We have just had a very amusing conversation with 2 girls from Finland who we are sharing a room with tonight. They are on the same wave length as us about swapping stories with other backpackers and the ritual that goes with it! We had difficulty explaining what we did for a job as they didnt understand ambulance or paramedic so we ended up doing hand signals for driving like a lunatic complete with ambo sound effects! But it did work even if we felt like five year olds!
The introductions go something like this:
!) Hi,where are you from? Chav generally gets asked if she is Aussie or German!
2) Been here long?
3) Where else have you been?
4) Where are you going next?
5) You must go and see ...... cos its awesome or beeeautiful and its the most amazing thing I've ever seen
6) What do you do back home? God- that must be very stressful, you must see some horrible things? We now tell people that we work with old people as it saves a boring conversation!
7) Are you staying in a dorm or a private room? This generally shows how rich you or your parents are, or far you are into your travels if you can still afford a private room! You can usually tell how long someone has been at the same hostel by the amount of carpet space that is left for you in the dorm, after all their stuff has been spread around the room and the odour of it!
Have heard some very funny things from other travellers
-Oh my God I'm having a cardio attack!
-watch out for the grey nomads (old gits)who still think they are 20 and can run up mountains or drive their camper vans at 50km/hr in a 100 limit!
-beware of the rev heads/hoons about town
-check out the Tasmanian bogans (seriously inbred blokes wearing flannelette shirts )
-listened to a wind up live radio show where a bloke had to say if famous people were a puff or a legend!
-Lets go for a wee dander (an irish saying which we had to have translated as lets go for a walk)
The well travelled backpacker has a certain look.
1) Creased up well worn baggy trousers with a few rips at the bottom
2) Off white stained shabby t shirts
3) either wearing flip flops or bare foot and you can usually determine how long they have been travelling by the colour of the underneath of their feet and the state of the quaver toe nails!!!
4) Wearing their youth hostel key round their neck like a Jim'll fix it medallion in case they lose it and therefore forfeit their key deposit!
5) Going for the Worzel Gummidge look with greasy matted twisted hair. You can save dollars not buying shampoo!!!
6) A long term traveller is easily identified by the lingo - awesome, beeeeautiful, sic, sweet as, no worries, alrighty, you're welcome
7) It is a status symbol that the later you get up in the day,the better night you have had. Or you have just run out of money and cant afford to get out bed!
8) Having the bottom bunk in a large multi share dorm is a status symbol as to how long you have been there to achieve this privelege
We should just like to point out we have achived some of the above, but can still afford shampoo and washing powder!!!!!!!!!!!!!
