Ask Cancuk about backpacking/independant travel.
 

Let's see if this get's any interest.

My first independant/backpacking trip was when I was 11 years old for 6 months through central and South America with my mom. Since then i've been back to South America, as well as western Europe, the middle east, and Asia.

I would love to answer any and all questions about this kind of travel, or any of the places that i've been (country list below)...

Canada, USA, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Holland, Belgium, France (Paris only), Germany, Czeh Republic (Prague only), Greece, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, China, Hong Kong, Tibet, Nepal, India, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Laos.

Ask away!

edited to add: Guatemala

Re: Ask Cancuk about backpacking/independant travel.
 

You have possibly the coolest mom ever. Have you kept this up as you've gotten older?

Re: Ask Cancuk about backpacking/independant travel.
 

Do you ever get tired of the backpacker "scene?"

How long are your dreadlocks?

Re: Ask Cancuk about backpacking/independant travel.
 

[ QUOTE ]
Do you ever get tired of the backpacker "scene?"

How long are your dreadlocks?

[/ QUOTE ]

Ya, some people are a little much. There's definitley some real pretencious neo-hippy [censored]... I found most of them in India actually, either way.... but, when I didn't like someone/some place I would just leave. That's the beautiful thing about travelling, you have zero responsiblities (to an extent, of course). Do whatever you want, whenever you want.

Re: Ask Cancuk about backpacking/independant travel.
 

[ QUOTE ]
You have possibly the coolest mom ever. Have you kept this up as you've gotten older?

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm not sure wht you mean by, "kept this up"? For the record, i'm actually quite young... low 20's.

Re: Ask Cancuk about backpacking/independant travel.
 

did you ever get robbed/ripped off? how safe is backpacking through asia?

Re: Ask Cancuk about backpacking/independant travel.
 

What advice would you give a new backpacker?

I'm on my first trip through Europe currently and was curious about any tips or ideas you might have.

Re: Ask Cancuk about backpacking/independant travel.
 

[ QUOTE ]
did you ever get robbed/ripped off? how safe is backpacking through asia?

[/ QUOTE ]

I've never been mugged... I have had things stolen.. and a girl I was travelling wiht in south america had her bag stolen in the Buenos Aires bus station which really sucked (passport, camerca, credit cards, etc). As far as getting scammed: it happens quite often.. paying way to much for something, etc. but.. you get used to it.. your bargaining skills definitley get way better as time goes on and you just get a whole lot more savvy.

Asia is a very large place. But the more touristed areas: South East Asia specifically, are very safe when it comes to your personal safety. I mean, there are places in Indonesia and Cambodia that you shouldn't go, and places in Myanmar that you can't go, but besides that, it's pretty safe for your personal safety... I would say most SE asian cites are much safer than the vast majority of western cities (there might be some exepctions: I spent a week in Jakarta waiting for a boat... definitley seemed pretty dicey)... but, all in all, that part of the world is a pretty safe bet.

Re: Ask Cancuk about backpacking/independant travel.
 

[ QUOTE ]
What advice would you give a new backpacker?

I'm on my first trip through Europe currently and was curious about any tips or ideas you might have.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm going to assume you don't mean logistical tips.

This is going to come out as kind of flaky, but whatever: My favourite moments while travelling haven't been hiking the great wall or seeing the pyramids etc., but times when you're not really doing anything and you realize where you are and what you're experiencing... that didn't come out very clear... but, some of my favourite memories are those where nothing outstanding happened, I just realized how awesome it was that i'm doing what i'm doing:

eg: waking up in the Bolivian jungle, being the only white people around at some tiny nature reserve in the middle of nowhere...picking a couple of grapefruits off the tree outside and enjoying them while sitting in the sun and watching the baby monkey's in the tree's around me play.

Or hitchiking through Tibet only to get picked up by some Tibetan motorcycle riders who have to take side roads (which ended up being paths that crisscross a river) because they weren't allowed to pick up foreigners. They drove us for two days, so awesome.

And countless other stories like that.

So, my tip is to just go and experiance as much as you can. Don't just eat banana pancakes where all the other backpackers are going, or just take "tourist buses" or go wherever everybody else is going... it's funny how pretencious some backpackers get when they talk about "tours" and "organized travelling"... but a lot of them are doing the exact same thing, just without the guides: going from one town to the next with everybody else, seeing hte sites, then getting drunk.... and don't get me wrong, that [censored] is all fun, but I find that when i've been doing that for awhile I feel like i've potentially missed out on a bunch of stuff that would have much cooler... that's all.

/rambling

Re: Ask Cancuk about backpacking/independant travel.
 

[ QUOTE ]
through central and South America

[/ QUOTE ] How did you cross between the two?