One difficulty I have with people is their constant question: “Why do you make travelling so hard on yourself? Are you short of money?”
They cannot understand picking up a backpack and travelling on as little money as possible, sometimes camping or sleeping in a hostel. “What sort of holiday is that?” they ask. “That’s suffering, not travelling.” My question is the opposite: if all you do is move from one comfortable house to another, how do you call that travel?
Your kind of travel
There is an old Persian saying that travel ripens the inexperienced. But many of our trips do not even warm us up, let alone cook us through! Suppose you are going to Isfahan. You take the car straight to your chosen hotel, then explore the city. Too hot? Back to the hotel. Hungry? Order food. Everything is planned and settled.
You travel abroad in the same way. Book a package, let the tour operator arrange everything, and wander around the destination with your hands in your pockets.
Travel as I see it
Now look at a trip from my side. First, I look for a bus ticket. Usually, that means going to the terminal and bargaining with the driver. No ticket? No problem. I take the first bus to a nearby town and work something out from there. I travel overnight so transport and accommodation overlap: the money I might have spent on a room pays for the journey, and one expense disappears.
Meanwhile, I make friends with the passenger beside me and ask how to find a cheap guesthouse. Most towns have a neighbourhood full of inexpensive places. These days, of course, much can be found online. And do not forget Couchsurfing—although we Iranians are so fond of foreigners that we often refuse to host fellow Iranians. 🙂
Here is what I gain from travelling this way.
Making friends
The places I stay usually have shared courtyards, bathrooms and toilets, so I meet plenty of people. I ask about the city, its sights and how to reach them. Most of all, we become friends. Often we form a little team, in town or further afield, to share taxis and reduce costs. Meeting new people and hearing their experiences is the enjoyable part of travel for me. I make at least six or seven friends on each trip—people I have actually lived alongside. Abroad, you can make a friend from almost every nationality. That is how I have made friends from Kenya to France.
Solving problems
More important still is learning to solve problems on the road. Cannot find a ticket or a room? You have to solve it. Running out of money? You have to solve it. Robbed? You have to solve it. Passport stolen? You have to solve it. Much of this kind of travel depends on your ability to face difficulties and find solutions for the moment. One of the most important things travel offers is maturity: learning to deal with unlimited problems using limited resources. Those difficulties are part of the journey. Enjoy them and make friends with them.
Food and cooking
Often, obviously, there is no time to cook. But to save money, you sometimes have to. First, breakfast is the most important meal, so eat as much as you can—until it practically comes out of your nose! 🙂 Keep bread-and-cheese sandwiches, pistachios, almonds, raisins and similar snacks in your backpack so you can eat whenever hunger strikes. Cooking is another skill this kind of travelling develops. Even preparing tinned food counts.
Getting to know local life
If you always stay in hotels, you never really understand life in that neighbourhood or country. Shopping centres, wealthy districts and attractive cars are not the whole of people’s lives. I want to experience cultures up close. That never happens on a luxury holiday without talking to local people and making friends.
Cost
This kind of travel is inexpensive. Instead of spending a million tomans on three days away, you can make it last nine. In Europe, for example, I spent €16–€20 a day, while a moderately luxurious trip cost €70–€80 a day, and a package tour more than €100. Rather than waiting to save enough money, change the way you travel.
What it means to me
Backpacking is one of my pleasures in life. I do not consider myself a true backpacker: I have never travelled for more than a few consecutive weeks, nor have I done any proper hitchhiking in Iran. Yet even a few days with a backpack give me the energy of a thousand luxury holidays. These trips have made me a better person and given me experiences I could never find in a book or an essay.
I suggest trying it once. If you do not like it, simply walk into the first hotel and turn your backpacking adventure into a luxury holiday. Afterwards, you can say, “What a mistake—letting that idiot Haji do my thinking for me!”
Postscript: We do not really have hostels in Iran in the usual sense, although the idea has been taking hold over the past few years. Hostels are gradually finding their place. Their prices still need to come down, but overall it is a welcome development.
