Since taking in study about travel and the lifestyles of those that undertake the journey, I have been fascinated with the backpackers. I always wanted to do it when I was young, my parents wouldn’t let me go. With my father’s military clearance I wasn’t even able to go to Berlin and some countries, so I was stuck with DYA Youth hostels of organized groups to Munich and the surrounds.

I did hop a lot of trains for area around Germany where I grew up. I loved going to Nuremburg castle, Frankfurt, and the entire scope I could stretch for day trips.  I did get to go to Barcelona, Spain twice for spring break with my junior and senior compatriots. My first trip was a blur of bar hopping, alcohol, drugs and getting drunk on the beach. The second was some of the same, but I did take in some of the sights and walk the city talking to locals.

The point of this being, I was doing research on backpackers legal cases and came across the book by Barry Divola, “The Secret Life of Backpackers.” The writer decided that he was going to infiltrate the masses at hostels from Bondi to Cairns to see what the skinny was on the situation.

He portrays that today’s backpacker goal is just an excuse to chug alcohol and drugs to be in an intoxicated state for as long as you can before finding some work to do it all again. A tally sheet for backpackers was how much alcohol they could consume and how many different people they could have sex with. A British backpacker told him that these days it isn’t about achieving anything; it’s all about the backpacker community you meet along the way.

I may be showing my age along with Barry in the fact that in the 80s it was all about learning places, cultures and discovering yourself in the process. The hostels were organized with a folder when you checked in laying out the rules of conduct, separate sexes in separate rooms, and information about the area you were visiting. Oh there were pub calls along the way, but the big picture was seeing the world.

There are some very funny antidotes throughout the entire book. I was rolling with laughter at many of his comparisons and stories. I’ll never look at barramundi the same again. He told a story of what one of the drivers told him about how all the fish are born males and change sexes at some time in their life to bear young. He stated he choose that for dinner because it was the first time he knew he was devouring a transsexual.

It is a very enjoyable read, will tell you a bit about the areas he visited and the lifestyle of backpackers he encountered. It is mostly for the entertainment factor and won’t give you insights for making your life appear before you in a physic formation. Although I may have to hop a train to Bondi and check out some of these “scenes” for myself, maybe I’ll go seek out Beautiful All for his predictions.