So sometimes I say something on this blog that offends someone and for that, I’m sorry.  I guess in my attempts to be witty or interesting and avoid the boring “Today I went…and then I ate…and then I met…and it was totally awesome!” blog posts, I sometimes miss the mark.  And occasionally that seems to inspire people to write me hate mail or post an offensive comment, which is cool in a way, I guess.  It means people are reading this blog, which is never a bad thing.

But I won’t be taking your suggestions, Mr. and Mrs. Hate Mail.  No, I won’t be shoving this blog up any part of my anatomy any time soon and sorry, but I’m going to hold off on dying for a while…But thanks for the tips.  Really.

That said, if you’d like to disagree with anything I’ve said, feel free!  Post a comment.  And so long as the comment is relevant and doesn’t include words you wouldn’t say to your mother, I won’t delete it.  You can hold me to that.

Anyway, I came across a funny article on BootsnAll today, 10 Backpacker Stereotypes.  If you can ignore the grammar mistakes and typos, then you might find it entertaining.  The author makes some pretty gross generalizations (she reduces all of Europe to a single Backpacker type and the Irish backpacker is of course, drunk and the Israeli backpacker, a cheap stoner), but the article had the word ‘stereotypes’ in it for a reason.  It was meant to be an exaggeration.

I thought her description of the ‘American Backpacker’ was funny and pretty accurate, too.  Here’s a snippet from her description of the ‘older American backpacker’.

“…the older single American Backpackers are usually travel bloggers, photographers, or hippies that are trying to find the deeper meaning in their travel experiences. All American backpackers give themselves massive kudos for being one of the 20-30% of American citizens that own passports and like to brag about anything remotely ‘foreign’ they have done on their travels.”

And here’s another example from her description of the ‘Australian Backpacker’:

“Can be found traveling in packs, pairs or alone, but if alone will often have run into a cousin/friend/acquaintance at every stop, however remote (“maaaaate, didn’t realise you were over here in the middle of the amazon jungle. lets go for a drink.”).

Great for when you want to start drinking at 9am and have a skinny dip in a public fountain.”

It’s good to be able to laugh at yourself every once in a while, don’t you think?

Reannon Muth

Reannon Muth is a full-time writer, social media consultant and owner and manager of the Taken by the Wind travel blog. Born in Hawaii, Reannon has lived in five countries, at Disney World and on a cruise ship. She currently lives in fabulous Las Vegas.