BootsnAll Travel Community

If this post is "illegal" since it may mention other web travel websites, please feel free to delete it...

Anyway, as I've stated on here before I often feel like quite an outsider since I do not fit into the typical BNA mold: hardcore "been there/done that" RTW traveller who has been to just about every country on Earth and who manages to travel several months per year while hosteling and/or camping along the way.

This is one of the reasons I haven't posted anything on here in over a week: it's the same threads over & over again. Example of a typical BNA conversation: "Q: What's the coolest festival to attend in Europe? A: Forget Europe- you should try living in Cambodia or Ecuador for a year. That's what REAL travel is all about!"

I do not fit into this group at all. I can MAYBE get out of the country for 2 or 3 weeks per year and I usually stay in one or two star hotels- not hostels. I also pretty much just go to Europe- not because I am not interested in the rest of the planet, rather it's that I have made numerous friends there over the years and like to visit them annually.

I am dissapointed that there is not a "flashpacker" forum on here yet, but at the same time I've not found ANY decent message board that fits the type of traveller that I am. You either get BNA-type hard-core backpacker sites, or the Flyertalk-type sites devoted to 1st Class frequent flyers and the Carribean cruise set.

As someone in their 30's I feel too old to be staying in hostels w/ all the kids and way too young to be packing a Hawaiian shirt for a cruise ship. Any info on other sites out there would be greatly appreciated! Thanx in advance!

While your post might anger some others on here, I understand what you're saying. I've posted something rather similar, although not quite so bluntly , and I've found that there DO seem to be a lot of folks like us on this website...it's just that those who are 'hardcore' and who are traveling very long-term, and jobless, perhaps find this website much more useful in terms and research and community, and a common vision. And, who wouldn't want to talk about a really long trip they've planned??? It's exciting! :-) One person in the thread I posted regarding this topic responded that the traveling life is similar to a life philosophy -- and everyone sees travel in a different light.

I don't have any links - sorry. But I think you'd be surprised how many people on the boards aren't 'hardcore'. And, of course there are some that scoff at people like us...but really, that's nothing to sweat. That mentality certainly isn't restricted to travel alone.

typical BNA mold? i wish i was a hardcore been-there/done-that RTW traveller that's been to every country there is!

grasshopper - i really am sorry that you feel this way, that you feel like an outsider. but to tell you the truth, for as many bna'ers that have been RTW, there's just as many bna'ers that barely have any travel experience (myself included). but i think we all try to do what we can, help out whenever we think we can. at least, that's what i thought bna was all about.

i don't remember seeing any thread in which someone questions the poster when they say 'i want to go to X because i've always wanted to go.' but when someone says 'i want to go to the love parade cuz i hear it's a crazy ass party!' i would think that people make recommendations and say something along the lines of 'oh, you want a crazy ass party? trying going to ____!!'

anyway, the only other one i can think of is the thorn tree on lonely planet.

btw i've never stayed in hostels before either. although i think if i did, i'd fit right in as a 'hostelling kid'

doh eowyn lol it took me longer than a couple min to post that and after i posted, your post showed up.

anyway, i agree with what you said. true, there's a high concentration of RTW'ers here, but that doesn't necessarily mean that everyone else that's interested in travelling can't be welcome here.

HELP! I just noticed that the 2nd half of my post/rant has disapeared! I know it was there earlier. Can someone in "tech supposrt" bring it back so I don't have to type all this stuff again?

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Nevermind- I edited my initial post to re-include my original points...

GHopper,

No worries mate. BnA is really not all hardcore travellers...at all.
I haven't seen posts were people re-direct (mis-direct) you to another location if you're asking about something specif. If anything they answer your question and make added suggestions...but isn't that helpful in the long run?

Also, not everyone travels on the cheap. Until now, I've stayed in little hotels/pensiones/B&Bs -like 99% of the time.
Go ahead and ask your flashpacker questions, because there are deffinitely people who can asnwer your questions.

As far as other boards:
Frommers can be helpful
Rough Guides site also.
Lonley Planet -I personally don't like the vibe (that's where I get the don't do that/do this responses) but it's got enough members that it might work for you.
Here's some links:
www.lonelyplanet.com
www.frommers.com
http://travel.roughguides.com/

Now, as a man who 'known' for being forward (glad to see you removed your 'Man you love to Hate' signature) I hope you appreciate my bluntness here.
If you feel like an outsider I'd venture a guess that it has more to do with your tone then the way you like to travel. You can come on very strong and opinionated, which is fine...but you sometimes seem looking to press buttons.

That being said...check out the other sites...but don't disappear.

I'm not a hard core traveller either. Far from it! I'm heading out on my first real trip this year and I'm 34. Oh...and I will be staying in Hostels.

While I've never felt like an outsider here, I do understand where you are coming from. There are alot of questions I'd like to ask but I feel too silly to do so.

Still, it's a pretty cool place.

In my 48 years of traveling........

I've stayed in very exclusive hotels and,
I've camped out in the rough.

I've flown jumbo jets and,
I've been on a 100 mile bike trip.

I've eaten in gourmet resteraunts and,
I've eaten tunafish out of the can.

