By sharing my own experiences and advice next, I hope more students will realize the benefits and pack up to travel the world as backpackers. In addition to maturing emotionally, backpackers gain information from speaking with locals, from visiting sites, or from reading about the countries that they visit. This information far exceeds what professors can teach in class. In short, those who contemplate a trip should be prepared for both serious and fun times. Fear prevents many potential backpackers from traveling.
Money also ranks high on the list of excuses.
The only way to get beyond these worries is to plan a trip somewhere you consider safe. Many start out in Thailand, which receives an enormous amount of young, first-time backpackers, because it is both cheap and safe. If you are less adventurous, Europe might work for you, but it will be more expensive. For my first trip in 1989 I went to India, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. The following year, I traveled to Cairo on a one-way ticket, and spent four months cruising through Egypt, Jordan, Yemen and Syria.