How to Prepare for a Far East Backpacking Trip
- 1). Get your shots. Many places advise or even require visitors to be immunized against potential diseases. Do you want to contract malaria or some curious tropical illness if there is a way to prevent it? Suck it up and get poked, prodded or jabbed by a doctor before you step on that plane.
- 2). Look up and prepare a list of emergency and other useful contacts. This can include local hospitals or ambulance services, area churches, Chabad centers and other areas of worship, tourist centers, embassies, consulates and more. You never know if or when you'll run into a bad situation.
- 3). Seek advice from people who've visited places you want to see, especially those who have visited them in the past few months. You may know someone who knows someone who applies to these categories, or you may opt to read users' experiences online.
- 4). Study local customs. Read up about the norms and values most observed in the places you want to visit on the Internet or in reference books or even body language books. Some cultures in eastern Asia view certain things to be taboo or even a personal insult. They can include eating and serving beef, talking about politics in a public setting, touching a stranger, killing an insect, speaking loudly or littering. Breaking such norms might even mean breaking the law. Also, it is typical in the smaller, more remote areas that backpackers tend to visit to adhere to such rules much more strictly. You are guests in their home. Don't arrive ignorant. If you do make a mistake, apologize.
- 5). Be wary of substance-abuse dangers or temptations. Backpackers often think that the Far East is a place to forget about their real lives and indulge in a variety of drugs--most of them plant-based and illegal in Western countries--to clear their heads and "find themselves." What you do to your body is up to you, but be aware that many people end up in therapy after they return.
- 6). Buy a large backpack and other gear you may require. Make sure the material is strong. Try to test them in person at camping stores rather than buy them online, unless you are positive they are right for where you want to go.
- 7). Make a budget. Parts of the Far East may be cheaper than many countries in, say, Western Europe or North America, but that doesn't mean you should go crazy with your spending. Your family or friends would probably not appreciate you calling them in the middle of your trip to arrange an emergency wire transfer, which usually does not come cheap.
- 8). Get into shape if you plan on engaging in a lot of physical activity during your trip, such as hiking. Working out several weeks before your trip will help you build muscle tone and boost your endurance level and metabolism, which will make those mountain climbing expeditions much easier for you.
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