I've......oh, you get the picture.

What has made my travels so memorable is:

1) I've never categorized what type of traveler I am.

2) I've always strived to have variety in each journey.

Yeah, this forum is by no means just for vagabonds and budget travelers.

Just sit back and post when you can and reply to threads you can add something to.

I have only been to a handful of countries and most of them were either from cruises or tours.

Only once have I traveled solo and I have actually never been to a hostel before.

I stayed in a 5 star hotel for 3 nights the first time out of the country on my own.

I still find I can add to plenty of threads just from the small amount of travel that I have done.

Yeah....I don't get this whole thing either. Didn't know there was an "issue". I'm not a backpacker/hosteler/vagabonder/RTWer, but I can certainly benefit from some of the information that "style" of traveler has to share. And though I haven't traveled much of the world, I do have some information to offer about the few places I've been. After all, we're all going places to see and do things. There is interest overlap, regardless of preferred travel style. Example: I know how to navigate Mexico pretty well by bus. Some people on the bus carry backpacks, others "luggage", and some carry chickens. I also know how to catch a ride in the back of a pickup truck in Mexico. At the end of the day though, I'm not going to share a room with some kids who stumble in drunk at 4 a.m. That's their party. Not mine. I like pillows. Whatever.

BnA describes itself as "the ultimate resource for independent travelers", or something like that. I take that to mean "in your own way". And nobody on BnA has "jumped down my throat" or made me feel like an outsider for traveling the "wrong way". Which is the other thing that entirely separates this site and its members from the rest.

If I need to know about where to find a specific type of lodging in a partifular place, I might go somewhere else and ask. But for a good general travel vibe, and to be part of an extraordinarily respectful, helpful, knowledgeable community, I come here.

Oh yeah, and for the comedy.

Travis

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nobody on BnA has "jumped down my throat" or made me feel like an outsider for traveling the "wrong way"

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I dont get that vibe at all either.

I like it here I dream of going RTW (awww, it is the first time I have typed that acronym I feel tingly) sometime in the next 5 years, but til then (and up til now), my trips are more the 1-4 week garden variety excursions, with a couple notable exceptions.

I find I can entertain ALL my travel dreams on BnA, no problem, rubbing e-shoulders with the hardcore only gets me more inspired. But there are lots of reasons and ways to travel, and a lot of them are discussed here, I think.

But as soon as I find a Sugar Daddy, I'm flying first class

I've never done the RTW thing. At this point in my life, I don't think I will end up doing one. I do hostel, backpack, and budget travel. That's because I want to stretch my dollar to extend my time or to include more expensive activities. I don't see a problem with that at all. It's just a choice I make.

Speaking of choices, we're all as individual as the choices we make.

Have I flashpacked? Yes. It was a splurge - a 10 day trip that cost $2k. Would I do it again? Sure. I loved the place. Will I do it anytime soon..probably not for a while, because I like to explore different places...but that's just what I prefer to do. I've also done shorter splurges, like 3 nights in a cute Amazon lodge. Wasn't cheap, wasn't expensive, but somewhere in between.

You're never too old to stay in a hostel. I shared a dorm room with an English guy in his late 40's. And I'm no spring chicken, either! But I don't feel too old to stay in a hostel. I am quite amazed by people I meet on my travels. Many younger than me.

That's great that you go to Europe and have friends there. I would have gone last summer, but the per diem budget is what drove me to seek other places, with the dollar being weak as it is. I have no regrets about passing over Europe.

I love this site because I find really helpful information. I also post, so as to pass on information that I couldn't find in my pre-travel research, that could help someone else out.

And I really have to thank NTFT for helping me out with my previous trip...a spur of the moment bus ride to Zacatecas, Mexico. I didn't find much info on the net, didn't have a guidebook or anything. He was kind enough to give me a lot of information to start with. Thanks, NTFT!

Be the Change You Want to be in the World said Gandi.

when i decide i want to see a different take on some aspect of travel which has not been discussed yet on these hallowed boards, i start a new thread.

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Anyway, as I've stated on here before I often feel like quite an outsider since I do not fit into the typical BNA mold: hardcore "been there/done that" RTW traveller who has been to just about every country on Earth and who manages to travel several months per year while hosteling and/or camping along the way.

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I'm willing to bet at least half of the bootsnall members don't fit into this mold. I would like to be able to say that I've been to just about every country on earth but that would be a big fat lie, I've only been to 3 continents and except for Europe where I haven't been to nearly every country either, I've only been to a very small part of those (1 country in Africa, 2 in Asia). I've travelled for several months last year, but that's only because I quit my job, I don't expect to be able to do that every year, though of course it would be nice. I can't imagine being away from home for 2 years like some people on here do, though. But none of that has ever made me feel left out on this board.

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This is one of the reasons I haven't posted anything on here in over a week: it's the same threads over & over again. Example of a typical BNA conversation: "Q: What's the coolest festival to attend in Europe? A: Forget Europe- you should try living in Cambodia or Ecuador for a year. That's what REAL travel is all about!"

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I must be reading the wrong threads. Please provide a link to a conversation like this.


