May 27, 2023 • 37 mins
Adam & Alun return to the TRIPOLOGY studio for another edition of Tales of a Trip. This week, Alun relives his serendipitous couchsurfing experience in Nazca, Peru. The Ancient Gods were looking down on Alun, as they not only granted him a free night's accommodation, but a place on the couch of a leading expert on the awe-inspiring geoglyphs, The Nazca Lines. Alun's "perfect cultural exchange" awarded him the opportunity of flying over the geoglyphs in a light aircraft; he was even asked to record an English version of the presentation given at the Maria Reiche museum, which can still be heard to this day!
Stay tuned to hear our take on the common 'Backpacker Stereotypes'. Travel is for everyone, and many types of people inhabit the travel space, but do we have more in common than we first thought? Have we inadvertently become conformist whilst attempting to become the opposite?
What are your thoughts on couchsurfing? Have you travelled Peru? Let us know! Send us an email at tripologypodcast@gmail.com Help support the show by subscribing and recommending us to friends. Please rate the show and leave us a review. It may only take a minute but it makes a BIG difference.
Follow us on Instagram: instagram.com/tripologypodcast PATREON: patreon.com/tripologypodcast HUGE thanks for your continued support. It means the world.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Everyone notices, and everyone sees him, we all know what they
are and yet, I don't think I've met many people who Define
themselves as if they belong to one.
(00:24):
Hello. And welcome to this episode of
triple Ecology. I'm Alan and I'm here with the
ever aesthetic. Adam, oh Alan.
That's so kind of you. How you doing flattering
adjectives? This week.
I've been noticing your perfectly symmetrical Visage
showing up on my screen here. And I thought why not?
(00:47):
Begin the episode with ever sucha lovely compliment?
Thanks, very much. That means a lot.
How are you feeling? How are you feeling?
As always, I'm feeling quite brilliant this week and I'll
can't wait. Just get With another vibrant.
Colorful episode of topology. Good, good.
I'm feeling a little bit down inthe dumps actually, because last
(01:09):
night I was on my computer and Iwas searching hostels in
Vancouver, and I've got to say mate.
I don't know if this is indicative of a Changing Times,
but I found a 6 bed Dawn in a hostel in Vancouver, guess how
much it was a night, 20 Canadiandollars?
(01:29):
And so this wasn't a weekend either write.
It was Monday Tuesday Wednesday right?
In the middle of the week. It is a city bear in mind.
North America $20 a night. You think that's $30?
It is expensive but we shocking.I think it might be more than
that. Based on the look you're giving
me. You look like, you've caught me
in some sort of financial trap, it's going to be more than
twenty dollars, isn't it? $50 for a 6 bed dorm.
(01:51):
It's more than $50 a night. At that point, I'd be closing
down the Hostile World app. Put in one of those little
knapsacks on Stick had bendel's a bindle, like a my dick
Whittington. Yeah.
Like dick Whittington and I'd bejust going off into the night to
find a tent or somewhere else tosleep.
But isn't that sad though that it was?
I'm just going to tell you because I don't think you'd ever
(02:12):
get there. You certainly wouldn't pay for
it. Yeah.
Eighty one dollars a night for amixed dorm 81 Canadian dollars.
Eighty. One Canadian dollars in your
sleeping with five other people.It seems excessive that's such a
shame, isn't it? Surely, you can get a hotel or
an Airbnb for the same price? Well, I mean the point.
The function of hostiles. Is it supposed to be accessible
(02:33):
financially socially and all that jazz for everybody?
So having a prohibitive cost like $81, I mean, why not stay
in a hotel? When you get to those prices, it
seems obtuse. You are your pricing out.
The very people, you're trying to attract and I don't know it
just it just got my backup mate,just got my backup.
I thought I'd share that with you because it's it's important.
(02:55):
Well, I'm glad you did Adam. I would like to use this
opportunity to Really put your apology podcast at the Forefront
of fighting for affordably priced hostiles on a global
level. I think that we should really
stand for that. We want beautiful cheap hostel
prices. Yeah.
And hopefully, we're going to, we're going to be part of that.
(03:16):
We're now moving in this space, we're in this very world and
we're involved. And we're talking to these
people and I just $81 is way too.
Excessive, I think you can probably stomach a slightly more
expensive price being sort of the West and And you know being
in the middle of a major city but $81 is so steep I think that
might be the the most expensive hostile bed I've ever seen.
(03:39):
Well stay tuned to apologist because if topology podcast
hasn't found a way to offer you some sort of affordable
methodology for getting in hostels by the end of the year,
then my name is not Alan and I'mnot sat here talking to the ever
aesthetic. Adam, right on that.
Note, let's dive into it. What are we talking about today,
May well, I Dive into it. On that note.
(04:01):
I want to talk a little bit about a travel story from yours
truly. No, it's a nice segue talking
about affordable, accommodation because this story is Genesis
came from actually a Couchsurfing opportunity.
Couchsurfing. Of course, being one of the most
affordable ways to find a sleeping accommodation for the
(04:23):
evening whilst travelling. So I'll use that as the ideal
segue because the only The only cheaper form of accommodation,
and I'm sure you've experienced this as well, of all people, is
someone paying you to stay with them.
Yeah. Well, sometimes, that doesn't
happen. Nothing is very much on the
bottom of the flowchart and tierlist for affordable.
(04:44):
Accommodation beyond that it's being entirely homeless, that's
free also and and then yeah, being paid to stay the night.
Perhaps, there's a house-sitter perhaps in some other form of
Exchange. So yes, house-sitter.
I like that was a smart move. Exactly.
(05:05):
So well done for saving me. Moving up.
Let me set the scene. Adam, this story is a story of
how it came to be that when you press a button in a museum in
South America, is my voice that comes out of it, explaining all
sorts of different information about the ancient Nazca Lines.
(05:25):
Let me tell you about how that happened.
So I was journeying Through the Sulkin time mountains, beautiful
high, amazing Trail and it was there that I met some other
Travelers who had been travelingthrough South America just like
I had and they bestowed upon me.This key piece of information
that just before getting there to solve, can't I?
(05:47):
They'd stayed with someone in Nazca in a Couchsurfing style
exchange and they'd really thought it was like a beneficial
Couchsurfing experience. It was a really safe place.
The guy was really cool. So I thought give me Details.
I'll also stay there and that was how I came to get in touch
with this beautiful guys called eggar do.
And I hit him up and basically said, hey, I've been hiking with
(06:10):
these people and they were recommended that I come and stay
with. You, would you have time for me
to come and stay with you as well?
Yeah, he messaged me back. Absolutely.
Come and sleep on my sofa. I said, that's amazing.
I'll be there in a couple of days kind of thing, right?
Yeah. First of all, what do you think
about that? Isn't that just a great way to
find affordable? Accommodation.
(06:30):
Not necessarily just the fact that friends kind of gave me
this contact, but just the fact that just hitting someone up for
that, you don't know. And then being kind enough to
offer you a place to sleep. It's beautiful.
Isn't it is beautiful. It is.
And it certainly those types of exchanges that restore your
faith in humanity, I guess to its earnings.
Then without getting too dramatic.
(06:51):
I mean, I assume that this exchange happened outside of the
platform, Couchsurfing not for them for them, it was from
Couchsurfing, but for me outside, Of the platform couch,
surfing. In the, they just, yeah,
straight up. Gave me his phone number.
Yeah. Yeah.
That's amazing. And when those things happen, I
always think about how that would unfold in the UK and I do.
I mean, I'm sure it would, thereare some people, right?
(07:13):
You can't are everyone with the same brush, but it would be very
unusual for someone to just eventext me in Canada and go, hey,
just met one of your mates. My God stay.
I think that actually happened to me in Canada, did it?
