How to travel whilst continuing to live in your own little bubble

Imagine a gap of about 1cm. That's how close I came to booking a particular hostel in Portugal. Luckily, I met a girl in Budapest who had been there previously and stopped me. She warned that it was a hot spot for other Australians who swarmed there for the cheap drugs and alcohol, a lot of times ending up sleeping together.

"New girls would check in every morning and within minutes they were being checked out by the other guys in the hostel, based on looks. If you have white skin and blonde hair you were pretty much in."

And then I realised I knew a few people who fit this category. Australians who go overseas and party hard with other Australians without actually taking in any of that country's history or culture. And then they say that they love traveling. No honey, you love partying. There's a difference.

The only part about their culture you know is the extent to which they're compromising theirs to satisfy tourists like you. I've met some people and told them that my parents are from The Philippines. Some of them talk about how it's such a beautiful place with nice people. Is it really? I've been there twice and never been to the tourist resorts. The Filipinos I know, including my own family live in poor conditions. The shower is a bucket of water you pour over yourself. A hot shower means boiling a separate pot of water and mixing it in. To flush a toilet you manually have to pour a few buckets of water down the toilet bowl. Going to school means hoping to God you have relatives overseas who can send you the money. Or studying your ass off to get by solely through the few scholarships that are offered. People are nice because they're making do with what little they have. Not because they're swimming around as happily in their beaches as you are. The rest are nice because it's the only way you'll give them money.

I'm all up for people who want to relax rather than sightsee - as long as they admit it. Nothing wrong with it, heck I went to Ibiza. Just don't try to act all haughty and cultured about it.

Love, Noeline
xox