Edited to add: * I've never been on a RTW trip, and I would rather just explore one continent/region if I had a lot of time than go an a real RTW trip.

* I don't stay in hostels that often, if I can afford to get a private room in a hostel or cheap hotel I much prefer that to dorm-style accommodation. I do enjoy camping. But anyway unless you're asking about places to stay (or how much you should budget), in most threads this is going to be totally irrelevant. Like someone said before, I would hope that "independent" means that you do things your own way. My budget just doesn't allow me to stay in the Hilton

Don't feel like a stranger dude! As you can read, there are quite a lot of people like you on these boards. I personally love to hardcore it, and knowing all I really need is inside my backpack. But that's just because I have all the time in the world and in my screwed up mind I like the "indiana jones" inner music I get out of it... (and it also challenges all my mexican friends view of life). Anyway, I only discovered this kind of travel a few years back and as any converse, I'm a bit of an extremist, so don't mind me 2 much.


However when I'm home for a while I travel with my family or lifelong-friends and I'm forced into week trips to 5 star hotels with 3+ suitcases. But I think that's ok too, I mean if you only get a couple weeks vacation I say splurge and pamper yourself all you can! That's what you saved for in the first place, right?


So, I wouldn't feel "out" if you wanna chat or comment about any kind of travel. Just feel comfortable and relax! I think here are people from all kinds of philosophy and strata and all of us just want to share our love for travel, and learn about others'. And the more varieties of traveler we find, so much the better.. the more the merrier

Cheers and keep on posting!

Hey I don't fit the mold either - I've travelled once on my own backpacking in Europe

And, it goes without saying that there's a handful of folks here that form the core community, as evidenced by that thread about 'the geeks, the in crowd, the teachers' - which excluded a bunch of us

Alas, grasshopper, I think that as far as a travel site, it's to be expected to find folks who are hardcore, but also just a lot of enthusiasts (who like you and me, may not necessarily have travelled a bunch). It's kinda of expected for the questions to be recycled over and over again as newbies come in and ask their questions. The evidence? I frequent another forum about webmaster issues and after a year there, I see the same questions pop in and out of existence...

But, I digress, I think the 'flashpacker' type of talk you are, probably is here on some threads, they just aren't advertised as such.

(and maybe you can suggest to the admins to create one such forum)

Marisa sez:

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I really have to thank NTFT for helping me out

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My pleasure! After all, it was YOU.

Goes around, comes around. If I find myself on my way to Ecuador, you know I'll be picking your brain. ¡Villcabamba! ¡Vilcabamba!

I feel slightly envious of the group of "hard core" travelers on this site... wishing I had the nerve to do what they do. But then I realize, you know, I don't want to live in a grass hut with no running water in the jungle (I just made that up, but you know what I mean.)

Sometimes I wish I could be more hard core, since it seems cool and exciting, but I can't help it-- I like an air conditioned room when it's 95 degrees outside. I feel lame admitting that, but so what.

Anyway, I really don't think there are *that* many hard-core travelers--it might just be that they stick out in your memory because ...well, they are more noticeable.

I agree with everyone, though--most of the people here aren't hard core travelers and many haven't traveled that much!

We're all just a bunch of poseurs

Hey everyone: thanx to (most) of you who made me feel a bit more welcome... It's good to know that I am not alone on this board. And thanx, Liz G., for the links to those 2 other boards. I checked out the Lonely Planet one before and I came to the same conclusion that you did. I'll look at Frommers next.

Anyway, another part of this whole "non-hardcore traveller" thing that bothers me is that even tough I have managed to go overseas for at least 2 weeks each year for a decade now, I am just kicking myself for not having done what so many of the above mentioned types did: forget about work & career and travel long term right after finishing college.

I went straight into the corporate wolrd at age 22 and it wasn't until 4 or 5 years later that I fell in love w/ overseas travel. By then it was way too late to give up all the security that comes w/ a steady paycheck and throw caution to the wind. I think now that I'll never, ever be able to do a RTW since not only do I not get the time off required for such a venture, but I am simply too old now.

I know that anyone in their 50's and beyond will laugh at a soon-to-be 37-year-old saying this, but I think you know what I mean. When you come across a 21-year-old student hitchhiking thru Europe NO ONE thinks anything unusual about it. But if someone like me tried it we get "that look" of being lazy, weird, just running from something. Anyone know what I mean? That's why I have to avoid hostels now: I don't wanna be that "strange old guy" in the dorm.

It's funny though considering that MOST Americans I know (and even many Europeans) don't do ANY travel whatsoever. So to them my going to Europe for 2 or 3 weeks each year seems exotic. Even when I lived in Los Angeles, the most international city in the USA, probably 75% of the people I knew never travelled further south than Tuijuana, further north than San Francisco, or further east than Las Vegas.

Here in Philadelphia most folks idea of a "long trip" is flying to Orlando once every 5 or 10 years. My ex-wife from Belfast never even went on the short, cheap flights over to the Continent until I took her to Paris on our honeymoon! Christ- what I won't have given to have grown up a stones throw from Continental Europe!!

Anyway, enough for now, and again thanx to everyone for cheering me up! You guys rock!!