Yeah, very much. So that's a story for Another
time I think lesson one from this tale is be open-minded to
(07:35):
Couchsurfing opportunities. And however, there might come to
you through the app or through just friends of friends and that
sort of thing, be open to it. Because I got some really cool
experiences. So then I take a night bus, I
end up in Nazca, it's this desert area of Southern Peru,
and I basically headed straight to the address.
(07:57):
That was given to me by this couch.
Laughing gentlemen, mmm arrived at his place and he's this sort
of jovial elderly, man. Oh right.
And far from just showing me to a corner in his room and it's
just a sofa. He tells me.
No worries. You can have my spare bedroom.
It's a spare bed. Full double bed.
(08:18):
There's a shower in there, hot resulta, and he was like, I've
got some work to do. Make yourself comfortable, and
we'll reconvene why don't we getdinner together?
And, you know, later in the day just enjoy Oh exploring now.
So how wonderful really amazing.So accommodating and just on the
strength that he'd only spent a couple of days in my friends
(08:39):
that I meant of can't, I but he was so open.
So just allowing me into his home.
So I just went off and explore the town for the day and sort of
meandered about and then went and got dinner with him in the
evening. And we were sat and talking and
I could tell straight away that I really got on with this
gentleman, he was really cool. And we started talking about
(09:01):
kind of what we did and I was telling him about some little
acting or voiceover jobs that done.
He was telling me and he said, I'm actually one of Peru's
leading expert on the Nazca Lines.
Have you ever heard of the NazcaLines?
Yeah. Have I absolutely so for the
listening audience, the Nazca Lines.
Are these ancient geoglyphs the in the Nazca desert?
(09:25):
They're really quite phenomenal.They're Huge, colossal lines
that have been stamped into the desert over 3,000 years ago by
the feet of the Nazca people. The belief is that they just
marched through the desert together and by their footfall
(09:46):
carved out these astonishing geoglyphs in all different
shapes. There's a picture of a monkey, a
picture of a hummingbird. Some people will have seen some
of these online. I'm sure spider as well from
memory. There's a spy Absolutely.
Some people will have seen theseonline.
I'm sure we'll post some of my pictures of them on our
(10:06):
Instagram at apology podcast. But these lines are said to have
been created three thousand years ago and they're just I
cannot recommend enough that people make the Journey about to
see them. It really is one of the most
astonishing things. So this guy Our God o, he says
to me. Listen I'm one of the leading
(10:27):
experts on these lines and I Actually run a presentation at
the Maria reiche Museum. The planetarium here in Nazca
come and see my presentation. It's going on and kind of in a
couple of hours, you know, in the evening we're here.
So I had down there with him andhe does this presentation and he
explains in the presentation at the Museum.
(10:48):
All about these lines and their history and how they were
created. And who Maria reiche is Maria,
reiche is a scientist who devoted her life to unveiling
the lines. She's a really inspirational
person. And wow, and throughout the
talk, depending on, who's there is, you know, translating into
English and Spanish and German and all these things.
He's a real linguist. This guy is truly amazing.
(11:11):
And after the talk concludes, hebrings me out and we looked
through his telescope and we seeJupiter together and is
explaining all about the geometry and astrological
significance of the geoglyphs and how they line up with
equinoxes and sunrises and all that crazy stuff.
And then he says to me, Alan what I would really like for you
to do is an English translation of my presentation here, so that
(11:36):
it's in perfect English. Would you do that for me?
Oh, wow. Allows like a got it.
Absolutely, I would love to do that.
So I devoted the next couple of days of my life to learning all
about the Nazca Lines, going through his presentation doing
little edits on the presentation, recording, the
presentation for him. So that now, when you're in, The
(11:59):
Nazca planetarium. You have access to my
presentation about the Nazca Lines.
I can still remember the words of it today.
Go and give us a little snippet,3,000 years ago in the Arid and
Stony desert of Southern Peru, the Nazca people flourished.
That's just the very start. That's awesome.
(12:20):
What are the chances of you falling on this guy?
I mean, did the people that gaveyou his contact information
mention any of this? I don't believe that they did
not from memory. I Think it was just a question
of go and stay with him now, because really cool you should
see Nazca and it just so happened that he revealed to me
that he wanted the voiceover work to happen, whilst I was
(12:41):
there and it ended up being something I was really proud of.
I then got to go in a light aircraft over the Nazca Lines so
I could see them from above. These lines can only really be
fully appreciated from the air. So I was lucky enough to have
the experience of flying. Both of the lines in a light
aircraft and really see that allof them from above, because
(13:05):
they're huge, vast lines at ground level.
This very, very difficult to make sense of them at all.
Sure, well, that makes the fact that they were made 3,000 years
ago, all the more impressive andintriguing, doesn't it?
It makes it all the more impossible seemingly.
It's one of those things. Wow, it doesn't quite make all
(13:26):
that much sense. There's a lot of rumors that Of
alien activity and stuff in those areas.
There's also Nazca pyramids where they allegedly found these
very unusual bodies, which were then claimed to be a hoax.
They were kind of these odd. Three fingered creatures that
they found in within the pyramids, but later scientists
(13:48):
have come out and saying that that ain't or that they must
have just been fought. There was one of them doing the
trip ology salute. Yeah, exactly.
So there's some unusual stuff that A region.
All I will say is a remarkable feat of artistic Merit to have
been able to create such. Wonderful images are all
different animal life and stuff like that.
(14:11):
All in line with different astrological features three
thousand years ago, without the ability to see them from above.
Why were they doing that? What were they doing that for?
What's the meaning of it all? It's really one of the most
astonishing things, my goodness and then from sort of a cultural
Exchange, Change perspective, the gentleman that you were
(14:31):
describing their guard. Oh he's sounds like a sort of a
veteran host or you know an expert host he's clearly had
many people stay at his many times before because he was so
open to allowing you to stay there and you very openly
accepted and then you've had, you know, an experience that you
could only hope to have. I mean some people pay for that
kind of thing. Yeah.
(14:52):
And the reason why I really likethis story as one of my favorite
positive travel stories to tell is I think It really puts the
emphasis on the correct mindset to have as a host.
I Agha do being open to having people stay at his place, being
lovely and kind and sweet. Hey, come have dinner with me.
Hey, do your own thing or come to my Planetarium?
(15:15):
And then also being open-minded to like, oh, maybe actually, I
can get some benefit from what this guy enjoys doing, maybe we
call experience for him. Perfect mindset as a host and
then also as a traveler, I had the right mindset of Hearing my
friends say they had a good experience, embracing the
opportunity, going being social with agar do and then as a
(15:36):
result of that, you know, we hadthis amazing exchange and
dialogue, it was such a cool experience.
I remember, so vividly him bringing me out excitedly and
showing me Jupiter in his telescope and then as both
having this realization that we could do this little bit of work
together, it was such a cool thing and my friendship with a
guy who continued to the point that later on, in my trip, when
(15:57):
I was in Lima. Oh God.
Texted me and say, hey actually,I liked your recording so much.
I want to get an even better quality one.
And we ended up going to a proper recording studio in Lima,
really, and recording the voice over professionally.
Oh, that's wicked. That's so cool.
And now, you're recording, that can be heard in the museum, is
it sort of the one that you might hear in the foyer, or is
(16:20):
there an audio guide or how doesit work?
Now, I believe it's still the case.
That during a guard owes presentation, he presses a
button. And then my voice Bellows
through the planetarium, tellingyou all about the lines.
That's so good. Like, I want to go there for
both reasons now. Yeah, I really want to go and
see the lines in a little Cessnaand I want to be listening to
(16:41):
your voice telling me all about it.
I tell you what, if any of our apologists get to the Maria
reiche planetarium in Nazca and they go to the presentation and
hear that translated presentation, I would love them
to send me a message, it would be really cool to hear it.
