Inspire

History of Backpacking

Checking into a Hostel, La Paz - Bolivia


The Hippie Trail

Backpacking can first be traced back to of course hiking and the idea carrying only what you need in a backpack. However with regard to travelling internationally it more specifically started in the 60's when many hippies decided a travelling lifestyle was the way to be.


At first this was localised to the country especially with America but eventually people started to take there adventure further adrift. People from all of Europe would travel by bus overland through to asia, Americans would either go to Mexico or join their friends directly in India. The final destination being Goa, Kathmandu or Thailand inspired of course by that cultures local consumption and growing of weed.


The Hippie Trail saw hordes of young people head east in the 1960s and 70s in search of peace, love and spiritual enlightenment. What's even more interesting is that the Hippie Trail was inspired by the ancient Silk Road trade route but that will be discussed in more detail later.



Setting off from cities across Europe, these “hippies” – so dubbed because they had long hair “to the hips” – backpacked overland towards India, the home of ancient Eastern philosophy. Travelling by land through countries such as Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan, they immersed themselves in as many different cultures as possible. For them, the journey mattered just as much as the destination.


The hippie trail is not really a thing anymore however some of the individual places are still popular to visit especially in India and Nepal. A big part of the reason it's not so popular is basically war the middle east, but also that the hippie movement faded into history.


Banana Pancake Trail

Thailand is by far the most popular hub and kind of mecca for backpackers and there is a long history of how it became this way. There is a particular route called the "Banana Pancake Trail" that was coined about 20 years because of all the hostels selling Banana Pancakes for breakfast as part of their stay.


Although this term is not used as commonly as it used to be you can still often find banana pancakes being served up in street food stands all over South East Asia and if you are lucky there are still many hostels serving them up even to this day and this the reason.



In the 70s America set up several large army bases in Thailand so tourism became also focused around those visiting soldiers. It's the reason for the unfortunate sex industry aspect of Thailand that has continued to this day.


In the late 70s Simon Wheeler wrote the first Lonely Planet books after being inspired by his own personal travels on the hippie trail. This famous book was called the 'Yellow Bible' book and led many generations of do it yourself travellers to flock to this area and follow in these footsteps.


Thailand it's popularity further exploded in the 80's and 90's inspired by pop culture and movies such as James Bond, 'The Blue Lagoon' and 'The Beach'.


Detailed blog post about Thailand's history

https://mythailand.blog/2018/06/13/thai-tourism-history/





The Gringo Trail

The Gringo Trail is a kind of natural continuation when south from Mexico and approach to see all of South America.




One of the main highlights is Machu Picchu. A popular guide book series Bandt guides was originally inspired by explaining how to do the Inca Trail.

Modern Day Routes

This awesome map that sums it up really well.

Ancient Routes

The Silk Road 🏛️

Before the advent of backpacking, there was the Silk Road. One of the world's most famous trade routes, the Silk Road linked China to the Middle East and Europe. It was not actually a road, but a network of silk trade routes that winded their way through Central Asia as early as ~200 BCE. 


It was not a single road, but was instead a web of different routes stretching around 7,000 kms (4,300 miles) across Asia. Each year, thousands of merchants from Constantinople, Cairo and Damascus traversed these long and often arduous paths in search of sumptuous silks and exotic spices.

The Silk Road's most well-known traveller was undoubtedly Marco Polo, whose account of his travels to China from Venice, as well as time at the court of Kublai Khan, remain popular to this day. And Polo wasn't the only one to recount his journey – the Italian merchant Francesco Pegoletti wrote a detailed guidebook to the route in the 14th century, full of useful tips and tricks for navigating the route.


1. Marco Polo (1254 – 1324)


Long before famous explorers like Christopher Columbus and Ferdinand Magellan set sail, European explorer Marco Polo embarked on a journey to explore Asia.

The famous Venetian explorer followed in the footsteps of his father and uncle, who traveled to Asia for business. He traveled along the Silk Road and became one of the first European explorers to visit China, where he stayed for 17 years and immersed himself in the culture.

During his journeys, he endured many hardships traveling across unforgiving territory, but he also learned about an entirely different way of living from his own and mastered four languages. He brought back to Europe the idea of paper money and a postal system, among other concepts.

His book The Travels of Marco Polo would later inspire other explorers. Two centuries later Christopher Columbus carried a copy of Marco Polo’s book as he sailed across the Atlantic

3. Ibn Battuta (1304 – 1369)


Battuta is considered perhaps the greatest medieval Muslim traveler and is also the author of the book Riḥlah (Travels). He covered about 75,000 miles during his journey through nearly all of North Africa, the Middle East, East Africa, Central Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, China, the Iberian Peninsula, and West Africa. In comparison, Marco Polo traveled “only” about 15,000 miles.

Battuta was part of the Amazigh ethnic group in Tangier, Morocco. He began his travels with his religious pilgrimage to Mecca in the Middle East and then developed a passion for travel. During his journey through many nations, he met at least 60 rulers and numerous other dignitaries. Though he did not make any major discoveries, Battuta’s documentation of his travels had notable historical and geographical significance.

