capital of New Guinea. But I'm probably losing your full attention now.

[Sysman]

― Paul Bowles, The Sheltering Sky

In the book, a character is told a story that the Police retold as "Tea in the Sahara". I just thought you'd like to know.

The character is called Port. His full name is Port Moresby. Port Moresby is the capital of New Guinea. But I'm probably losing your full attention now.

Mmm. Mine's a mint tea please.

Not losing my attention. A neighbour lived in Port Moresby for a while.

We used to spend hours swapping stories about the places we'd been to and the folks we'd met.

I'm getting itchy feet reading this thread.

[BlasterBates]

Do it.... I bought a European Inter Rail ticket when I was 20 something, stayed in Youth Hostels. Good fun. You can go anywhere really these days.

You can do it for a couple of weeks and see how you got on. At the time I was working so initially I did a two week trek, and when I got back there was nothing doing at work so I bogged off for another week and made it to the arctic circle in Norway.

You´re never alone.

[Ignis Fatuus]

I'm getting itchy feet reading this thread.

Oh, yes

I thought there would be some travellers here, I didn't realise there would be so many, all sitting here quietly doing IT but ready to dream about hitting the road at the drop of a thread.

[yasockie]

Go to holidaypirates.co.uk and look for an 'open-jaw' flight deal - ie you land in singapore but return flight is from say japan.
The bit in the middle you can walk, cycle, take a bus and just enjoy life

[SandyD]

Singapore is mostly like Canary Wharf.... some cultured areas, but majority is like CW.
Islands are different.