Goes down in my mind as being one of my favorite Experiences
of all time. Not only because NASA is so
(17:03):
cool. The history of the place is so
cool, those geoglyphs and lines are so astonishing and usual and
thought-provoking, but I just think it was one of those
perfect moments where everythinglined up the host was really
cool. I managed to provide some added
benefit to them. It was the perfect cultural
exchange. Yeah.
And I think just on that note aswell.
(17:25):
Of course as we travel we get toexperience lots of things and
And some of them are tourist attractions.
Some of them are local experiences, and whatever.
But you you seem to have experienced something you were
interested in in the best way toexperience it.
Yeah, you couldn't have orchestrated a better
experience. It was absolutely bespoke and
perfect and intimate and informative, and everything you
(17:49):
could wish for, I imagine. Yeah, absolutely.
And once again, human-centric, open-minded approach to travel I
experienced Nazca in its totality T through the lens of
meeting agar, do and doing thosethings.
It wasn't just about the place. It was about the people and the
humans and the things that we could do for each other, while
(18:10):
we were there. And that is what travel is and
it's that thought that I would like the audience to hold in
their mind as we go on a brief meditation break.
(18:31):
And just like that, the conscious mind Falls from above
back into our craniums, and we can go on about our journey.
We have an item here on Tripoli G, in which we invite the
listening audience to open an imaginary door.
Go to an imaginary reception desk, talk to an imaginary Ali
(18:52):
and find their way in to the hostel common room.
A space where listeners from around the world can message
Adam and I are all kinds of questions.
What's the lightest weight? Cooking pot that I can take on
the PCT? What's the optimal belt for a
(19:16):
trip to around? Asia conveyor.
What should I do? What should Die do if confronted
by a marsupial in australasia. These are the kind of things
that people like to message us on the hostel common room on
Tripoli G. Adam, has anybody asked you
anything this week that you could read out on this item?
(19:39):
The most Superior ones, really tickled me.
But because of our experience with bears, people people think
that we're experts now with wildlife, and how to handle the,
we get a lot of animal question,Ornithological questions,
marsupial, mammalian questions on the podcast.
Let's filter those out with a fine-tooth comb and find a
(20:01):
travel question. You can get those to us at
topology podcast at gmail.com, that's the email address.
You'll get a response from either Adam or I and you can
send us a direct message on Instagram at to apology podcast.
Adam, have you got something to read out today?
I have I have, I've got a littleemail and dare I say it might
need its own episode because it is Very interesting topic, but
(20:24):
I'm going to read it. Now, it is from Sacha in
Seattle. They say, hey guys, my name is
Sasha and I'm an aspiring travelblogger based in Seattle.
I recently read a humorous article, written by another
travel blogger, which outlined some Backpacker stereotypes and
their respective behaviors. I would like to know whether you
have noticed, any Backpacker stereotypes whilst travelling
and which category, if any you both fall into, I believe
(20:47):
there's a great deal of Truth tothe article.
I fall neatly onto the digital Nomad pile keep up the Great.
Great work, Sasha from Seattle. Thanks so much for the email.
Like, how's Sasha describes themselves as falling neatly
into the digital Nomad pile, of course, digital Nomad being the
most modern newest and unseen category of traveler in the
(21:08):
past. I think the digital Nomad a
really new phenomena? Yeah, I would agree as well as
content creators YouTubers, instagrammers, influences.
These are all people that you can see out on the road now
walking around with their cameras.
The sticks and what have you? We're not quite there yet.
Are we out? I mean Tripoli G is nothing if
not a vicious attempt by Adam and I in order to Chrome by
(21:32):
myself into the digital Nomad category that Sacha is already a
member of. Yeah.
Yeah I am. You know of course they're a
Backpacker stereotypes. I mean I don't even think you
have to go traveling for that long.
It's a see them, do you? I mean, people seem there seems
to be a backpack of fashion. Is it worth mentioning that, you
know Someone leaves home for five minutes and all of a sudden
(21:54):
they're covered in tattoos and they've got dreadlocks and they
don't wear shoes anymore. Yeah, exactly.
It's just as if we ever noticed any backpack of stereotypes.
I mean it is impossible. Saturn not to notice Backpacker
stereotypes. I think that the the truth with
with these is that everyone notices and everyone sees him.
We all know what they are and yet, I don't think I've met many
(22:16):
people who Define themselves as if they belong to one.
So let's just madam. Just mentioned the classic one
that we all think of, which is someone who has decided after
three weeks of traveling, that shoes and no longer important.
They're discarded and wearing elephant pants pants with
pictures of elephants on them, perhaps over dreadlock their
(22:39):
hair. This is a very interesting
phenomena. We've talked about this a little
bit before. The travel is sort of
commodified as this Instagram herbal thing which has an
aesthetic. Which almost becomes part of the
reason people want to do it, right?
Because they have seen this stereotype of Backpacker and it
(23:01):
seems all sexy and cool. And they want to be a Backpacker
more than they actually want to travel.
What do you think about that? Yeah, well there, I say you're
probably right. They want the shot but none of
the work to get the shot and andit is a shame because we always
want people to travel for the right reasons to want to be
(23:22):
there. Want to give to the community
that they're in. And unfortunately, it doesn't
always happen, you're right? It has become quite a
fashionable thing to do to backpack to Gap year and all the
rest of it, but I don't know. Hopefully, you know, everyone is
on their own journey and they'relearning.
There are there are certainly some, some people I met along
the road that I would say fall quite neatly into other
(23:44):
categories as well. So it might be worth discussing
those. Yeah, we look back Packer
stereotypes exist because there are certain aspects of travel
which are desirable. Lots of people want to fit into
them and part of the whole reason, why a lot of people want
to travel is that they aspire tohave some of the qualities of
that stereotypical Backpacker. Let's talk about those.
(24:07):
That's open-mindedness. That's a curiosity to explore
the world. That's a curiosity with breaking
the social norms of wearing, uncomfortable shoes, and
tight-fitting, trousers, and having your hair or neat and
crop. Why Not take your shoes off
where some elephant pants and get dreadlock.
These are all aspirational. Qualities are decided to break
(24:29):
away from the constraints of mentality, to normal existence
and be a Backpacker. Absolutely a really cool
aspirational stereotype to want to Crow by yourself into.
I think what's important is thatyou have the right basis for
coming at that lifestyle, though, because it is just a
stereotype, it exists, not as a Direct function of traveling.
(24:54):
But as a direct function of people Desiring to be Travelers
and you've got to make sure thatyour hearts in the right place
with that because spiritualism Freedom, these are all important
aspects of being a traveler. But spiritual materialism.
IE the desire to outwardly project your spirituality into
(25:19):
the world without doing any of the inner work and the inner
ear. Operation.
And the inner curiosity, that becomes a problem.
And that's not what traveling isabout.
Well, I'll be honest, Ellen, I don't really know how to follow
that but that was, that was pretty darn profound what you
just said. And I think we all like hearing
(25:40):
it, everyone be really spiritualand cool and kind to people and
don't worry about all that material.
Projection of it. That's something we don't want
to do. But on a lighter note or
hippies. He's a little burned but it's
never so much fun. I've got a quickly real off a
couple just to answer the email fully because I do think it's an
interesting one, and it would begreat for us to share these with
(26:03):
the audience because there mightbe some people listening to this
podcast who've never been traveling.
So we got to kind of let them know what they're in for and
they don't know what the stereotypes are.
Yeah, let's go. I'm going to throw some out.
You're going to tell me if you've ever met anyone or people
pop to mind. All right.
Look at. Have you ever met the couple?
Oh, I've met a couple. They always break up with it.
Of a while that going on the road, they're always arguing
(26:25):
sometimes. They're all in love and
beautiful to one another. I've met a few of those, in my
time, I remember meeting a couple when I was in Thailand
and they were having so much more fun than I was really.
It was just, it was like almost hard to.
I thought, how can you like eachother that much that as
individuals, you're both having a better time than I am?
(26:45):
All is well, I thought fucking fair play.
