Whether you’re a lifelong backpacker, or you’re a total noob to this idea of budget travel, if you happen to be in the tri-state area, Meet, Plan, Go 2010 should be on your agenda! On September 14th, 2010, your Art of Backpacking guru’s will be hosting the first Annual Meet, Plan, Go event in Philadelphia. If you’re intrigued by the idea of breaking out of your routine and taken the road less traveled, you might want to stay tuned.
The mountains of Wudang (or Wudangshan) can be found in the northwestern area of the Hubei Province in The People’s Republic of China and is part of the larger Daba Mountain Range. Its best known for the ancient Taoist monasteries that reside there (the area is considered the birthplace of Taoism).
It’s an easy trail to follow and even easier to get caught up in the trail as a backpacker. Costa Christ of National Geographic Adventure says towards the end of the video “Backpackers are not the bad guys. It really boils down to how we travel, what the legacy is of that. We are guests in another culture. So the issue isn’t how do we stop travelers, stop tourism – the issue is how do we get it right”. How big of a footprint are backpackers holding? Is the gringo trail harmful?
This is something I’ve been thinking about recently. A lot of people particularly parents for example think that when their kids choose to take a gap year or go traveling around the world for a pro-longed period of time instead of settling down, getting a job and starting a career etc that they are ‘taking the easy way out’ and going galavanting and enjoying themselves choosing fun over the ‘real’ world so to speak.
Backpackers seem to be living the life, right? They’re living the life of a reckless abandon, galavanting throughout unknown destinations and always seem to be in shape. Through observation, although the above statements might be true, there are downsides to this chosen lifestyle. (I didn’t sign up for anything less of this life!) Hopefully, most backpackers can identify themselves in these scenarios.
I have thousands of pictures of me standing in front of moments, landscapes, and buildings from my travels. Since I’m backpacking, I don’t have much of a selection of clothes. They look as if I’ve been standing in front of a blue screen changing the scenery on Photoshop. It get boring after awhile. What about the people you meet, the partying, and random encounters? These moments need to be captured.
I’ve finally been able to get a cost summary of how much I’ve spent. It would require way too much work to get it broken down by country though. The money took me throughout Asia, Australia, and South America. I know one things for certain, I’ve spent over the intended budget (Usually happens doesn’t it?).
After nearly a month traveling around Bolivia, I cannot tell you how relieved I was to be in La Paz with more options of food than the usual chicken and rice that seemed so prevalent throughout Bolivia. The Star of India restaurant was recommended by a few hostel mates, listed in Lonely Planet, and popular for the worlds most dangerous Vindaloo.
Well, I tried to be creative. Besides the few things they missed to tell us about the Salar de Uyuni tour, it was definitely one of the most fascinating places I have ever been to. I wish I was more prepared for what I was about to see. A search on Flickr shows that some people were a bit too prepared but were very creative.
