i met two backpackers on my way home from coron a couple of weeks ago. it was easy to spot them. we were squished in the airport bus that goes from NAIA 2 to baclaran, and one of them, a girl about my age, sat beside me with her gigantic backpack. she looked like she hadn't bathed in days. i got curious, so i started the conversation. she was from england, had just finished college, and had been backpacking around asia for nine months. her companion was a guy, and they had just gotten their diving licenses in panglao island. they had also gone to see the mayon volcano.
i've been wishing to go around the world like that, but didn't know how to go about it. she said they both had to work and save for the trip. they don't stay in hotels, and they eat where the locals eat. they go through the day doing what the locals do, which was why they were on that bus instead of in a comfortable cab. they were looking for the train station so they could go to a hostel in sta. cruz, where they were hoping to spend the night before flying to malaysia the following day. she said they didn't plan the whole trip. they do what fancies them at the moment, and go where their feet takes them.
talking to her made me realize that backpacking is possible! i can probably only do six months at the most, and i'd probably go around either central asia or latin america. i want to see where quetzalcoatl walked. i want to see the amazon, the ruins of machu picchu, and the remnants of the ancient maya and inca civilizations.
but first, i need to savesavesave, then i need to find someone crazy to backpack with. someday ;)