It was just so amazing, so amazing.
Raising so yeah. Definitely the couple both of us
have been the couple as well. I don't we we have we have I
don't know if I've ever met not together mind you sadly but I
mean just individually we've both been in couples whilst
travelling. Yeah unless you've got access to
(27:06):
our patreon in which case patreon.com forward slash
tribology podcast. Hmm.
But the other thing I was going to mention is yes.
I've been in a couple. Yes, you've been a couple and
traveled. I've met Couples whilst
travelling. I don't know if I've ever met a
couple that got together whilst they were traveling and I've met
(27:28):
them on their trip to see what Imean.
I don't think I've ever come across that either.
I have met people started short relationships with them and
traveled them for a little while.
So perhaps I have been one of those before.
Hmm, I don't know if I would have easily been identifiable as
the couple stereotype during those periods of time.
Totally, because as soon as old travel got in the would go in
(27:51):
the way. Are they giving the old elbow?
Well, you know, I've never I've never loved anyone as much as I
love the trip moving. Swiftly, on the Giza.
We met a few geezers. What is it?
User gaze is just like a bloke, an app.
Just a bloke who's out for a good time.
(28:12):
You know. I don't know why I'm doing like
a South London accent, but yeah,but I've met I've met quite a
few people that are just there. Whether it's Thailand or whether
it's the South Bane, they don't care.
They just want cheap beer. Oh, I mean it sort of like
laddie traveler, who's just there.
So maybe there was a stag. Do a few weeks ago and they
never left kind of thing. Yeah.
Totally. They heard about full moon party
(28:34):
from one of the blokes on the construction sites and they
wanted to go and check it out, Adam.
I think we should do a full episode on travel stereotypes at
some point because I think there's a few unique ones that
I've never heard anyone else, talk about that.
I think I have a little understanding of like ones that
you me, you know? Oh my God.
You are kind of similar to this other person.
I met with the way you approach travel I think we should come up
(28:57):
with some lists independently oftravel stereotypes and both
compare them together. Okay, let's do that.
I'm going to say I'm just gonna bite the bullet here and I'm
going to stick my neck out and say which category I think I
fall into. Okay, you'll carry on with, you
can carry on with you with your list of you on, we've got the
first time, the new be the new be the rocky traveler, the
youngster is, put it past 4 in amoney belt but everything.
(29:21):
Everything Things. Good, isn't it in the beginning?
Everything's amazing. Say yes to everything.
You've got all the money and none of the experience.
That's a good place to be. He's still wearing the original
pair of sunglasses that he fought back in his home country
traveler's checks. Well, thanks.
Yeah, exactly. Okay.
So we've got the new be the new beat the veteran.
(29:43):
Of course, I met a guy when I was in Moscow, a few years ago
and he was from Hong, Kong dreadlocks high as a kite and
just the most Most fun you've ever had.
He was in his 60s, really? Okay, nice.
Yeah, I get I've met someone whois an actual veteran.
They were in Lao they'd served in the Vietnam War and they were
(30:03):
traveling. Just trying to enjoy southeast
Asia and in rather different context.
Wow, did you spend much time with him?
Yeah, I taught English with themand I visited a cave with the
middle aisle. Wicked.
That's amazing. Yeah, they later got married to
a Vietnamese person, really? Yeah, my goodness.
He do me some characters out there, don't you?
(30:24):
There you go. So I'm going to finish off by
saying, which category, I fall into, you can choose whether you
think you fall into the same oneor not.
Okay. But is what we're kind of
getting at the lots of people seem to fall into the same
category. Is there a certain amount of
Conformity even within backpacking?
Definitely, Adam, vehement Levy.Eminently believe that I think
(30:46):
there's a lot of Conformity withhim.
Backpack, it hurts me to say alldropping some hard.
Truths on Tripoli G podcast. God, I think, I think it's
probably right though, isn't it?I think so.
And I think that there is a fashion, there is a behavior,
there is a certain expectation. There is a competition.
We've already touched on that without wondering earlier
episode, of course, you know, orhow many countries have you been
(31:09):
to how long have you been away for?
How long you going to go away for?
I think the reason we need to spend a full episode on this is
because there are so many of these little categories that
we're never going to touch just in response to an email.
There's like all these subcategories Beyond just the
food and culture person beyond the saver Beyond The Party Guy.
(31:30):
There's all these little kind ofClauses and subcategories.
I'd love to delve into in real detail.
What category? Do you think you fit into?
I'm Sachi. You've opened a Pandora's Box
and we realized something we never wanted to.
I think regrettably, I'm the I'mthat guy who's looking for the
(31:51):
most authentic. Attic experience.
And I want to give you the the nail on the head analogy here.
So I saw a comedian recently an Indian comedian and he was doing
a bit about Western people in Indian restaurants, who ask the
waiter for something off menu. And they say, I just want the
most local the most authentic, you know, not what you're giving
the rest of these people, you know, not these foreigners.
(32:12):
I want what I want. You eat at home, right?
I will not happen to do it with you and that is what it's like.
It's so embarrassing. I fall so hard into that
stereotype. Yeah, you dropped from a great
height into that. Stereotype, I went to dinner
with Adam, I've been to dinner with Adam a couple of time and
both times it's been so off the menu, the menus gone into a
(32:36):
shredder in the back. I once went to a Mexican place
with you. You were practically buying the
bar, making your own Mezcal. I've been doing Indian place
with you. You re like sourcing chilies.
Fall down from online, it was crazy.
Oh god. I've just thought of another
thing the other day, this friendof mine here, where is he?
(32:59):
Yeah, guy, I've met quite recently.
He was recommending a Japanese restaurant to me that I've never
tried before and he said, oh, you should definitely go.
It's really good. I said, I said, oh okay, yeah,
I've never been, but I have heard that it's quite good, you
know, and knowing that I'd just come back from Japan.
I said, what sort of food do they do there?
He said, oh, the the ramen Exceptional the gyozas
(33:20):
exceptional. You know, honestly it's run by
an elderly couple from Kyoto andit's so authentic.
The husband doesn't even speak English.
Yeah, as a lazy perfect way to express their authenticity but
(33:41):
what is what does that even mean?
It's linguistically. Okay Sasha, so we have noticed
travel. Oops and Adam fits into the
category of the authenticity, Seeker the culture and doozy
ass. I'm going to save my own
category and stereotyping for a subsequent episode because I
think there's a lot of ground tocover their so let it be known
(34:05):
as a sure. We will approach that on a later
episode and thanks so much for emailing in session is great to
hear from you. I really appreciate it.
It's great that you're listeningand you told us you were a
travel blogger, but you didn't tell us the name of your travel
blog send us an An email with the name.
So we can shout you out on the podcast because that's it, we're
about nothing. If not cross, pollenization, we
(34:26):
won't travel as an entire concept to grow.
We want to hear from bloggers photographers fellow podcasters
people with a passing interest in travel and a computer that
can write scripts for gravel base dramas and all that sort of
stuff went on about travel. In general, we are the travel
Community sometimes called triple legit.
(34:49):
And we want everyone to spread the word.
You can message us at gmail, it's an email service.
It goes topology podcast at, gmail.com, to talk to Adam and I
are about all things travel. We've also got an Instagram
where we post videos taken from the podcast.
And I'd like to take this opportunity to announce
(35:10):
something which been going. Now, quite strong for a few
weeks and that is our patreon service.
What do you get on page? Jean.
It's a very nominal fee, isn't it?
Adam nominal nominal. It's a couple of dollars if that
and for that you get additional content from the podcast,
sometimes there's full video content sometimes, I mean, every
(35:32):
episode there's a lost-and-foundsection at the end of the
podcast where me and Adam hit. Stop on the recording, then
start it up again and just detoxfrom the whole crazy adventure.
So if you want 15 minutes or so of extra to apology content, you
can find it over at Down.com /r apology podcast.
(35:53):
Make sure you put that forward slash in there.
Otherwise you'll get to some unknown area of the internet
where there's no way in or out, or how I do anything.
So it makes it on.com /to apology podcast for exclusive to
apology podcast content. And with that, I don't know
about you, but the present is starting to feel a little bit
(36:14):
restrictive, as if time has ceased to be a relative concept.
And started to be this binding constricting being.
So I sort of want to break free from that tentacle monster and
zip forward into the future. I'm gonna go there right now.
Will you join me? Adam, yes, yes.
(36:36):
Get me out of here. I gotta go right now.
Everyone notices, and everyone sees him, we all know what they
are and yet, I don't think I've met many people who Define
themselves as if they belong to one.
(00:24):
Hello. And welcome to this episode of
triple Ecology. I'm Alan and I'm here with the
ever aesthetic. Adam, oh Alan.
That's so kind of you. How you doing flattering
adjectives? This week.
I've been noticing your perfectly symmetrical Visage
showing up on my screen here. And I thought why not?
(00:47):
Begin the episode with ever sucha lovely compliment?
Thanks, very much. That means a lot.
How are you feeling? How are you feeling?
As always, I'm feeling quite brilliant this week and I'll
can't wait. Just get With another vibrant.
Colorful episode of topology. Good, good.
I'm feeling a little bit down inthe dumps actually, because last
(01:09):
night I was on my computer and Iwas searching hostels in
Vancouver, and I've got to say mate.
I don't know if this is indicative of a Changing Times,
but I found a 6 bed Dawn in a hostel in Vancouver, guess how
much it was a night, 20 Canadiandollars?
(01:29):
And so this wasn't a weekend either write.
It was Monday Tuesday Wednesday right?
In the middle of the week. It is a city bear in mind.
North America $20 a night. You think that's $30?
It is expensive but we shocking.I think it might be more than
that. Based on the look you're giving
me. You look like, you've caught me
in some sort of financial trap, it's going to be more than
twenty dollars, isn't it? $50 for a 6 bed dorm.
(01:51):
It's more than $50 a night. At that point, I'd be closing
down the Hostile World app. Put in one of those little
knapsacks on Stick had bendel's a bindle, like a my dick
Whittington. Yeah.
Like dick Whittington and I'd bejust going off into the night to
find a tent or somewhere else tosleep.
But isn't that sad though that it was?
I'm just going to tell you because I don't think you'd ever
(02:12):
get there. You certainly wouldn't pay for
it. Yeah.
Eighty one dollars a night for amixed dorm 81 Canadian dollars.
Eighty. One Canadian dollars in your
sleeping with five other people.It seems excessive that's such a
shame, isn't it? Surely, you can get a hotel or
an Airbnb for the same price? Well, I mean the point.
The function of hostiles. Is it supposed to be accessible
(02:33):
financially socially and all that jazz for everybody?
So having a prohibitive cost like $81, I mean, why not stay
in a hotel? When you get to those prices, it
seems obtuse. You are your pricing out.
The very people, you're trying to attract and I don't know it
just it just got my backup mate,just got my backup.
I thought I'd share that with you because it's it's important.
(02:55):
Well, I'm glad you did Adam. I would like to use this
opportunity to Really put your apology podcast at the Forefront
of fighting for affordably priced hostiles on a global
level. I think that we should really
stand for that. We want beautiful cheap hostel
prices. Yeah.
And hopefully, we're going to, we're going to be part of that.
(03:16):
We're now moving in this space, we're in this very world and
we're involved. And we're talking to these
people and I just $81 is way too.
Excessive, I think you can probably stomach a slightly more
expensive price being sort of the West and And you know being
in the middle of a major city but $81 is so steep I think that
might be the the most expensive hostile bed I've ever seen.
(03:39):
Well stay tuned to apologist because if topology podcast
hasn't found a way to offer you some sort of affordable
methodology for getting in hostels by the end of the year,
then my name is not Alan and I'mnot sat here talking to the ever
aesthetic. Adam, right on that.
Note, let's dive into it. What are we talking about today,
May well, I Dive into it. On that note.
(04:01):
I want to talk a little bit about a travel story from yours
truly. No, it's a nice segue talking
about affordable, accommodation because this story is Genesis
came from actually a Couchsurfing opportunity.
Couchsurfing. Of course, being one of the most
affordable ways to find a sleeping accommodation for the
(04:23):
evening whilst travelling. So I'll use that as the ideal
segue because the only The only cheaper form of accommodation,
and I'm sure you've experienced this as well, of all people, is
someone paying you to stay with them.
Yeah. Well, sometimes, that doesn't
happen. Nothing is very much on the
bottom of the flowchart and tierlist for affordable.
(04:44):
Accommodation beyond that it's being entirely homeless, that's
free also and and then yeah, being paid to stay the night.
Perhaps, there's a house-sitter perhaps in some other form of
Exchange. So yes, house-sitter.
I like that was a smart move. Exactly.
(05:05):
So well done for saving me. Moving up.
Let me set the scene. Adam, this story is a story of
how it came to be that when you press a button in a museum in
South America, is my voice that comes out of it, explaining all
sorts of different information about the ancient Nazca Lines.
(05:25):
Let me tell you about how that happened.
So I was journeying Through the Sulkin time mountains, beautiful
high, amazing Trail and it was there that I met some other
Travelers who had been travelingthrough South America just like
I had and they bestowed upon me.This key piece of information
that just before getting there to solve, can't I?
(05:47):
They'd stayed with someone in Nazca in a Couchsurfing style
exchange and they'd really thought it was like a beneficial
Couchsurfing experience. It was a really safe place.
The guy was really cool. So I thought give me Details.
I'll also stay there and that was how I came to get in touch
with this beautiful guys called eggar do.
And I hit him up and basically said, hey, I've been hiking with
(06:10):
these people and they were recommended that I come and stay
with. You, would you have time for me
to come and stay with you as well?
Yeah, he messaged me back. Absolutely.
Come and sleep on my sofa. I said, that's amazing.
I'll be there in a couple of days kind of thing, right?
Yeah. First of all, what do you think
about that? Isn't that just a great way to
find affordable? Accommodation.
(06:30):
Not necessarily just the fact that friends kind of gave me
this contact, but just the fact that just hitting someone up for
that, you don't know. And then being kind enough to
offer you a place to sleep. It's beautiful.
Isn't it is beautiful. It is.
And it certainly those types of exchanges that restore your
faith in humanity, I guess to its earnings.
Then without getting too dramatic.
(06:51):
I mean, I assume that this exchange happened outside of the
platform, Couchsurfing not for them for them, it was from
Couchsurfing, but for me outside, Of the platform couch,
surfing. In the, they just, yeah,
straight up. Gave me his phone number.
Yeah. Yeah.
That's amazing. And when those things happen, I
always think about how that would unfold in the UK and I do.
I mean, I'm sure it would, thereare some people, right?
(07:13):
You can't are everyone with the same brush, but it would be very
unusual for someone to just eventext me in Canada and go, hey,
just met one of your mates. My God stay.
I think that actually happened to me in Canada, did it?
Yeah, very much. So that's a story for Another
time I think lesson one from this tale is be open-minded to
(07:35):
Couchsurfing opportunities. And however, there might come to
you through the app or through just friends of friends and that
sort of thing, be open to it. Because I got some really cool
experiences. So then I take a night bus, I
end up in Nazca, it's this desert area of Southern Peru,
and I basically headed straight to the address.
(07:57):
That was given to me by this couch.
Laughing gentlemen, mmm arrived at his place and he's this sort
of jovial elderly, man. Oh right.
And far from just showing me to a corner in his room and it's
just a sofa. He tells me.
No worries. You can have my spare bedroom.
It's a spare bed. Full double bed.
(08:18):
There's a shower in there, hot resulta, and he was like, I've
got some work to do. Make yourself comfortable, and
we'll reconvene why don't we getdinner together?
And, you know, later in the day just enjoy Oh exploring now.
So how wonderful really amazing.So accommodating and just on the
strength that he'd only spent a couple of days in my friends
(08:39):
that I meant of can't, I but he was so open.
So just allowing me into his home.
So I just went off and explore the town for the day and sort of
meandered about and then went and got dinner with him in the
evening. And we were sat and talking and
I could tell straight away that I really got on with this
gentleman, he was really cool. And we started talking about
(09:01):
kind of what we did and I was telling him about some little
acting or voiceover jobs that done.
He was telling me and he said, I'm actually one of Peru's
leading expert on the Nazca Lines.
Have you ever heard of the NazcaLines?
Yeah. Have I absolutely so for the
listening audience, the Nazca Lines.
Are these ancient geoglyphs the in the Nazca desert?
(09:25):
They're really quite phenomenal.They're Huge, colossal lines
that have been stamped into the desert over 3,000 years ago by
the feet of the Nazca people. The belief is that they just
marched through the desert together and by their footfall
(09:46):
carved out these astonishing geoglyphs in all different
shapes. There's a picture of a monkey, a
picture of a hummingbird. Some people will have seen some
of these online. I'm sure spider as well from
memory. There's a spy Absolutely.
Some people will have seen theseonline.
I'm sure we'll post some of my pictures of them on our
(10:06):
Instagram at apology podcast. But these lines are said to have
been created three thousand years ago and they're just I
cannot recommend enough that people make the Journey about to
see them. It really is one of the most
astonishing things. So this guy Our God o, he says
to me. Listen I'm one of the leading
(10:27):
experts on these lines and I Actually run a presentation at
the Maria reiche Museum. The planetarium here in Nazca
come and see my presentation. It's going on and kind of in a
couple of hours, you know, in the evening we're here.
So I had down there with him andhe does this presentation and he
explains in the presentation at the Museum.
(10:48):
All about these lines and their history and how they were
created. And who Maria reiche is Maria,
reiche is a scientist who devoted her life to unveiling
the lines. She's a really inspirational
person. And wow, and throughout the
talk, depending on, who's there is, you know, translating into
English and Spanish and German and all these things.
He's a real linguist. This guy is truly amazing.
(11:11):
And after the talk concludes, hebrings me out and we looked
through his telescope and we seeJupiter together and is
explaining all about the geometry and astrological
significance of the geoglyphs and how they line up with
equinoxes and sunrises and all that crazy stuff.
And then he says to me, Alan what I would really like for you
to do is an English translation of my presentation here, so that
(11:36):
it's in perfect English. Would you do that for me?
Oh, wow. Allows like a got it.
Absolutely, I would love to do that.
So I devoted the next couple of days of my life to learning all
about the Nazca Lines, going through his presentation doing
little edits on the presentation, recording, the
presentation for him. So that now, when you're in, The
(11:59):
Nazca planetarium. You have access to my
presentation about the Nazca Lines.
I can still remember the words of it today.
Go and give us a little snippet,3,000 years ago in the Arid and
Stony desert of Southern Peru, the Nazca people flourished.
That's just the very start. That's awesome.
(12:20):
What are the chances of you falling on this guy?
I mean, did the people that gaveyou his contact information
mention any of this? I don't believe that they did
not from memory. I Think it was just a question
of go and stay with him now, because really cool you should
see Nazca and it just so happened that he revealed to me
that he wanted the voiceover work to happen, whilst I was
(12:41):
there and it ended up being something I was really proud of.
I then got to go in a light aircraft over the Nazca Lines so
I could see them from above. These lines can only really be
fully appreciated from the air. So I was lucky enough to have
the experience of flying. Both of the lines in a light
aircraft and really see that allof them from above, because
(13:05):
they're huge, vast lines at ground level.
This very, very difficult to make sense of them at all.
Sure, well, that makes the fact that they were made 3,000 years
ago, all the more impressive andintriguing, doesn't it?
It makes it all the more impossible seemingly.
It's one of those things. Wow, it doesn't quite make all
(13:26):
that much sense. There's a lot of rumors that Of
alien activity and stuff in those areas.
There's also Nazca pyramids where they allegedly found these
very unusual bodies, which were then claimed to be a hoax.
They were kind of these odd. Three fingered creatures that
they found in within the pyramids, but later scientists
(13:48):
have come out and saying that that ain't or that they must
have just been fought. There was one of them doing the
trip ology salute. Yeah, exactly.
So there's some unusual stuff that A region.
All I will say is a remarkable feat of artistic Merit to have
been able to create such. Wonderful images are all
different animal life and stuff like that.
(14:11):
All in line with different astrological features three
thousand years ago, without the ability to see them from above.
Why were they doing that? What were they doing that for?
What's the meaning of it all? It's really one of the most
astonishing things, my goodness and then from sort of a cultural
Exchange, Change perspective, the gentleman that you were
(14:31):
describing their guard. Oh he's sounds like a sort of a
veteran host or you know an expert host he's clearly had
many people stay at his many times before because he was so
open to allowing you to stay there and you very openly
accepted and then you've had, you know, an experience that you
could only hope to have. I mean some people pay for that
kind of thing. Yeah.
(14:52):
And the reason why I really likethis story as one of my favorite
positive travel stories to tell is I think It really puts the
emphasis on the correct mindset to have as a host.
I Agha do being open to having people stay at his place, being
lovely and kind and sweet. Hey, come have dinner with me.
Hey, do your own thing or come to my Planetarium?
(15:15):
And then also being open-minded to like, oh, maybe actually, I
can get some benefit from what this guy enjoys doing, maybe we
call experience for him. Perfect mindset as a host and
then also as a traveler, I had the right mindset of Hearing my
friends say they had a good experience, embracing the
opportunity, going being social with agar do and then as a
(15:36):
result of that, you know, we hadthis amazing exchange and
dialogue, it was such a cool experience.
I remember, so vividly him bringing me out excitedly and
showing me Jupiter in his telescope and then as both
having this realization that we could do this little bit of work
together, it was such a cool thing and my friendship with a
guy who continued to the point that later on, in my trip, when
(15:57):
I was in Lima. Oh God.
Texted me and say, hey actually,I liked your recording so much.
I want to get an even better quality one.
And we ended up going to a proper recording studio in Lima,
really, and recording the voice over professionally.
Oh, that's wicked. That's so cool.
And now, you're recording, that can be heard in the museum, is
it sort of the one that you might hear in the foyer, or is
(16:20):
there an audio guide or how doesit work?
Now, I believe it's still the case.
That during a guard owes presentation, he presses a
button. And then my voice Bellows
through the planetarium, tellingyou all about the lines.
That's so good. Like, I want to go there for
both reasons now. Yeah, I really want to go and
see the lines in a little Cessnaand I want to be listening to
(16:41):
your voice telling me all about it.
I tell you what, if any of our apologists get to the Maria
reiche planetarium in Nazca and they go to the presentation and
hear that translated presentation, I would love them
to send me a message, it would be really cool to hear it.
Goes down in my mind as being one of my favorite Experiences
of all time. Not only because NASA is so
(17:03):
cool. The history of the place is so
cool, those geoglyphs and lines are so astonishing and usual and
thought-provoking, but I just think it was one of those
perfect moments where everythinglined up the host was really
cool. I managed to provide some added
benefit to them. It was the perfect cultural
exchange. Yeah.
And I think just on that note aswell.
(17:25):
Of course as we travel we get toexperience lots of things and
And some of them are tourist attractions.
Some of them are local experiences, and whatever.
But you you seem to have experienced something you were
interested in in the best way toexperience it.
Yeah, you couldn't have orchestrated a better
experience. It was absolutely bespoke and
perfect and intimate and informative, and everything you
(17:49):
could wish for, I imagine. Yeah, absolutely.
