• You have the sudden urge to wear anklets/foot jewellery/random bits of string
• Drinking excessively on a weekday is completely normal
• …and being sober is an odd sensation and kinda painful!
• Beard growing, dreadlocks and general hairiness are actively encouraged (sometimes referring to both sexes!)
• When you won’t spend $4 on a meal, but will blow $20 on booze without a second thought
• You’ll haggle over 10baht with complete stubbornness – despite it only being 30p
• Suntan cream and bug spray are your biggest expenses
• Trying to sleep in a room where people are having sex is something you just deal with
• The swimming pool DOES count as a shower (failing that public beach showers are the way forward)
• Wifi is the deal breaker when looking for a bed for the night
• Sleeping in a van at the side of the road is living the dream

  

• Shoes are no longer part of your day to day dress code
• …and wearing a tshirt is “getting dressed up”
• …you also genuinely can’t remember the last time you wore socks!
• Jumping out of a plane is a standard day out
• You post status updates on Facebook for no other reason that to annoy your friends at home
• You have no idea how much money you actually have – but you’re sure it’s enough
• Smelling your clothes is how you pick what to wear (aka “sniff and see!”)
• This rule also applies to food!
• The free food shelf is a gold mine
• You have 800+ Facebook friends but can only really remember a handful of them
• You’ve perfected the squat toilet technique
• Tiger balm cures EVERYTHING
• Your iPod is your most treasured possession
• If its free, you’ll take – regardless of whether you like/want/need it!
• You save money by putting apples through as onions on self serve supermarket tils!
• You can tell anyone the price of booze and where happy hour is…but have non clue about what the time is

  

• …or what day of the week it is (see airport transfer concerns!)
• The only local language you know is how to swear, order a beer and chat up girls/guys at the bar
• You have a massive craving for things like PG Tips, Heinz Baked Beans, Peanut Butter….
• You steal toilet paper from places simply so you don’t have to buy it
• Being able to juggle, dread hair or play with fire suddenly seems like a good career path
• “I’ll do that tomorrow” actually translates as “I’ll leave it to the last minute or forget”
• You can name every possession you own
• …and where in your bag you need to locate it at 3am in a dark hostel dorm
• Which also means airline baggage handlers are your arch nemesis
• A 31 hour bus/ferry/train combo is preferential over the extra $40 it’ll cost to fly there in 3 hours

So how many have you guys ticked off – or is that list simply making you wary about hitting the road?!

The post You Know You’re a Backpacker When… appeared first on RTW Backpackers.