In the rather rocky history of mankind, one thing that has always been very consistent is the human tendency to explore other cultures and set sail to see the world. From ancient explorers to hippie nomads and finally to the flashy modern backpacker, here is a brief overview of the highlights in the evolution of backpacking.
It is only from the seventeenth century onwards that people started to travel for leisure, instead of having to leave due to life-threatening or commercial reasons. Perhaps this is the motivation behind the word travel which comes from the French travail, meaning torture or agony, which in turn stems from a sinister Latin word tripalium; an instrument of torture. We can only imagine what it must have been like, to discover the world by foot on unpaved roads under the threat of starvation and robbery.
Surprisingly, someone did find joy in exploring the world by himself. This was the original backpacker, so to speak. His name was Giovanni Careri, a seventeenth century Italian adventurer and explorer. He is generally considered to be one of the first to actually travel around the globe merely for his own amusement. His biography shows that for centuries people have juggled the same issues as people nowadays do. Giovanni found himself frustrated with his job in law and eventually decided to take the now famous gap year for an around-the-world adventure.
After that, travelling for entertainment began to gain more popularity in the 18th century with the start of the so-called Grand Tour. The Grand Tour was a traditional journey, in which young aristocratic men travelled through parts of Europe where they had a unique chance to get acquainted with particular pieces of art and music. The tour was considered to be an educational rite of passage that was essential to their elite development before they delved into everyday life.
A jumpstart into more recent times leads us to the Hippie Trail of the 1960’s. The name originates from the cross-continental journey that free spirited hippies of the 60s and 70s used to take to find a new way of life. Whereas travel for the sake of enjoyment characteristically used to be accessible for the wealthy, now less well-off groups could set out to explore the world. The Hippie Trail usually started in London or Amsterdam and went all the way to either India and Nepal or Iran and Afghanistan. The young travellers typically travelled overland, either taking the train or hitchhiking their way to the far east and meeting fellow travellers along the way.
Considering both the first Renaissance backpacker and the modern-day voyager who is travelling the by the Lonely Planet labelled ‘Banana Pancake Trail’ in South East Asia, it seems as if the search for self-development and taking a break from the traditional way of life has existed for a long period time. With the rapid developments in technology and the world getting relatively smaller, who’s to say what’s in the cards for the future backpacker…
By Hanna
Wanderlust 