And once again, human-centric, open-minded approach to travel I
experienced Nazca in its totality T through the lens of
meeting agar, do and doing thosethings.
It wasn't just about the place. It was about the people and the
humans and the things that we could do for each other, while
(18:10):
we were there. And that is what travel is and
it's that thought that I would like the audience to hold in
their mind as we go on a brief meditation break.
(18:31):
And just like that, the conscious mind Falls from above
back into our craniums, and we can go on about our journey.
We have an item here on Tripoli G, in which we invite the
listening audience to open an imaginary door.
Go to an imaginary reception desk, talk to an imaginary Ali
(18:52):
and find their way in to the hostel common room.
A space where listeners from around the world can message
Adam and I are all kinds of questions.
What's the lightest weight? Cooking pot that I can take on
the PCT? What's the optimal belt for a
(19:16):
trip to around? Asia conveyor.
What should I do? What should Die do if confronted
by a marsupial in australasia. These are the kind of things
that people like to message us on the hostel common room on
Tripoli G. Adam, has anybody asked you
anything this week that you could read out on this item?
(19:39):
The most Superior ones, really tickled me.
But because of our experience with bears, people people think
that we're experts now with wildlife, and how to handle the,
we get a lot of animal question,Ornithological questions,
marsupial, mammalian questions on the podcast.
Let's filter those out with a fine-tooth comb and find a
(20:01):
travel question. You can get those to us at
topology podcast at gmail.com, that's the email address.
You'll get a response from either Adam or I and you can
send us a direct message on Instagram at to apology podcast.
Adam, have you got something to read out today?
I have I have, I've got a littleemail and dare I say it might
need its own episode because it is Very interesting topic, but
(20:24):
I'm going to read it. Now, it is from Sacha in
Seattle. They say, hey guys, my name is
Sasha and I'm an aspiring travelblogger based in Seattle.
I recently read a humorous article, written by another
travel blogger, which outlined some Backpacker stereotypes and
their respective behaviors. I would like to know whether you
have noticed, any Backpacker stereotypes whilst travelling
and which category, if any you both fall into, I believe
(20:47):
there's a great deal of Truth tothe article.
I fall neatly onto the digital Nomad pile keep up the Great.
Great work, Sasha from Seattle. Thanks so much for the email.
Like, how's Sasha describes themselves as falling neatly
into the digital Nomad pile, of course, digital Nomad being the
most modern newest and unseen category of traveler in the
(21:08):
past. I think the digital Nomad a
really new phenomena? Yeah, I would agree as well as
content creators YouTubers, instagrammers, influences.
These are all people that you can see out on the road now
walking around with their cameras.
The sticks and what have you? We're not quite there yet.
Are we out? I mean Tripoli G is nothing if
not a vicious attempt by Adam and I in order to Chrome by
(21:32):
myself into the digital Nomad category that Sacha is already a
member of. Yeah.
Yeah I am. You know of course they're a
Backpacker stereotypes. I mean I don't even think you
have to go traveling for that long.
It's a see them, do you? I mean, people seem there seems
to be a backpack of fashion. Is it worth mentioning that, you
know Someone leaves home for five minutes and all of a sudden
(21:54):
they're covered in tattoos and they've got dreadlocks and they
don't wear shoes anymore. Yeah, exactly.
It's just as if we ever noticed any backpack of stereotypes.
I mean it is impossible. Saturn not to notice Backpacker
stereotypes. I think that the the truth with
with these is that everyone notices and everyone sees him.
We all know what they are and yet, I don't think I've met many
(22:16):
people who Define themselves as if they belong to one.
So let's just madam. Just mentioned the classic one
that we all think of, which is someone who has decided after
three weeks of traveling, that shoes and no longer important.
They're discarded and wearing elephant pants pants with
pictures of elephants on them, perhaps over dreadlock their
(22:39):
hair. This is a very interesting
phenomena. We've talked about this a little
bit before. The travel is sort of
commodified as this Instagram herbal thing which has an
aesthetic. Which almost becomes part of the
reason people want to do it, right?
Because they have seen this stereotype of Backpacker and it
(23:01):
seems all sexy and cool. And they want to be a Backpacker
more than they actually want to travel.
What do you think about that? Yeah, well there, I say you're
probably right. They want the shot but none of
the work to get the shot and andit is a shame because we always
want people to travel for the right reasons to want to be
(23:22):
there. Want to give to the community
that they're in. And unfortunately, it doesn't
always happen, you're right? It has become quite a
fashionable thing to do to backpack to Gap year and all the
rest of it, but I don't know. Hopefully, you know, everyone is
on their own journey and they'relearning.
There are there are certainly some, some people I met along
the road that I would say fall quite neatly into other
(23:44):
categories as well. So it might be worth discussing
those. Yeah, we look back Packer
stereotypes exist because there are certain aspects of travel
which are desirable. Lots of people want to fit into
them and part of the whole reason, why a lot of people want
to travel is that they aspire tohave some of the qualities of
that stereotypical Backpacker. Let's talk about those.
(24:07):
That's open-mindedness. That's a curiosity to explore
the world. That's a curiosity with breaking
the social norms of wearing, uncomfortable shoes, and
tight-fitting, trousers, and having your hair or neat and
crop. Why Not take your shoes off
where some elephant pants and get dreadlock.
These are all aspirational. Qualities are decided to break
(24:29):
away from the constraints of mentality, to normal existence
and be a Backpacker. Absolutely a really cool
aspirational stereotype to want to Crow by yourself into.
I think what's important is thatyou have the right basis for
coming at that lifestyle, though, because it is just a
stereotype, it exists, not as a Direct function of traveling.
(24:54):
But as a direct function of people Desiring to be Travelers
and you've got to make sure thatyour hearts in the right place
with that because spiritualism Freedom, these are all important
aspects of being a traveler. But spiritual materialism.
IE the desire to outwardly project your spirituality into
(25:19):
the world without doing any of the inner work and the inner
ear. Operation.
And the inner curiosity, that becomes a problem.
And that's not what traveling isabout.
Well, I'll be honest, Ellen, I don't really know how to follow
that but that was, that was pretty darn profound what you
just said. And I think we all like hearing
(25:40):
it, everyone be really spiritualand cool and kind to people and
don't worry about all that material.
Projection of it. That's something we don't want
to do. But on a lighter note or
hippies. He's a little burned but it's
never so much fun. I've got a quickly real off a
couple just to answer the email fully because I do think it's an
interesting one, and it would begreat for us to share these with
(26:03):
the audience because there mightbe some people listening to this
podcast who've never been traveling.
So we got to kind of let them know what they're in for and
they don't know what the stereotypes are.
Yeah, let's go. I'm going to throw some out.
You're going to tell me if you've ever met anyone or people
pop to mind. All right.
Look at. Have you ever met the couple?
Oh, I've met a couple. They always break up with it.
Of a while that going on the road, they're always arguing
(26:25):
sometimes. They're all in love and
beautiful to one another. I've met a few of those, in my
time, I remember meeting a couple when I was in Thailand
and they were having so much more fun than I was really.
It was just, it was like almost hard to.
I thought, how can you like eachother that much that as
individuals, you're both having a better time than I am?
(26:45):
All is well, I thought fucking fair play.
It was just so amazing, so amazing.
Raising so yeah. Definitely the couple both of us
have been the couple as well. I don't we we have we have I
don't know if I've ever met not together mind you sadly but I
mean just individually we've both been in couples whilst
travelling. Yeah unless you've got access to
(27:06):
our patreon in which case patreon.com forward slash
tribology podcast. Hmm.
But the other thing I was going to mention is yes.
I've been in a couple. Yes, you've been a couple and
traveled. I've met Couples whilst
travelling. I don't know if I've ever met a
couple that got together whilst they were traveling and I've met
(27:28):
them on their trip to see what Imean.
