The Holy Book

There are certainly a few way to look at the world. One way is to have faith, or trust in something. Quite a few people trust their holy books, which ever it might be. Christians, Jews, Islamist or Backpackers, yes Backpackers. Although this topic would possible invite to a rant about religion and logic it will not. This time I'd like to share my fascination with effects of holy books like the rough guide or lonely planet. Undoubtedly these books are read by almost every mainstream backpacker I see. And mostly they follow it's recommendations blindly, often missing out on exploring hidden gems. It's true however that they mostly end up safe and sound avoiding many of the hazards. But then what is backpacking all about. Traveling cheaply or trying to find that unexplored and to you, unique path?

Maybe it's more about having a good experience that is very similar to other people's and friends' good experiences so they can compare experiences and decide that this is what it's all about. I know for sure that the Swedish backpacking comunity or maybe more the Swedish backpacking experience is incredible similar. After all we are one of the most homogeneous cultures out there, despite what many of us would like to think. It is not just my fellow Swedes though I see the throngs of young budget travelers gather in the same spots every time. The event that got me thinking about it this time was when I visited the old reggae bar in china town, KL. I went there with a friend who suggested it. It did have a good ambiance but not near enough to attract that many travelers on it's own. As I see a couple of people stopping outside one by one, unleashing the power of the loneley planet and reading about just this place before they sit down, it becomes obvious how powerful this book is. In fact in this area I saw more young budget travelers (often displaying bags on their backs in all sizes and colours) in 10 minutes than my previous 15 days or so in Kuala Lumpur. Mind you it's not like I've been looked up inside a hotel room or anything. I've been out and about exploring the city, with the locals.

I'd like to tell people to throw away their holy books and look at the world for themselfs. But I know how hard it can be and how comforting it is to have all the awnsers written down for you. That way you don't have to think so much and struggle so much with the hard questions in life. Like where to sleep, eat and what to see and do. I know the one place I could have used one of these holy books was in China where it was more than a bit troublesome to communicate. My solution was inspiered by something my dad did when we where traveling around europe as kids. He drew a toiletpaper roll. I'm not quite sure why. After all I was quite young but I'd assume it was an atempt to find one. My solution was to draw cartoons persorming the action we wanted to do in addition to drawing pictures of objects. This worked out just fine. We even managed to get an article in the local newspaper about us. And I'm quite sure I'll remember those times a lot more than the ones where I have followed a holy books guides. So just consider not bringing those books and just go with the flow. I know a bunch of you have already discovered this way of exploring and I'd like to recomend the rest of you to try it too.