What you should look for in choosing how to travel a country?

In the “old” days backpacking was difficult.  If you had the money the easy options were a van or a car - if you didn’t then it was public transport or hitch-hiking.  Today, with the massive commercialisation of backpacking globally it is a whole different kettle of fish and there are a plethora of different travel options to choose from.  Everything from tour companies such as Contiki or Connections to the hop-on hop-off buses such as Oz Experience and Stray Travel to the specialty operators (some of my favourite being Mojo Surf in Australia or Green Tortoise in the States).  But how do you choose to travel with?  I have some pretty strong opinions on what makes a good backpacking experience.

Firstly, let me point out that this discussion is really focussed on the developed travel countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Ireland etc.  What makes a really good backpacking experience? Sticking your backpack on and wandering off with no fixed itinerary, staying at people’s houses that you meet along the way, sleeping on the beach, a few train stations and going to local bars meeting the real locals.  This is how I travelled Croatia for seven weeks not so long ago.  But, unfortunately in the more developed countries this is not often the easiest to achieve.  In more developed countries locals seem busier, more weary of foreigners (perhaps familiarity breeds contempt), and social infrastructure harder to penetrate.  Seriously, tell me you can successfully walk into any bar in London square mile in your backpacking gear and immediately strike up and long last friendship with the locals.  You certainly can in Bangkok, Mondaka, Sete, Sicily, Costa Rica, or Tonga.

I think Australia is a really good example of this.  Australia is a massive country - if you overlay Europe or the US on Australia on a map you will see that it is easily bigger than both.  It takes a very long time to get from Sydney to Cairns (the most popular backpacking route) and there are large sections of nothing - it’s called the Outback!

Cars and campervans are one of the most popular forms of travel around Australia and for a truly independent experience they can’t be beaten.  But I feel that truthfully Australia (and New Zealand) are both so geared these days for backpacker tourism that you actually can miss a lot of authentic experiences by taking this option.  By this I mean that many of the backpacker tour companies offer legitimate Aussie experiences staying overnight on working cattle farms, Outback stations, or “secret” surf spots that you won’t get travelling around in a car or a van by yourself.  I know of many operators that have built their whole business around partnering with country towns or local operators that can provide backpackers true interaction with real Australian locals doing real everyday Australian activities.  You may not get that by renting a car and driving into any old country town and trying to meet the locals.  Some will, by way of their personality, but most won’t!

So what do I look for in a backpacking tour operator?  Seriously, not price!!  Take the cheap option and throw the brochure out the window!  Proper operators are not cheap.  It is easy to compare an express bus service with a backpacking operator and struggle with the vast price difference; Oz Experience Sydney to Cairns at AUD$499 versus Greyhound $AUD$99.  But look at what you get.  Oz Experience takes you to your hostel door, during the day they stop regularly at the things you want to do (many of them so much fun they become the experience you take away from your whole trip - “barefoot porcupine bowling”), and they go to the places that are off the beaten track - not just the main population centres.  Express Bus services globally cater first and foremost to the local population, and in this way they are not going to take you to the cool country towns, or medieval villages, or natural wonders simply because the majority of their custom does not require this of the service.  It is my experience that once you start adding up the cost of side trips and day trips to these “must-see” stops the cost of the express service soon outweighs the cost of dedicated backpacker trips.

When selecting a travel option price is always going to be a hurdle, but, fortunately the Internet is the fastest source of information and the greatest leveller of quality.  On the Internet you can find what the real story is - not the lines fed to you by the travel agent.  And it is my experience that inevitably it is not the cheap option that the travellers are raving about, but rather the trips that really do try and offer the real local experience.

Just a final point of warning; be wary of many of the forums and review sites out there.  Be considered in your judgement on someone’s advice.  I have seen this many times where the reviewer has not actually done the trip.  You can’t laugh enough how someone in Lonely Planet Thorn Tree can have 45,000 posts and still have time to travel and be an expert on all they purport to know.  I travel for a living and I don’t know anything!!  I once quizzed a guy on Thorn Tree who was deliberately bad-mouthing an operator I had experience with in Australia as to whether he had actually been on this tour.  As it transpired he had not even been to Australia - “but I have friends who have”.  Clearly, expert advice!

It is my feeling that in developed travel countries established commercial tours companies can often be the best travel option in terms of value for money (despite the initial higher price ticket), in real local experiences, and in the access the give you to the country.  Moreover, I believe that paying that bit extra for a trip such as Mojo Surf on the East Coast of Australia, Stray in New Zealand, Adventure Tours in the Outback of Australia, Haggis in Scotland, Fiji Experience is worth every penny.  I believe that there is no comparison to the quality of these companies and as such the backpacking experiences you will enjoy!

Here are some of my personal recommendations:

Australia East Coast: Oz Experience hop-on hop-off buses and Mojo Surf Trips
Australia Outback/Northern Territory: Adventure Tours
New Zealand: Stray Travel
Scotland: Haggis Tours
Ireland: Paddy Wagon
Canada: Moose Bus
Greece/Croatia: Top Deck
Fiji: Fiji Experience