I don't think I've ever come across that either.
I have met people started short relationships with them and
traveled them for a little while.
So perhaps I have been one of those before.
Hmm, I don't know if I would have easily been identifiable as
the couple stereotype during those periods of time.
Totally, because as soon as old travel got in the would go in
(27:51):
the way. Are they giving the old elbow?
Well, you know, I've never I've never loved anyone as much as I
love the trip moving. Swiftly, on the Giza.
We met a few geezers. What is it?
User gaze is just like a bloke, an app.
Just a bloke who's out for a good time.
(28:12):
You know. I don't know why I'm doing like
a South London accent, but yeah,but I've met I've met quite a
few people that are just there. Whether it's Thailand or whether
it's the South Bane, they don't care.
They just want cheap beer. Oh, I mean it sort of like
laddie traveler, who's just there.
So maybe there was a stag. Do a few weeks ago and they
never left kind of thing. Yeah.
Totally. They heard about full moon party
(28:34):
from one of the blokes on the construction sites and they
wanted to go and check it out, Adam.
I think we should do a full episode on travel stereotypes at
some point because I think there's a few unique ones that
I've never heard anyone else, talk about that.
I think I have a little understanding of like ones that
you me, you know? Oh my God.
You are kind of similar to this other person.
I met with the way you approach travel I think we should come up
(28:57):
with some lists independently oftravel stereotypes and both
compare them together. Okay, let's do that.
I'm going to say I'm just gonna bite the bullet here and I'm
going to stick my neck out and say which category I think I
fall into. Okay, you'll carry on with, you
can carry on with you with your list of you on, we've got the
first time, the new be the new be the rocky traveler, the
youngster is, put it past 4 in amoney belt but everything.
(29:21):
Everything Things. Good, isn't it in the beginning?
Everything's amazing. Say yes to everything.
You've got all the money and none of the experience.
That's a good place to be. He's still wearing the original
pair of sunglasses that he fought back in his home country
traveler's checks. Well, thanks.
Yeah, exactly. Okay.
So we've got the new be the new beat the veteran.
(29:43):
Of course, I met a guy when I was in Moscow, a few years ago
and he was from Hong, Kong dreadlocks high as a kite and
just the most Most fun you've ever had.
He was in his 60s, really? Okay, nice.
Yeah, I get I've met someone whois an actual veteran.
They were in Lao they'd served in the Vietnam War and they were
(30:03):
traveling. Just trying to enjoy southeast
Asia and in rather different context.
Wow, did you spend much time with him?
Yeah, I taught English with themand I visited a cave with the
middle aisle. Wicked.
That's amazing. Yeah, they later got married to
a Vietnamese person, really? Yeah, my goodness.
He do me some characters out there, don't you?
(30:24):
There you go. So I'm going to finish off by
saying, which category, I fall into, you can choose whether you
think you fall into the same oneor not.
Okay. But is what we're kind of
getting at the lots of people seem to fall into the same
category. Is there a certain amount of
Conformity even within backpacking?
Definitely, Adam, vehement Levy.Eminently believe that I think
(30:46):
there's a lot of Conformity withhim.
Backpack, it hurts me to say alldropping some hard.
Truths on Tripoli G podcast. God, I think, I think it's
probably right though, isn't it?I think so.
And I think that there is a fashion, there is a behavior,
there is a certain expectation. There is a competition.
We've already touched on that without wondering earlier
episode, of course, you know, orhow many countries have you been
(31:09):
to how long have you been away for?
How long you going to go away for?
I think the reason we need to spend a full episode on this is
because there are so many of these little categories that
we're never going to touch just in response to an email.
There's like all these subcategories Beyond just the
food and culture person beyond the saver Beyond The Party Guy.
(31:30):
There's all these little kind ofClauses and subcategories.
I'd love to delve into in real detail.
What category? Do you think you fit into?
I'm Sachi. You've opened a Pandora's Box
and we realized something we never wanted to.
I think regrettably, I'm the I'mthat guy who's looking for the
(31:51):
most authentic. Attic experience.
And I want to give you the the nail on the head analogy here.
So I saw a comedian recently an Indian comedian and he was doing
a bit about Western people in Indian restaurants, who ask the
waiter for something off menu. And they say, I just want the
most local the most authentic, you know, not what you're giving
the rest of these people, you know, not these foreigners.
(32:12):
I want what I want. You eat at home, right?
I will not happen to do it with you and that is what it's like.
It's so embarrassing. I fall so hard into that
stereotype. Yeah, you dropped from a great
height into that. Stereotype, I went to dinner
with Adam, I've been to dinner with Adam a couple of time and
both times it's been so off the menu, the menus gone into a
(32:36):
shredder in the back. I once went to a Mexican place
with you. You were practically buying the
bar, making your own Mezcal. I've been doing Indian place
with you. You re like sourcing chilies.
Fall down from online, it was crazy.
Oh god. I've just thought of another
thing the other day, this friendof mine here, where is he?
(32:59):
Yeah, guy, I've met quite recently.
He was recommending a Japanese restaurant to me that I've never
tried before and he said, oh, you should definitely go.
It's really good. I said, I said, oh okay, yeah,
I've never been, but I have heard that it's quite good, you
know, and knowing that I'd just come back from Japan.
I said, what sort of food do they do there?
He said, oh, the the ramen Exceptional the gyozas
(33:20):
exceptional. You know, honestly it's run by
an elderly couple from Kyoto andit's so authentic.
The husband doesn't even speak English.
Yeah, as a lazy perfect way to express their authenticity but
(33:41):
what is what does that even mean?
It's linguistically. Okay Sasha, so we have noticed
travel. Oops and Adam fits into the
category of the authenticity, Seeker the culture and doozy
ass. I'm going to save my own
category and stereotyping for a subsequent episode because I
think there's a lot of ground tocover their so let it be known
(34:05):
as a sure. We will approach that on a later
episode and thanks so much for emailing in session is great to
hear from you. I really appreciate it.
It's great that you're listeningand you told us you were a
travel blogger, but you didn't tell us the name of your travel
blog send us an An email with the name.
So we can shout you out on the podcast because that's it, we're
about nothing. If not cross, pollenization, we
(34:26):
won't travel as an entire concept to grow.
We want to hear from bloggers photographers fellow podcasters
people with a passing interest in travel and a computer that
can write scripts for gravel base dramas and all that sort of
stuff went on about travel. In general, we are the travel
Community sometimes called triple legit.
(34:49):
And we want everyone to spread the word.
You can message us at gmail, it's an email service.
It goes topology podcast at, gmail.com, to talk to Adam and I
are about all things travel. We've also got an Instagram
where we post videos taken from the podcast.
And I'd like to take this opportunity to announce
(35:10):
something which been going. Now, quite strong for a few
weeks and that is our patreon service.
What do you get on page? Jean.
It's a very nominal fee, isn't it?
Adam nominal nominal. It's a couple of dollars if that
and for that you get additional content from the podcast,
sometimes there's full video content sometimes, I mean, every
(35:32):
episode there's a lost-and-foundsection at the end of the
podcast where me and Adam hit. Stop on the recording, then
start it up again and just detoxfrom the whole crazy adventure.
So if you want 15 minutes or so of extra to apology content, you
can find it over at Down.com /r apology podcast.
(35:53):
Make sure you put that forward slash in there.
Otherwise you'll get to some unknown area of the internet
where there's no way in or out, or how I do anything.
So it makes it on.com /to apology podcast for exclusive to
apology podcast content. And with that, I don't know
about you, but the present is starting to feel a little bit
(36:14):
restrictive, as if time has ceased to be a relative concept.
And started to be this binding constricting being.
So I sort of want to break free from that tentacle monster and
zip forward into the future. I'm gonna go there right now.
Will you join me? Adam, yes, yes.
(36:36):
Get me out of here. I gotta go right now.
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