MidlifeBackpackers first trip

MidlifeBackpackers first trip to Thailand in 2015

Myself Menno & my wife Janneke are not your typical backpackers. For one thing, we are older than the average backpackers. In 2015, we decided to embark on the first of many trips with a backpack & a flexible schedule. Destination: Thailand. The video clip in this post is a short collage of the midlifebackpackers first trip.
We are not the average “package tourists”. In fact, we are not even regular travelers. At 47 & 48 years young, we realize that we are not too old to backpack to far off, dream destinations & do it in the best way possible, to see the country & it’s people in the most real sense possible. The Midlifebackpackers first trip to Thailand was a “test run” to see what we thought about traveling without a formal tour package.

The midlifebackpackers first trip to Thailand started off flying from South Africa, via Doha & then to Phuket. After travelling around Phuket, we traveled up to Bangkok, then to Chiang Mai, back down to Krabi, Ao Nang, Koh Lanta, and back across to Phuket. On this 30 day journey, we learnt how to communicate, how to get around, what to eat, where to sleep & how to go about doing all these seemingly routine things. In a strange country, with a strange language and culture these things are not as routine as one might think.

This is the difference between traveling as backpackers without a set plan & that of package tourists. A package tourist never has to think about where he/she needs to go, how to get there, whether it is suitable or not and so much more. The package tourist does not have to think but merely follow the instructions. The unpredictability, the mishaps, getting lost, getting misunderstood & generally needing to think on one’s feet all the time, is part of the backpacking adventure. This is what we signed up for & this is our dream that we are now living for! The next adventure!

Here is a short video collage of our midlifebackpackers firts trip through Thailand. Hope you enjoy it: