Why do backpackers do it?

[Cornfed]

So why travel around the world to stay in shitholes and do hard work for shitty wages? That doesn’t sound like much fun. Is the whole point just to say they did it, or to be able to indulge in various forms of sexual degeneracy anonymously away from home?

[Yohan]

You have a good point, Cornfed. I agree with you.

If they have fun with that kind of trip? Up to them, I would say...

I never did something like that. I tried to save up some more money and wherever I travelled during all my life I preferred to stay overnight in a hotel with private bathroom/toilet. I never stayed in any shared accommodation (youth hostel, japanese capsule hotel etc.)

[mattyman]

It's a way to get to know how people live their lives authentically in the countries you're visiting. Visiting 'shitholes' is a way to get an authentic, off the beaten-track/tourist trap experience.

Backpacking FORCES you out of your comfort zone, helps you grow as a person, gives you a lot of surprises, gives you new perspectives.

Hard shitty work also makes people GROW-UP as it did me.

Why is everything from the angle of sex?

Honestly, you shouldn't judge people who go backpacking and pigeon-hole them. Sure a minority might go with the sole motive to get as much sex as possible. In most cases, relationships and sex are a by-product of being in an unfamiliar situation and finding lots of commonalities. What you describe cornfed isn't true of people who go backpacking and travelling. Try it some day, try doing volunteer work camps. You'll love it, you won't regret it.

[flowerthief00]

Adventure: Hiking in your own country is one thing but backpacking in a foreign country is exotic and interesting

Experience: People report more happiness from experiences than from material possessions. You are guaranteed to have all kinds of experiences when backpacking

Mobility: You can up and visit a new location practically on a whim

Economy: Accommodation is the biggest expense in travelling besides transportation. You save a lot of money by staying in them cheap hotels. Traveling light you don't have to pay extra luggage fees for your flights either

[Wolfeye]

Depends on how you do it. I liked the situation, I guess- the places I went to were frequently good & meeting people, having a different social environment, food, even stuff like being able to buy Jaeger at the convenience store, was good. I didn't work, I saved up some money & got a family hook-up (yeah, I'm getting a late start, but I figure that that's better than a bad one). Even have an idea of how I'm going to get a serious start (learn Hungarian in Hungary & get work, then build from there- maybe one person knows another that is doing x/y/z thing, maybe I tutor or translate, maybe I just get a decent job outside of that).

I found a hostel isn't too bad, at least as a concept. You have a bathroom like in a private room, which you can get there, and it's just used by the people in those rooms in that area.

[tom]

So why travel around the world to stay in shitholes and do hard work for shitty wages? That doesn’t sound like much fun. Is the whole point just to say they did it, or to be able to indulge in various forms of sexual degeneracy anonymously away from home?

The world is a giant shit hole, no matter where a backpacker goes it's still a shit hole. Therefore all shit holes demand hard work for hardly any pay. It may not be any more fun than sexual degeneracy, its a feature not a bug of the shit hole. And as being somewhere different than home is by default away from home, no one at home will have a clue about their perverted pornographic performances, however some may disagree!

[hypermak]

So why travel around the world to stay in shitholes and do hard work for shitty wages? That doesn’t sound like much fun. Is the whole point just to say they did it, or to be able to indulge in various forms of sexual degeneracy anonymously away from home?

The world is a giant shit hole, no matter where a backpacker goes it's still a shit hole. Therefore all shit holes demand hard work for hardly any pay. It may not be any more fun than sexual degeneracy, its a feature not a bug of the shit hole. And as being somewhere different than home is by default away from home, no one at home will have a clue about their perverted pornographic performances, however some may disagree!

Mant countries in South America, South East Asia and Africa that might fit into your definition of a shithole are, really, quite conservative when it comes to social relationships, dating and marriage. It's the typical happy-go-lucky first-world tourist or expat that usually takes the freedom to live abroad to hang out with the seedier parts of their host society.

Cambodia and Vietnam, even Philippines have girls who are realtively conservative - by any world standard - but if all you see, or want to see, is the red light district and the damaged material who fester free/cheap dating sites like DateInAsia, then your opinion will be that it's all about sexual degeneracy.

[Cornfed]

BTW, you know that pairs of female backpackers travelling together generally ARE having sexual contact with one another, right? How do I know? I know because I worked in the security industry.

[tom]

[Wolfeye]

Cornfed: What does the security industry have to do with anything?

[Cornfed]

Cornfed: What does the security industry have to do with anything?

I didn’t do this particular job, but one of the security jobs here is hassling backpackers to move their vehicles (usually vans) when they are parked in the wrong place for the night. According to my colleagues if it is a pair of females it isn’t uncommon for one of them to be wearing a strap-on or for them to otherwise be engaging in sexual contact. These are generally normal looking females rather than obvious lesbians.