A Map For The Off-Beaten Track Is A Map For The Soul
It was in the early hours of the morning on a cold, rainy weekend in May 2018 where I found myself sat on the wooden floor of an old Vietnamese stilt house in Mai Chau, a village three hours south from Hanoi. The buzz of mosquitoes and the trickle of rain droplets from the leaking roof could be heard as I packed my Osprey bag for a trek that was planned literally 2 days ago (could I possibly elaborate more on this?). Sat right beside me was my new friend Jens, a Belgian teen who was on a one year break from university to travel the whole Asia, and sat opposite us on a home-made rattan chair was David (the English name he gave himself), our warm host and tour guide who barely spoke English and communicated his intentions through prompt hand signals and firm body language. Poncho – check. Mosquito repellent – check. Two 1-litre water bottles – check. After packing, all three of us shared a nod of acknowledgement and laughter as we proceeded outside the house to get ready for our day trek around the paddy fields and onward to the hidden limestone caves of Mai Chau. This experience was one of the many memorable ones I had during my 1-month solo backpacking trip around Vietnam before I went abroad for study.
(possibly talk about what EXACTLY backpacking is?)
To many, the thought of travelling is a two-week fun-in-the-sun, organised travel in an upscale city with a long list of tourist attractions to visit. However, it seems as if young travellers are looking at travel that is off the beaten path – travel that provides space for reflexivity. Backpacking encapsulates this role, fostering self-examination, growth and existential authenticity which is said to come with these experiences (Cavanan 559). But the experiential learning and soul searching associated with backpacking isn’t the be-all end-all of one’s journey. My one month long backpacking journey around North Vietnam has shown me that there are a plethora of life skills to be learnt through it all and these life skills learnt aren’t just confined to the common traits such as independence or simple organisational skills. I want to explore the opposite side of the same coin: the messy, sporadic and risk-filled nature of travelling associated with backpacking and examine the life skills that are able to be gained through that too. ß HAVE ROADMAP THESIS HERE (ELABORATE MORE)
At that time, I saw backpacking alone just as a form of soul searching and nothing else. Having been too caught up in the chaotic hubbub of city life back home in Singapore, I needed a form of emotional and mental escape before figuring out what I would want to do with the next big part of my life which is university. I was pretty sure that I wasn’t the only one facing this dilemma. As quoted in a 2014 article by The Atlantic, “[young travellers] are spending less time in “major gateway cities” and instead exploring more remote destinations, staying in hostels instead of hotels, and choosing long-term backpacking trips instead of two-week jaunts.” (Machado) Furthermore, in a 2010 study for a Hospitality Marketing & Management Journal, the factors of cultural knowledge and relaxation formulate the core of backpacker motivation while the motivations of independence, experiential, personal and social growth were an active dynamic throughout a backpacker’s travel career (Paris and Teye 256). Coupled with the millennial travel culture where the younger generation is more interested than the older generations in traveling abroad by as much as a 23-percentage-point margin (Barton, Haywood and Jhunjhunwala 4), it is clear that the majority demographic that make up backpackers in this day and age are people like myself: soul searching youths who are seeking an adventure outside of their comfort zone before they embark on their next chapter in life. (Should I have something here to refute?)
“Munyen – bag, inside tool” David utters as he points towards his own backpack while simultaneously making a wrench-turning motion. While cycling through the rain and the mud next to the paddy fields, one of Jens’ screws on his left bike pedal probably had gotten loose and came off making the pedal very loose and hard to push forward. Stranded on the edge of an empty paddy field in Mai Chau under pouring rain because of the monsoon season, it was hard for us to find help and cycling an hour back to David’s house was not an option. We had to make do with what we had. It was like a MacGyver-esque scene as I scrambled around my backpack trying to find something to secure the now broken off bike pedal while David tries to force the end of the pedal back on. Having lost the screw that held the pedal to the frame, it was incredibly difficult to fix it firmly back on (and the rain wasn’t making the situation any better). After 10 to 15 minutes of active brainstorming with some vulgarities being muttered so very often, we managed to secure the bike pedal onto the frame with an inordinate amount of electrical tape that David happened to have in his bag and we made it somewhat waterproof with plastic bags that I brought along for my wet and dirty clothes. Our masterpiece was complete and we could now cycle, albeit at a slower pace, towards the lime stone formations that was a short fifteen minute ride away.
