From Ancient Explorers to Hippies & the Full Moon Party: A Short History of Backpacking!

I’ve often noticed the confused looks on the faces of some locals as they watch a herd of intrepid backpackers walk past. Why the hell don’t you just sit down and take your bag off? They must be thinking. Have you not got a home to go to? Are you crazy walking around in the heat with a 60 kilo rucksack on your back? Mmmh. They may have a point. But still, something makes us do it. Something inside our foolish souls gives us the urge to wander far from our safe homes. So, how did it all begin? Who started this nomadic trend in the first place? And just how has the concept of the ‘backpacker’ changed over the years?

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Tubing! Vang Vieng, Laos: What’s all the Fuss?

Up there with the Full Moon Party in terms of a backpacking ‘rites of passage’, Tubing in Vang Vieng, (Laos) is known as the best party in South East Asia! A startling claim for a place described by the Lonely Planet just fifteen years ago as ‘far removed from the Western world.’ With backpackers flocking there in the thousands; it’s clear the excitement isn’t about to slow down soon! But can it really be as good as they all say it is? One backpacker tells his tale…

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