THE 6 QUESTIONS EVERY BACKPACKER ASKS

Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple. – Dr. Seuss

Monday, April 6, 2015 (DAY 1,127)
Backpacking–whether short term or long-term–can be adventurous, exciting, and of course cause for annoyances, which some consider to 'the six questions' every backpacker asks one another (myself included of course). Sometimes, you get so tired of answering these, you wish you could just wear them on your t-shirt, have them tattooed to your face–Mike Tyson style–or sometimes I just give random answers to either avoid LONG drawn out conversations, or just out of my own amusement and entertainment. You may be surprised what tends to be typical, AND, what is often questions that come at number 8, 9, 10 etc. or may never even get asked or easily forgotten–names, where you're from, what you did for a living, etc. 

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1. WHERE ARE YOU FROM? / WHAT ARE YOU DOING?

2. WHERE DID YOU COME FROM AND WHERE ARE YOU HEADED NEXT?

Of course, answering where you are from comes from both etiquette and to get a basic understanding of the person you may have just met; in the hostel, on a day trip, at a cafe, or wherever really. As an Asian-American, I've become used to the follow-up question (when I would answer Colorado, and people would ignorantly say, "no, I mean where are you REALLY from?" (Watch this hilarious video that explains more clearly this statement from an Asian-American viewpoint), and therefore without the intention of lying or denying my American background–knowing this was often a traditional immediate follow-up question I just began saying Korea. You would also be surprised that people would then often asked, oh, "North or South?" REALLY?! Sometimes I would say, "North, but shhh it's a secret." But, often they didn't know the difference. Another follow-up question MAY be, so what are you doing? But I've found that it can be a follow-up question or a combination: where are you from and what are you doing? 

Backpackers typically both enjoying sharing information–where to stay, what to do, and often more importantly WHAT or WHOM to avoid–therefore asking where you came from is gather information and asking where you are headed next may also be an informal invitation or your opportunity to say, "hey, you mind if I join you (whether it's another solo traveler or a group).

3. HOW LONG ARE YOU HERE?

This can be simple inquiry or actually curious if you might be leaving soon or hanging around, especially if you've just arrived. Again gaining information if you meet someone that has been in this location for a bit, you may ask things like; where's a good place to eat? or, I read about (blah blah blah) have you done it, if so what'd you think? etc. This happens vice-versa of course.

4. SO, HOW LONG ARE YOU TRAVELING FOR (HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN TRAVELING?

Evaluating another person's travel plans often servers a variety of purposes; if you're attracted to them, are they traveling for a short or long period of time? Asking advice? As well as unlike the 'real world' or an 'ordinary life' when people ask what you do for a living (employment) the draw–to me personally–as a traveler, especially a backpacker is that for most of us we could careless about what you do back home or did, it's more about getting to know you as a person. Also inquiring about how long a person has been traveling also tends to be our–backpackers–way of demonstrating our degree of being adventurous as well as a sort of travel 'badge of honor.' You will be surprised that when I first began my very first day of traveling I met a girl named Valentina, an Italian/UK citizen, that was coming towards the end of her six or eight month backpacking trip all around the world, and of course I was amazed and had lots of questions for her, but now that (wick-wicka, the tables have turned–yes, like a DJ spinning records, hahaha) and I'm most often the longest continuing traveler this can either be fun and extremely appealing to others, especially female backpackers, but sometimes, you are just too tired to go into the explanation, and therefore instead of lying I just state the amount of time I've been traveling in that particular region of the world. 

5. HAVE YOU BEEN TO ... ?  OH, HAVE YOU DONE ... ?

This can be seen as a 'backpacker' form of bragging about the places they've been or things they have done, and if you haven't it's , "oh wow, I can't believe you didn't go there or do that. Listing the number of countries you've been to, more exotic or remote places you've been, etc. and etc. 

6. SO, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?

As I mentioned at the beginning, surprisingly, asking questions that you would imagine would be within the first five such as; someones name, often this tends to be question number 8, 9, 10, or much later. What's great in many ways–to me–is the fact that people care less about what you do or did for a living, while back in your home country this question is often the first question people ask, because in just a simple answer of your company and job title people tend to automatically base your very simple answer by  evaluating your; level of income, education, where you might live, comparing yourself to them on all these levels, and if it's someone of the opposite sex that is single they may be gauging and assessing your potential on a romantic level even though you had just met a few minutes ago. Therefore, the differences with backpacking, more so than being just a 'traveler' your level of interaction by staying in hostels, traveling on a tighter budget and for a longer period of time, this is just an example of the very standard and typical five questions EVER backpackers tends to ask you.