This situation might seem funny and implausible, but it isn’t extremely rare that backpackers find themselves in situations such as these where you have to just cope with what arises. In a 2018 research journal about the narratives of young backpackers, many backpackers remembered the challenges they encountered as initiating a profound process of personal change (CITE). It forces them to change for the better and discover alternatives, and to better develop independent ideas. As a result of the development of these life skills, backpackers now deal much better with crucial life decisions and an enhanced a sense of independence. (Collins-Kreiner, Yonay and Even 410) ß QUESTION: do I cite at the end of this sentence or the end of “profound process of personal change…”
But when you delve deeper into this apparent independence that has been grown from such situations that arose while backpacking, one may ask themselves on the leveragability of such life skills on their future be it in college or in the work force. After all, when will one be ever thrown in a situation when they have to fix a muddy bike pedal under pouring rain? However, it is not more about the situation, but more so the attitude towards it. Individuals, especially those of the younger generation, are constantly being confronted by choices – what college should I choose, what job should I find over the summer. These are obviously difficult decisions that might shape the future of the individual for the better or for the worse and because of the fear of failure, conforming seems to be the norm – the individuals’ personal responsibility essentially disintegrates, and that isn’t what you want when thrown into the fast-paced life of modernity. According to a study of the relationship between backpacking and emerging adulthood, adaptation is necessary for human survival in any environment (Benolol 196) . The various experiences one faces during their backpacking journey gives young people the legitimacy to explore, experience and recreate their personal value system (Benolol 196) and this life skill should be seen as a subset of independence.
(maybe talk about teamwork here, not too sure yet)
On a similar note, it is the intriguing aspect of social interactions during backpacking that brings about a fleeting sense of adventure and independence that inculcates life skills too. Here I am standing under the pouring raining with Jens, someone who I just met in my hostel in Hanoi and who I will never see again in three days after I leave back to Hanoi and he departs to Thanh Hóa, a coastal city further south. Jens was just one of the many individuals I met along my journey through Vietnam and it further reinforces my point about learning from new individuals be it culturally or socially. However, learning from others demonstrates just one of the two components of internal change (Collins-Kreiner, Yonay and Even 411). It also allows an individual to reveal their inner selves and essentially tap into an otherwise “unknown” part of your own personality. While I backpacked around Vietnam, throwing myself into the dizzying array of Vietnamese culture in the city and around the rural areas, I have frankly learnt more from other people I interacted with than anything. I have discussed politics in Europe with British backpackers, talked about the differences in food culture between Singapore and Belgium, and shared fond memories of my time in the Singapore army with an Israeli national who had just finished his mandatory conscription. By interacting with those not outside my immediate community, I have broadened my views about the world. And as Benolol’s scholarly journal suggests, encounters and experimentation with diverse individuals of various social roles prepares one for his or her future by imparting self-knowledge, encouraging initiative and helping to form identity (197).
“You have got to be kidding me.” I muttered under my breath as I sat on my hostel bed recounting the money I had left in my wallet after the first day. “Why did I use so much money in one day? Backpacking is supposed to be super cheap.” I thought. Somewhere between the airport, the place I had dinner and the hostel, I must have dropped my money. But then again that couldn’t be right, the largest VND$100,000 and $200,000 notes were kept in a pouch in my bag and I only had the smaller denominations on me. Then it clicked: I was ripped off. The “taxi” driver who drove me from the airport to the hostel had turned off the meter saying it was a strict fare of USD$30 which equated to about VND$700,000. Being naïve and ignorant, I justified that that was pretty cheap and just agreed to the ride. After all, it was the same price from the airport to my house back home in Singapore! But after speaking to some people down by common area in my hostel, I realised that I’d been duped.
This was just one instance of the risk and danger faced when I was backpacking around Vietnam. Throughout my trip, I constantly met street sellers and vendors who openly tried to overcharge me (thankfully I learnt this lesson on the first day so I mindfully avoided these scams) and hassled me after learning I wasn’t a local. These tales of misfortune and disrespect wasn’t reserved to me alone, other backpackers, especially western ones, faced even worse discrimination and disrespect. But that is not surprising though. Third-world countries like Vietnam and Thailand are flooded with backpackers from all over the world. A research article in the Tourism Recreation Research Journal talks about the accelerated expansion of backpacking in the 1980s and 1990s as a growing number of western youths seek travel in areas marked by cheap accommodations, eating places and other businesses catered for the needs and desires of backpackers (Cohen 105-106). The rise of these backpackers form “backpacker enclaves” or “backpacker bubbles” – groups of backpacking tourists who aim to experience the local culture but unknowingly drive out locals and ironically cause these often-visited places to lose their cultural value and appeal due to the accelerated growth to cater to their needs (Howard 371). With that in mind, it is easy to see why locals in these places despise many foreign backpackers as these backpackers do the most harm to the local community in their effort to find an “authentic” experience. Furthermore, backpackers are seen as prime targets for the locals to exploit due to the care-free and unknowing nature and as such, the onus is on the backpackers to carefully navigate and manage the risk involved in these places (should I elaborate on how to carefully manage these risks?). However, a case study on risk creation in traveling speaks about these risk narratives as being very leverageable be it in future social situations of even job applications. Interviewed backpackers believe that their experiences set them apart by making them more self-reliant, responsible and self-aware by daring to face novelty and risk (Elsrud 613).
