My journey from a traveller to a "backpacker" #anythingfortravel

When you travel there are 3 possibilities ; travel as a tourist, as a traveller or a backpacker.

Tourist are those who book a trip from a travel agent, let them plan everything and then they transfer you from one popular tourist destination to another. There is little interaction with locals and you have limited time to roam freely in that limited time. If you are elderly or have language issues then that's okay. Anyways it's your choice what you want.

Travellers are those who plan their own trip, from bookings to making a list of places they want to see and do. There is no specific compulsory schedule they need to follow. For them budget is not an issue. It's just that they explore more and are more interested in knowing the culture apart from seeing popular tourist destinations.

A backpacker is one who has shoe tight budget, prefer to spend minimum on accomodation and transport, doesn't prefer any fancy restaurant's and love street food😋. They love adventures and go out of the box to travel.

I have been travelling as a traveller, things changed when I travelled to Australia. That was my first solo trip. I had booked hostels and had no idea how it will fare out. That was the best decision that changed the way I travelled. Not only I realised sitting alone and doing nothing in your hotel is way better than interacting with others, participating in group activities arranged by hostels to going places with your fellow hostellers.
That's when I rediscovered myself that omg I can talk a lot.
During my trip  had made friends, danced my heart out, went out with other hostellers, shared our stories about travel and life, offering free drinks to fellow hostellers as they were out of money, to making friends with drug dealers and having the opportunity to visit their home and see how they deal, to playing with their lovely dogs, to prescribing and giving medications to his friends ( as she had got the appointment of a doctor after 15 days) and I always keep my medicine kit with me while travelling, to visiting local beaches together, to 3 guys flirting with same girl 😋, to telling guys and girls from developed countries how rich we Indians are, earning in rupees and spending in dollars, pounds and euros while they earn in pounds and dollars still struggle to spend in rupees, this journey changed me altogether.

Hack 1: I have spent most of my time in boarding school, i.e. since class 4th. When I used to leave from home for my school parents and relatives used to give me money. Since then I have been saving 50% of what I used to get. My grandfather had opened a savings accounts for me and all the money were deposited in that account. Over a period of time good amount of money was accumulated which I later used for my travelling.
Even I saved money I used to get from my father when I was in college. When doing my internship and post graduation I had saved all my money I got as stipend as I used to get monthly expenses from my father.

Hack 2: I always prefer travelling to multiple destinations in a single trip. That way I save a lot on my transportation. Suppose a return flight ticket from India to cambodia is 25k. But if you plan multiple destinations you can cover 2 places in same transport budget,like return ticket from Delhi to Bangkok is 12k and Bangkok to Siam reap is 8-10 k. I travelled for 2 months from Kolkata to Thailand, Thailand to Myanmar, Myanmar to Laos, Laos to Vietnam, Vietnam to Phillipines, Philippines to Taiwan, Taiwan to hongkong, hongkong to Macau and back, Hong Kong to Singapore, Singapore to Malaysia and Malaysia to New Delhi, including internal transportation inside the country, total expenses for transportation was 65k. I had taken flights or buses which ever was feasible.

Hack 3: For accomodation hostels are the best and cheapest way, every other budget traveller will tell. It's important to look for few amenities in the hostel: a washing machine, a kitchen, free breakfast and free tea and coffee. You can use washing machine free of cost, just bring your detergent and you don't need to waste your money for laundry. There are hostels that allow you to use their kitchen. It's simple go to a supermarket get what you want to make and cook. Make sure you clean everything after you use the kitchen.

Hack 4: Public transport is the best and cheapest mode of transportation. Use them plus you can always walk. Walking will help you explore more and you will get to know the people and culture closely. Plus at many countries there is option of renting a bike. It's cheap and convenient.

Hack 5: Proper use of your visa. If you have a valid Visa from certain developed countries like Schengen visa, UK, US, Japan, Australia and others, there are many countries that allow visa free entry for certain duration. As I was having a valid Australia visa ( tourist visa issued to me with 1 year validity), I had availed visa free entry in Taiwan, Philippines, Singapore and Malaysia. There are many other countries that allow visa free entry as well one needs to be well aware of it.

Hack 6: When you buy anything near a popular tourist destination it's always expensive. Be it food, drinks or souvenir. In Europe you won't find price tags. They charge what ever they want. I had always purchased cold drinks and other packed food items from a local supermarket and that's always cheap. Even the restaurant's near the tourist destinations are very expensive and food not always upto the mark. It's always better to have food from restaurants locals prefer.