MY FIRST POST. :D Heeyyy, 'sup peeps! Syaz here helloooo-kay
Ever wondered about just traveling the world with nothing but a bag slung over your back? That's backpacking; a form of budget travel where you stay at hostels instead of luxurious hotels and traveling light with a backpack instead of dragging a heavy baggage. Unlike a normal holiday trip, it serves as a vacation that actually hold a meaning from which you could learn a thing or two.
In recent years, this is becoming a growing trend for young travelers who wants to explore the World at a low-cost. And thanks to budget airlines, widely available access to information and deals offered through websites like Groupon, this independent budget travel becomes much easier to execute.
The girls of iTravel-Destination went to the Prince of Wales Backpackers Hostel to investigate this growing trend. The Prince of Wales (PoW) Hostel and Bar, as the name suggests, is a Australian-styled hostel catered to backpackers in Singapore. You can check out the hostel at their website:
General Manager Kirstin Rodrigues, local and age 23, greeted us from behind the counter. We looked around the hostel (it looks like a dormitory, with double decker beds lined up against both sides of the walls). She shared with us about how she feel inspired to travel the world everytime she met different guests.
Staying at a hostel is different than staying at a hotel because, not only is it cheaper, you can hang out with other backpackers from all over the world! It becomes a place to make new friends, meet new people and experience new things!
Singapore is popular stopover point for backpackers to rest and recover before heading out again or travel back home. Many go to Cambodia where they do volunteer work to help out the orphanages. Usually they stay longer they intend to, taking up more than a year off at a time from work. It is a very brave thing, especially for female backpackers, to dedicate so much time and effort in backpacking as it takes a lot of guts to get out of their comfort zone and into foreign lands to learn new things.
A backpacker, Kate Mullijan (Mul-lee-un), from England shared how she came to choose Singapore as her first backpacking destination as part of her interest in Southeast Asian culture. Not surprisingly, Southeast Asia is a popular destination for western backpackers as the culture here is vastly different and interesting as compared to other regions such as the Americas and Europe, perhaps also due to the fact that we on the other side of the globe. Countries such as Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos are some of the most common areas.
I personally think that backpacking is a smart way travel and a much more significant one. With the polytechnic holidays coming up, we all really do need a well-deserved break so instead of wasting away at home, why not go for a change of scenery? Grab a bunch of your friends and go backpacking!
Going backpacking or just experienced a great backpacking adventure? Share with us in the comment box below! :D Ciao then, Syazzzzz out!!
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