So, word around the campfire is that you now want to backpack huh? Well, if you have been following the last fifteen of my posts, or if you have heard from a friend of a friend that it is the best damned thing since sliced bread well hey... its enough for me to want to tell you what you need to know, and just drop the facts on you like a ton of bricks. Backpacking through foreign countries has had a certain allure to it since the 70's when people would just "get up and go" to certain places not entirely sure of how they were going to finance their way, and not entirely sure of where they were going next. But now in the 21st century with cell phones, laptops, and cheap flight websites this has become an unnecessary burden to bear. However, there are certainly some of you that probably feel that planning out everything takes the allure away from the entire trip... But lets be honest... and I am speaking from experience here, the less you plan, the more can go wrong (I will go into this in more depth later). If any of you have seen the movie Eurotrip then you understand what i am saying. While yes, there is the eminent possibility of ending up on the wrong train (which happened to me), you also have to worry about the general safety of certain places, and whether or not you will have to feel threatened for your, pack, money, or kidneys... do you understand?

This series of Overseas backpacking for dummies is going to be chock full of suggestions and only take them as such. I do not want any of you to feel any sort of obligation to do so and should you? HELL NO! Why? You are individuals! and if you aren't individuals, by the time you are done with this trip you damn well will be. Not only can i not force you to do any of these things (no matter how beneficial they may be) i wouldn't want to force you to do anything you aren't comfortable doing. Plus, i can also learn from different strategies from fellow backpackers. When doing research on how I was gong to go about traveling in Europe there were certain things I certainly took heed to and other things I generally dismissed.

Before going in, lets address some things you might face over there:

You might get robbed: Yes, it happens. For those of you who live in large cities, this doesn't apply to you (unless you are the unlucky guy who regularly gets his pocket picked). I am directing this to most of you suburbanites... Yes, those of you who are used to living in small suburban communities where people laugh and smile all the damn time (even when they don't like you) and are polite and ask you how your day was, and where people don't honk their horn when the stop light just turns green... yes, you. There is certainly the possibility you have never faced anybody trying to rob you, or been in a situation where potentials might try and take your shit... Prevention is easy. Take your wallet out of your back pocket, and put it in one of your front pockets. I'll go into more details later.

Stuff is going to be expensive, you will be on a budget(duh): If you don't know... now you know.

Examine your own physical fitness: As farfetched as this may sound much of this trip involves lots of physical fitness. You need to be in enough shape to carry your own stuff. On the road, I come across many individuals (namely women), who cannot carry their own stuff. Now while I consider myself a gentleman and always available to help someone who needs it, there are other people who cannot concern themselves with affairs that do not involve them and hence, will not help someone in need. Also, there may be periods when you walk longer than anticipated... You might have to walk long distances, you might have to walk up hills, you might have to move a little faster than usual and pick up your pace... the more in shape you are, the easier it is to handle whatever your adventure may throw at you.

Bring a friend: Hell, bring more than one friend. While two is better than one, I guarantee you that three or even four is better than two. The more people that come, the less likely you are to go insane, or even feel your sanity slipping away from you. More friends help you when you cannot deal with someone, when you are feeling stressed out, and when you are out on the town. Both John and I agreed on our trip that our experience would have been better if we brought more people because it equates to more people to hang out with, and a lower likeliness of hearing the same thing more than once (I will go into more detail on this one later on as well). If you choose to go with only one other friend, i suggest you rethink this option not only for your sake, but also for your friend's sake... you can very well risk needing a LOT of space later on after the trip and your friend needing a lot of space from you...

So now lets move on past all of the psychological preparation and get onto the fun stuff... PLANNING YOUR TRIP!