2. Xuanzang (Hsüan-tsang)

(602 – 664)


Xuanzang became a Buddhist monk at the age of 13 after he studied religious texts while he lived in the mountains of Sichuan, China with his brother. They had been sent to a monastery as refuge from a civil war. Xuanzang decided he wanted to travel to India to learn more and proposed a visit. However, the emperor forbade him from going.

That did not stop Xuanzang. He secretly set out on a journey that took him 17 years – heading through the Gobi Desert and eventually reaching India. During his time there, he studied with famous Buddhist masters and acquired many Buddhist texts. Eventually he returned to China.

Xuanzang’s translations and general knowledge acquired during the journey were a major influence on Chinese Buddhism. Likewise, he wrote a travel log that gave detailed accounts of countries in Central and South Asia. The wealth of information helped China’s emperor overlook the forbidden journey and welcome Xuanzang home with open arms.

Viking Voyages


Hailed as the most wide-ranging voyagers of medieval Europe, the Vikings travelled far and wide in search of booty, land, trade and adventure.


Starting their explorations in the late 8th century, Viking bands from Denmark, Norway and Sweden set sail in longships – fast, shallow-draught war vessels that enabled exploration by both sea and river. These ships were to ferry the Vikings to the British Isles, Iceland, Greenland and, amazingly, across the Atlantic to North America.


The Vikings also journeyed along some of Europe's major rivers, including the Rhine and the Seine. They even launched an expedition into the Mediterranean in 859, plundering both Muslim and Christian states in Spain, North Africa, the south coast of France and Italy.

Enjoy your own Viking voyage (minus the raiding, of course) with a cruise around Europe.

Classical Era Routes

The Grand Tour

A tradition emerging from the 17th century onwards, wealthy young Englishmen journeyed across Europe on a cultural pilgrimage that came to be known as the "Grand Tour".

Travelling via Paris through France, they were headed for Italy, in particular Rome. The Italian capital was perceived as the source of western civilization, and a trip there was thought to be an essential way to broaden a young man's intellectual horizons and prepare him for a career in public life back home.

Of course, not all of these youthful travellers went to Rome with lofty notions of learning about art, architecture, history and politics – some were more interested in gambling and drinking. Whatever their purpose, most travellers left with a souvenir or two, whether that was art, antiques or a portrait of themselves standing haughtily in front of Rome's historic sights.

Enjoy a Grand Tour of your own on a trip to see the Eternal City's ancient sights, like the monumental Colosseum or breathtaking Sistine Chapel. Or, take in one or two of the other Italian cities visited by the English aristocracy, from art-filled Florence to relaxed Naples.

The Orient Express

A luxury train service created in 1883 by the Belgian company taking passengers from Paris to Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul), Milan or Venice, the Orient Express was spectacularly opulent. Its sleeping cars were panelled with teak inlaid with marquetry, and had seats that opened out into beds with silk sheets. There was also an on-board library and smoking room where guests could relax.

But it wasn’t just the lavishness of the train that attracted people. The 2,989-km (1,857-mile) route also passed through some of Europe’s most stunning scenery, from the snow-capped Austrian Alps to the lush valleys of the Veneto. The service was so popular that even the occasional hold-up by bandits or a day-long halt in snow didn’t discourage travellers – in fact it added to the trip’s romance.

Fancy taking your own lavish tour on this luxurious train? Try the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, a service that retains all the elegance and charm of the original service.

Charting the Mekong

Stretching 4,350 kms (2,700 miles), the Mekong is Southeast Asia's longest river. And yet its full extent was little-known until a French expedition, desiring to find a trade route into China, attempted to chart it in 1866.

Setting off from Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) in Vietnam, the seven-man Mekong Exploration Commission followed the river's course first into Cambodia and then Laos, making stops at Phnom Penh and Luang Prabang.

Unfortunately, the expedition was often impeded by treacherous conditions. In fact, at Tang-Ho the rapids were so ferocious that the company were forced to abandon both the river and their quest, and instead travel to China on foot. Despite failing to chart the whole river, the expedition did manage to fill in some of the gaping blanks on Western maps of this part of the world.

Today, thankfully, cruising down the Mekong is a breeze. Set sail from energetic Ho Chi Minh City, journeying into Cambodia to stop off at bustling Phnom Penh and ancient Angkor Wat. Then float further north, looking out for endangered Irrawaddy dolphins near Kratie, before crossing into Laos to visit the country’s quaint capital, Vientiane, or the tranquil Luang Prabang.

Sea Trade and Colonising Routes 🏛️

Many of the oldest routes and settlements were established by simply following the coast. Crossing the ocean directly would have very risky if not impossible, but eventually the ships got bigger along with the the skill and knowledge. These explorers were famous for their voyages.


Flight Routes 🏛️

Fast forward to today here can see the busiest flight paths.