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WORLD TRAVEL INTERVIEWS
Mark Pearson, Editor of
Europe from a
Backpack:
Real Stories from Young Travelers Abroad
2004,
US$ 16.95
By Fred Wright |
You never know what you’ll
find when you’re backpacking through Europe. Sure, guidebooks can offer tips
on what to see and do, but the real experience is often a different thing.
This anthology offers
nearly 60 short essays by young travelers who have wandered the cities and back
country of Europe. Their narratives reflect varied individual experiences, from
being tricked into buying drinks for a stranger in Athens to working on a farm
in Scotland.
These sometimes naïve
experiences are shared with a straightforward narrative style, sometimes with
humor, always with a sense of honesty.
Editors Mark Pearson, a
recent graduate himself, and Martin Westerman, a University of Washington
lecturer, sought out these narratives and compiled them so that they provide a
rich series of windows into the world of low-budget, often spur-of-the-moment
travel.
Through the narratives,
readers can explore Germany’s club life, France’s bar world and other social
scenes. As one might expect from tales of college-age students and grads, many
of the trips were geared more to having a good time in a strange and new land
than to chronicling the architectural achievements of ancient cultures.
But the stories aren’t all
good times and boozy nights. There are more traditional travel experiences here,
as well
--
treasures found in and out of museums, castles and historic venues.
Go World Travel asked
co-editor Mark Pearson about his book
--
and his future plans. Here’s what he had to say:
Q.
What’s a 23-year-old recent college graduate with a business degree doing
publishing a 384-page book on travel?
A. In the spring of 2002 I
spent four months in Europe, including three months in Rome, studying art
history as part of my studies at the University of Washington. For four weeks, I
backpacked, solo, from Budapest, Hungary to Barcelona, Spain. I came back to
Seattle with 2,200 digital photos and loads of stories (don’t ask me to tell the
one about being stranded in an Italian hill town).
I couldn’t keep the
stories to myself, and I couldn’t resist trying to capture the best travel
stories young travelers like me were naturally telling. I figured there had to
be others like me with irresistible first-person accounts.
Q. How
did you solicit these stories?
A. We received more than
400 submissions on Europe. Europe from a
Backpack is the first in the "From a Backpack" series. Next year we'll publish Italy from a Backpack, Spain
from a Backpack, France from a Backpack and
Western Europe from a Backpack. The
hardest part about selecting the stories was reading such amazing tales and not
being able to travel to each of these places myself.
Q. What
qualifies as a backpacking experience? Do you really have to carry a
backpack?
A. Traveling with a
backpack is quite different than traveling with a suitcase. For one thing, people
traveling with a backpack are typically staying in hostels as opposed to
five-star hotels. They're traveling with less money and typically take more
risks. This means great stories.
People with suitcases and
reservations don't spend the night with bums in the rain outside of a train
station in Venice as Steven Simicich did (see "Bums in Venice"). Also, the term
“backpacker” is synonymous with young travelers.
Some of the best comments
I've received about the book, though, have been from travelers in their 60s and
70s. For example, I recently spoke to a crowd of 20 at the famed Distant Lands
bookstore in Pasadena. The average age was probably 60, but they enjoyed
hearing these uncensored stories of risk, romance and humor.
Q. You
state in the introduction that you shot more than 2,200 digital images in your
own four‑month backpacking experience. What would you consider yourself foremost
– a photographer, a writer or an editor?
A. I am first and foremost
a reader. I know a good story when I read one. I created a book that gives
first‑time travelers a foretaste of Europe and those well‑traveled a chance to
relive the adventure.
Q. Do
you have a favorite story in the book? If so, which one? And why?
A. I have a number of
favorites. The funniest is "Baby Blue Underwear" by Mike Riley.
Riley, vacationing in
Portugal, experienced a problem faced by many travelers in foreign countries
where the local cuisine isn’t always compatible.
Excerpt:
“Northern Portugal is a
very romantic place to visit when you are in good health, have packed carefully,
a beautiful lady has her arm wrapped in yours and you have adequate toilet
facilities. I had none of the above. Instead, I had stomach problems so intense,
disemboweling myself with my travel penknife seemed like a good idea.”
Q. The
narratives are full of life‑lessons and how‑to‑survive tidbits by students who
often become very adept urban survivalists. Did you learn anything you didn't
know about backpacking in Europe from these narratives?
A. Readers can learn what
to do and what not do from the stories. Don't be afraid to scrap your itinerary
if you fall in love with a place.
Q. Is
there any place you wouldn't go after collecting and reading these narratives?
Any place you will go the next time you backpack?
A. The book paints a bad
picture of Morocco, but it won't deter me from going there. (Note: Morocco was
included in the book due to its close proximity to Europe.) The stories gave me
a sense of what it would be like to run with the bulls in Pamplona, party on
Ibiza, walk the Camino de Santiago in Spain, celebrate St. Paddy's Day in
Ireland and witness the Il Palio banner in Siena. Looks like I have some
serious research to do.
Q. In
the back of the book, you have a page asking for backpacking narratives from
various points on the globe
‑‑
Asia, Australia, Africa and various countries in Europe. What has been the
response so far? Are there any places that students aren't backpacking?
A. Hundreds of stories
have been submitted for the next titles. Europe is still the most popular for
Americans. Expect to see Asia and South America pick up soon.
Q. Do
you think the political climate for students backpacking in Europe is the same
today
‑‑
in 2004
‑‑
as it
was when these narratives were experienced?
A. Yes, the political
climate changed at the start of the Iraqi War, but these narratives are
timeless. More young people will travel to Europe this summer than ever before.
Half the fun of backpacking is taking in so many cultures and returning with a
new understanding of Europe and your own country.
While there are certainly some
broad cultural differences that apply throughout Europe, in actual fact, there
are many social, political and cultural differences that are evident even within
one country. Many Italians in the north don’t even consider southern Italy a
part of the country. About the only thing Europeans have in common are: 1) a
love for soccer, 2) strikes and 3) long vacations.
Q. Any
tips for those who might read your book and decide to backpack for the first
time?
A. I have a lot of tips,
but here are just a few that come through the stories in
Europe From a Backpack.
1. Approach locals rather
than have the locals approach you, as Ben Bachelder discovers in “The Other
Side.”
2. Choose your traveling
companions carefully, as Kase Johnstun finds in “We Were Going to Kill Each
Other.”
3. Attend an event or
festival: For example, the Berlin Love Parade or other celebrations.
4. Don’t try to do too
much. Take a vacation from your vacation: hike, swim, stay in one place for a
week, etc.
Europe
from a Backpack: Real Stories from Young
Travelers Abroad
Edited by Mark Pearson and
Martin Westerman
Pearson Venture Group, US$
16.95, 384 pages
(The book can be purchased
for a $5 discount by entering the code word “europe” at
www.EuropeBackpack.com)
