The art of backpacking

“Vangabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel” by Rolf Potts

This is a guide book on travelling. Not from the angle of what, not from when, not even from where. But from why. And also about the how, for that why.

It attempts to show that travelling requires less money than presumed. That the best timing to do so is now, even if we don’t have that much money, instead of when we have accumulated a lifetime of wealth but we cannot really enjoy it due to our deteriorating health in old age.

So instead, the book encourages a sabbatical, a gap year, a career break, becoming a digital nomad or a remote worker, or even finding a job overseas. And it provides us with all the tips and tools to help us make that decision, as well as providing the many website references and books for the specific topics at the end of each chapter.

Indeed, this is not a travel story book, but it’s more of a condensed Lonely Planet-esque how-to checklist for vagabonding. The art of backpacking on a shoestring, if you will. But of course it still has the incredible stories from the author himself and the many testimonies and/or stories from fellow travellers, which are very inspiring.

The book teaches us how to plan ahead and keep ourselves informed, how to avoid danger, how to be minimalist and frugal, how to pack light and get the secondary necessities on the road. It is about budgeting our travel, having an emergency fund, a travel insurance, and discussing the pros and cons of bringing money vs. getting them at the local ATM.

Apart from the essentials, the book also gives us tips and tricks on everything we can think of about travelling, such as how to buy souvenirs and the art of bargaining, how to successfully interact with children or how to deal with hostile locals, how to avoid scams, how to keep healthy on the road, how to do volunteer work, and of course it addresses the end of the journey: on coming home and adapting back to our ordinary lives.

It is simply THE book to read before you embark on a backpacking journey, before you do your research, and before you open the travel guide books. The only drawback of this book is, it infects me with a huge amount of travel bug and gives me this urge to leave my life and career behind, take my family with me, and do a life of wandering around the globe (which looks very doable, thanks to this book).