Comments on: Statements about travelling & backpacking that drive me mad!

By: freestyleonnet

freestyleonnet — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 19:27:11 +0000

wow its great post..

By: malph

malph — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 16:46:46 +0000

I completely agree Scott. What they actually mean is that it’s too hard. It’s easier to maintain the status quo.

It’s funny how you can be away for so long and, as you say, nothing really changes that much at home. Whereas you have loads for people to catch-up with – well more than a 30 minute chat would cover!

By: malph

malph — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 16:43:50 +0000

At the end of the day the kind of comments you hear are due to ignorance. If people don’t know much about something they tend to fear it rather than try to understand it. As you say, at the end of the day it limits their experiences unfortunately. I only hope that through their often naive viewpoints that they don’t limit others.

By: Scott

Scott — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 08:46:18 +0000

I couldn’t have said it better myself. If you really want to do it you’ll find a way. But I think what people actually mean is ” your taking a big risk and I’m not willing to do that” when they say “I could never do that”. Fact is I don’t think anything really changes back home if you leave for 3-12 months. Friends will still be there ( but you’ll have cool stories now ) work is always available and you’ll have new sought after skills such as communication and problem solving.

No risk, mo reward

By: mytimetotravel

mytimetotravel — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 23:29:40 +0000

So true! All of it.

I (older, solo, female) mostly hear “you’re so brave” – I usually ask what I’m supposed to be afraid of, but it’s sad that people limit themselves.

By: Joseph Smith

Joseph Smith — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 05:19:35 +0000

We may have ranted about this a few times when we were traveling. “You’re so lucky” infuriates me. As does the “I could never do that.” If we took US stories we would never have gone to El Salvador either, which was one of my highlights.

By: The Opportunity of a Lifetime « Alice Goes Walkabout

The Opportunity of a Lifetime « Alice Goes Walkabout — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 00:52:36 +0000

[...] what’s holding you back?! As Mankini Malph pointed out, phrases such as ‘You’re so lucky!’, ‘It’s dangerous [...]