It was confirmed to me just what type of traveler visits Australia last night as I walked out of the hostel lift onto the floor with the TV room.

Culture Vultures

It was as busy as I’d ever seen it and I wondered just what was on TV drawing the huge crowd. There were bodies scattered everywhere like a war zone.

Could it have been a program about Aussie culture? Perhaps a documentary about the history of the Aboriginals? erm…no… it was in fact the opening night of the new Big Brother (like we needed anymore) .

I’m Getting Old

Maybe I am just getting old but staying in a Sydney hostel draws huge comparisons with my time at university. Perhaps most people in the hostel are at university or are yet to go but it’s the same drinking culture that is ingrained.

There are a lot of English and Irish people around, it’s uncommon to see them without beer on most nights. There is also a group mentality were there seems to be an “in group”, I don’t know where these people have met perhaps on an “Aus Experience” bus or something.

The “In Group” don’t like to mix with anyone else as they have their own little group to hang out with, it’s this narrow mindedness that I hadn’t seen much of since setting off on my travels.

Traveling For The Wrong Reasons?

I don’t think this is unique to Sydney, in my eyes a lot of young people come to Australia to travel but for all the wrong reasons. Many of them see it as an opportunity to meet people and get drunk, whilst seeing a few sights along the way. Maybe it’s their first time away from home?

It probably wasn’t like this many moons ago but as air travel has become cheaper and to “go traveling” has become the “thing” to do it has become a kind of rights of passage for many.

While this is not always a bad thing if you are a 18-24, I find myself cringing at the club 18-30 like crowd and activities(It’s pole dancing next on Thursday).

Don’t get me wrong, there is a minority of people who don’t fall into the category of backpacker I have described above but they are few and far between.

It was completely different to this in most of Asia (perhaps a little in Thailand) where most people you met where genuinely interested in seeing new cultures, tasting new foods, fascinated by the unknown and a new challenge.

Have I Left Home?

In all honestly, if I had enough money I would have left Australia by now. While I think the scenery is amazing and there are some breathtaking sights I am craving to be in a very unfamiliar place right now.

In Australia it feels far too familiar,as we speak playing on the CD player is “Spice Up Your Life” by “The Spice Girls”… I think you understand what I’m saying.

Even the backpackers here carry different items. For example it’s pretty common to see hair dyers or straighteners in Australia. You’re unlikely to spot many pairs traveling around Asia.

I have to admit as I landed in Australia and into a more familiar, status driven and Westernised society (especially in the cities), I felt the need to smarten myself up. I went out shopping to buy some jeans and a few new T-Shirts as I felt like a tramp walking the streets of Sydney as I was. There were brand names and status symbols everywhere.

I crave the unfamiliarity. I want to sit in a restaurant and eat strange new foods with strange local music playing in the background and be surrounded by foreignness. Not Subway, KFC, Mc Donalds and Hungry Jacks.

For now I’m stuck in Australia working to get some money together, it feels very much like I’m living in the UK…

It’s even drizzling outside.