Every backpacker conversation, ever
[9.30pm, in the common room of a hostel in (country). One solo backpacker enters, notices another backpacker sitting by himself, flipping through a Lonely Planet.]
Backpacker 1: “Hey, how’s it going?”
Backpacker 2: “Hi, I’m good thank you.”
B1: “Cool. Hey, my name’s [name].”
B2: “Oh, I am [name], nice to meet you.”
B1: “You just in town for a few days?”
B2: “Mmm hmm, just came in from [city] yesterday.”
B1: “You went to [city]? Nice, I’m definitely going to head there some time. Everyone reckons it’s wicked. Cool beaches and everything.”
B2: “Yes, it’s very nice. So are you staying at [hostel]?”
B1: “Yeah I’m in one of the dorms, number [number]. Got a whole bunch of [foreigners] staying in there, geez they make some noise. It’s cool though, I think they’re leaving tomorrow anyway. You staying here too?”
B2: “Yes, I am in [number]. It’s okay. So where are you from?”
B1: “Oh, [country].”
B2: “Yes, I know the accent, but whereabouts?”
B1: “Er, just outside [city]. It’s pretty small.”
B2: “Oh cool. There’s another guy from [country] staying here I think, guy called [name]? I was in [city] a few years ago, it’s pretty nice.”
B1: “Really? That’s cool. So how long are you away from home for?”
B2: “I’m travelling for [number] months. I’ve been away for [number] months, so still [number] to go, although I might try to extend it a little bit. Don’t know if I’m ready to go home yet, you know?”
B1: “Yeah, for sure man, I hear you. I want to keep doing this forever, but it’s not gonna happen. So where have you been to in [country] so far?”
B2: “Well, I started off in [city], then I went down to [island] for a while, just to get away from it all for a while. I met this guy from Holland, and we went and stayed in [village] for a while, that was cool, you should really check that out. Not touristic at all. Then I was in [city] for a while, then I came down here. What about you, how long are you in [country] for?”
B1: “Just [number] weeks man, that’s all I could get off work. Gotta get back to it some time, you know?”
B2: “Seriously?! Only [number] weeks? Man, that sucks so bad. You’ve got to make sure you get to [island] though, it’s awesome.”
B1: “Yeah, cool, I will. Do you know a good place to stay there?”
B2: “Me and this girl stayed at [hostel], it was so cool. Seriously man, really cheap, clean, nice people. You can’t go wrong. Here, they gave me a card. Take this.”
[Passes card to B1]
B1: “Awesome, thanks man. Hey, is anyone going for a drink tonight? Do you know where’s good to go?”
B2: “I think I heard some people at the desk say they were going out soon, you should try to catch up with them. There’s always a party here man.”
B1: “Yeah, I noticed. Oh well mate, good talking to you. Probably see you around.”
B2: “Yeah you too, safe travels, hey?”
[B1 exits, B2 goes back to reading Lonely Planet.]
Have you noticed that backpackers tend to talk about the same things to world over? Does it ever bug you?
Hope you’re enjoying the Backpacker blog. There’ll be a new one up on Fairfax Media websites every Wednesday. If you have any topic suggestions, or just want to send me some personal abuse/spam, you can drop in on my website here, or email me at bengroundwater@gmail.com. Happy travels!
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from: http://blogs.smh.com.au/travel/archives/2009/11/every_backpacker_conversation.html
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