The reasoning powering backpacking, is not mcm shoulder bag to have a family vacation or holiday getaway, but to vacation the continents and knowledge what this wide world provides. It's not about concept parks and night time clubs, alcoholic beverages and drugs but additional around, assembly other backpackers and suffering from the neighborhood lifetime on the village, town, city, condition, region continent your in. Place in your mind the story "Around the Environment in 80 Days with Phileas Fogg", now take away his money and his time constraint; now you're a backpacker!
See all that there is to see, encounter all that there is to knowledge, find adventure, seek new and amazing things; not just pleasant things but the unpleasant as well. My fondest memories are on the, cheap Backpacker Hostels and cheap hotels, the then seemingly safe travelling by bus or train and even small planes; the food that today would make me sick; the bed with the bed bugs; the cold water showers, the extreme cold or extreme hot nights, all these will be your greatest memories. So don't be afraid of reviews, don't be guided by what others say, because one persons trash is another persons treasure.
In third globe counties give you services to help the poor, when in modern countries, seek work and earn much more money so you can stay longer. Today with advent of Google, Google Maps, Google Places, Google Earth, Facebook and YouTube, we can see, hear and read all there is to about anyplace anywhere, but only by experiencing it yourself do you create a memory that is yours and yours alone, one that only you can talk about and only mcm belt cheap you can share.
The pursuit for the tourism dollar, slick marketing campaigns and the influx of major corporations into the backpacking and hostel industry have watered down some with the authentic backpacking practical experience; but even today you can still find those down to earth places that are still run by the aging perpetual backpacker; the owner operator who lives on site and looks after you with tender loving care; the owner operator who sees you as a backpacker and not just dollars in the bank. Look for these owner operators, look for the long term backpackers who work in the hostel, look for the family run business and you will find the hospitality and friendship that made backpacking the right of passage for so many of us.
While building this site we plotted our own maps of which Hostels, our group had been and stayed at, but the power of Google and Google Maps is far mcm shoulder bag too powerful to overlook, so use Google Maps, visit Backpackers Hostel web sites via Google Maps and Places, read their reviews, look at all their photos, investigate their facilities and check their prices. But always remember when backpacking seek your own adventures for your own satisfaction.