Having considered the risks involved, it is undeniably difficult for young adults to completely mitigate the risks involved with backpacking. One can obviously learn to be prudent and mindful to avoid to numerous scams and gimmicks, but sometimes the risks and dangers of backpacking are unavoidable with almost 80% of backpackers engaging in activities where they were exposed to health and safety problems (Peach and Bath). I vividly remember the stomach troubles I had after trying Xoi Man, a local Vietnamese street food made of sticky rice, dried Chinese sausages and shitake mushrooms. Having ventured forty five minutes away from my hostel to a popular street-side store recommended by another backpacker, I was ready to try this “Xoi Man” that locals have been raving about. I didn’t even need to look out for a name of the stall, the aroma of Chinese sausage frying on the stove permeated the roadside, cutting through the exhaust fumes of passing motorcyclists like butter. After ordering my food, I sat down on a an ankle-high plastic stool and anxiously waited for my food. I observed my surroundings and it wasn’t a particularly pleasant sight. There was a dead cockroach laying supine right below my table and flies buzzing around a lazy stray dog that was sitting right by the kitchen probably waiting for food to drop on the floor. This restaurant would definitely not have passed hygiene standards back home in Singapore. But how bad could it be — the heat from cooking the food kills all the bacteria right? I was dead wrong. The food was great, but the stomach troubles that came soon after was not.
As dreadful as this sounds, I saw it as all part of the experience, a brushstroke that painted the whole backpacking narrative. I am not conceding to the fact that everyone should experience a bout of diarrhoea every time they backpack and risk doesn’t just have to be confined to the risky culinary experiences, it could also be engaging in a local activities all of which are still distinguishing cultural factors that can bring forth important life skills. An Interviewee in Elsrud’s article was quoted saying that the positive and negative experiences allowed her to find and stretch her limits and these limits were often found when she faced negative experiences (Elsrud 608). Another interviewee also claimed that the risk-filled activities associated with backpacking is able to build on one’s “street-smart” and is a very powerful instrument in finding one’s unique “self” (Elsrud 610).
Works Cited
Paris, Cody and Victor Teye. “Backpacker Motivations: A Travel Career Approach.” Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management (2010): 244-259.
Barton, Christine, et al. Traveling with Millennials. Consumer Research Report. Dallas: Boston Consulting Group, 2013.
Machado, Amanda. “Global: How Millennials Are Changing Travel.” 18 June 2014. The Atlantic. <https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/06/how-millennials-are-changing-international-travel/373007/>.
Benolol, Nurit. “The relationship between backpacking and adaptation to the workforce during emerging adulthood.” World Leisure Journal 59.3 (2017): 195-205.
Collins-Kreiner, Noga, Yuval Yonay and Michal Even. “Backpacking memories: a retrospective approach to the narratives of young backpackers.” Tourism Recreation Research 43.3 (2018): 409-412.
Cavanan, Brendan. “An existentialist exploration of tourism sustainability: backpackers fleeing and finding themselves.” Journal of Sustainable Tourism 26.4 (2017): 551-566.
Cohen, Erik. “Backpacker enclaves research: achievements, critique and alternative approaches.” Tourism Recreation Research 43.1 (2017): 105-116.
Howard, Robert W. “Khaosan Road: an Evolving Backpacker Tourist Enclave Being Partially Reclaimed by the Locals.” International Journal of Tourism Research 7 (2005): 357-374.
Elsrud, Torun. “Risk Creation In Traveling: Backpacker Adventure Narration.” Annals of Tourism Research 28.3 (2001): 597-617.
Peach, Hedley G. and Nicole E Bath. “Health and Safety Problems and Lack of Information among International Visitors Backpacking Through North Queensland.” Journal of Travel Medicine 7.5 (2000): 234-238.
Munyen's Writing Journey 