I look around me and can't believe I am actually here! After months and months of preparation the time has finally come around! It was a very emotional goodbye with friends and family 24 hours ago and I am still a bit shaken. I double-check I have all the necessities with me: travellers cheques, enough water, pocket knife, first aid kit, SOS survival book and I have 10 copies of all my important documents on 3 different sources. I then swing my backpack over my shoulder onto my back. I secure all the straps and make sure the pack isn't pulling my shoulders back. I am wearing my zip pants and put my hiking boots on. I am ready for it... Bring it on!!! And I start walking.This is the beginning of my big adventure!
Euhm no, I am not talking about the start of my African safari… But my arrival at Sydney Airport 5.5 years ago!
Let’s get some of the misconceptions about backpacking out of the way shall we!
1. No you don't have to go to the fitness school day in day out preparing yourself to walk and carry your backpack for 12 months and dragging it through the mud/outback. Reasons I wore my backpack for more than 30 minutes at the time:
- Trying it on in the Netherlands.
- Walking from hostels to Greyhound bus stops.
- Walking from Greyhound bus stops to hostels.
- Waiting to be shown to my room in hostels.
- Greyhound busses being late...
2. Did you know that Australia is NOT a third world country?
- They actually have pharmacies here where you can get painkillers and bandages! So leave you're kg's of panadol at home (I know, pretty shocking huh!)
- No, you won't lose weight because of a lack of food (starvation); I survived fine on macca's, garlic bread, spaghetti and beer for a year!
3. Backpacking does not equal survival camp (in most cases anyway), so please leave the following at home:
- SOS survival guide: You really don’t have to know how to make a fire without a lighter or how to read clouds to predict the weather (just look at www.bom.gov.au).
- Most Australians are civilized enough to actually own cutlery so your Swiss army knife can stay on your bedside table at home.
- Mosquito nets are very annoying to carry around and way too heavy. Besides, there is no way you can set it up in the outback over your swag…
- I don’t know how I got the idea to take such a huge first aid kit with me but I carried it with me for 12 months not even opening most of it, besides the odd bandaid here and there. The most ridiculous items in there must have been the mini vacuum pumps that would draw poison from a bite. I mean seriously!!!
- 2 other useless items I carried with me for 12 months were binoculars, (Sure I like a nice bird here and there, but binoculars??), and a compass (honestly, can you see yourself on the Stuart Hwy wondering which way to go?)
TO BE CONTINUED...
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