Comments on: Embracing my travel style

By: Talon Windwalker

Talon Windwalker — Mon, 19 Aug 2013 23:22:45 +0000

In reply to Kathleen l Our Favorite Adventure. Yep, comfort definitely isn't overrated.

By: Kathleen l Our Favorite Adventure

Kathleen l Our Favorite Adventure — Sat, 17 Aug 2013 18:00:01 +0000

Absolutely! We carry backpacks, but were don’t think of ourselves as travel backpacks (wilderness backpackers for sure, though). There is definitely something to be said for spending that extra $6-7 to sleep somewhere comfortable, or have your own en suite bathroom. Of course saving money is nice, but since we are traveling (to some degree) everyday, we recognized that we need a certain level of comfort and privacy!

Love that you were able to find your happy place with your travel style, even if it isn’t ”backpacker” 🙂

By: Talon Windwalker

Talon Windwalker — Wed, 07 Aug 2013 04:41:11 +0000

In reply to Aaron @ Aaron's Worldwide Adventures. I hear that! We almost had to go for a dorm room recently because of the cost. But I will do almost anything to avoid it. So glad you had a great CS experience there!

By: Aaron @ Aaron's Worldwide Adventures

Aaron @ Aaron's Worldwide Adventures — Sun, 04 Aug 2013 11:41:15 +0000

I think the definition of backpacker is expanding from what it once was. At this point, I travel with a backpack primarily for practicality sake. I can walk around for hours on end with my 32L bag. And while I’m generally cheap, I’d almost always spring for a private room over a hostel dorm (that said, I spent a few nights in hostels in Singapore last week to save money, and earplugs and an eye shade go A LONG way). Now that I’ve got a filthy, cheap private room here in Ranteapo (Indonesia), I kind of long for the CouchSurfing experience I had a few days ago in Makassar… Yes, I will happily pay a bit more for comfort…within reason.

By: Talon Windwalker

Talon Windwalker — Fri, 02 Aug 2013 11:50:00 +0000

In reply to Katie. I think it was just going back to those uni days and remembering how fun it all sounded back then.

By: Talon Windwalker

Talon Windwalker — Fri, 02 Aug 2013 11:48:04 +0000

In reply to Dyanne@TravelnLass. We stayed at an all-inclusive resort in Morocco to celebrate Chrismakah, I really felt so out of place there. I just don't enjoy those kinds of places. I so agree about the $17! I'll go for AC and en suite over a Full Moon party any day.

By: Katie

Katie — Thu, 01 Aug 2013 16:47:34 +0000

I soooo hear you on this! I hated hostel dorms during my rtw trip and didn’t stay in one after about the halfway point. And while I like having a private room, I would gladly pay a few bucks more for a hotel room with an ensuite bathroom and more privacy!

It’s funny you wanted to be considered a backpacker – I tended to cringe at that label. 🙂

By: Dyanne@TravelnLass

Dyanne@TravelnLass — Thu, 01 Aug 2013 13:45:30 +0000

Definitely with you on not glorifying the (dubious) charms of shared sleeps and 14 hr. spaghetti-cramped chicken buses.

And I do think it’s an age thing. Not so much that as aging backpackers we need the comforts more, but because we’ve “been there, done that” and and have learned that for a few more bucks you can be TONS more happy. It’s also as Steph above says – a matter of where do you put that $17? In 3 “buckets” at a Full Moon party or 3 nights of en suite toilet?

That said, I do draw the line at fancy hotels (even if I can get them comped). Just far too isolating, and I must say, the folks who generally stay there, aren’t exactly my kindred travel spirits.

By: Dyanne@TravelnLass

Dyanne@TravelnLass — Thu, 01 Aug 2013 13:27:58 +0000

In reply to OCDemon.

Ditto, LOL OCDemon.

And I might add: Frackpacker – A backpacker who… “Ain’t no frackin’ way I’m riding in a 14 hr. bus and sleeping in a 16 bed dorm with a squat toilet down the hall!” 😉

By: Talon Windwalker

Talon Windwalker — Thu, 01 Aug 2013 08:52:42 +0000

In reply to Gabriel Miller. I think it's definitely a great experience. On a limited basis. I wouldn't want to live like that long term. After our 1st year of travel, I was over it. LOL