BaseCamping – how to travel by not travelling
Long term travel grinds you down. It can be just as stressful and hard work as a full time job (see my earlier post Travel is a fulltime job for details). You would think that the actual travelling part would be relaxing since you are just sitting on your ass, reading, watching a movie, surfing the internet or viewing the scenery, but I always arrive at my destination exhausted.
The temptation is to then cram as much as possible into your itinerary. The desire to maximise the return on your expensive ticket is understandable, and is compounded by the finite length of your holiday.
However, I would recommend a different approach; go to fewer places and spend more time there.
Taking your base with you has scenic rewards
If you really want to relax and truly explore and experience a place or a different culture you are gonna have to invest some time. Its logical right? Almost everything valuable takes time to create and to experience. Relationships, cheese, good coffee or a fine wine etc. The same goes for travelling.
Let me lay out a few quick examples of why base camping is a great way to travel:
1. Fitness – It’s easy to loose fitness when travelling. It’s just too easy to convince yourself that your on holiday, so you can eat out and try new foods and drink too much. Or to delude yourself that all that walking around looking at old buildings and statues is good exercise. Unfortunately, fitness requires maintenance and regularity, not sugar and sightseeing.
Calming camping yoga
Having a base allows you the time to overcome jet-lag, create a routine and find the energy to want to do some exercise. It’s also a great way to explore a new place and helps for …
2. Meeting people – often when travelling your interactions with people are limited to fellow travellers (which can be annoying if they are the same nationality as you, because you flew half way around the world to get away from your fellow citizens, not spend more time with them), or tourist operators (who just want your money), or con artists, beggars, pick-pockets etc (who really want and probably really need your money).
If you base camp somewhere you get the chance to meet the real people who live and work in an area. Actual locals who grew up in the area for generations (and can trace their ancestry back to great, great, great whoever) or immigrants who have moved there for work or lifestyle. These are the people who base camping allows you to connect with and begin to build relationships with, and this is important because these people know…
3. The best places and secret areas - In my opinion, this is the biggest benefit of base camping. Staying somewhere for only a few days restricts the number of activities you can accomplish, channels you toward tourist traps and really only allows you to experience what you can easily access or find on the tourist map. Then you move on and do it all again. Staying longer in one place means that once you have done all the above stuff you can begin to discover the places you really want to go. The best and secret places are only known to locals and they don’t put them on the tourist map. Things like the best place to safely cliff jump without injuring yourself, the isolated fresh water lake in an ancient volcano crater, the most romantic place to see the sunrise/sunset or the free zipline over the river cannot be found on the internet as they rely on word of mouth or personal invitation.
Off the beaten track, but just around the corner from a popular 140 bunk refugi: Chamonix, France
Solitary sunset over the Mediterranean and the ruins of a Venetian watch tower - 10 mins walk from the town center: Paklenica, Croatia
4. Cost – this one is simple. Base camping gives you the time to learn where the best/cheapest places to eat or live are and this can save you a lot of money (especially if you ask the locals). In Brazil I once saw a menu which blatantly outlined what exists in most tourist areas; a tiered three level price system. International tourist prices, domestic tourist prices and local prices. Most travellers and tourists are paying top dollar plus a mark up and getting to know an area lets you avoid this extra tax ontop of whatever exchange rate you are paying.
Camping (especially wild camping) is often the cheapest accommodation around. Many campgrounds in Europe provide passes for free public transport to avoid congestion (eg. Campervans) in town centres
5. Less stress – staying in one place for awhile lets you actually relax and enjoy your holiday. No need to rush to make transport connections or check in times. No need to jam your itinerary full with sightseeing/shopping etc. You have the time to research and organise whatever activity or place you might want to visit next. Give it a few days and feel the tension evaporate.
Washing day: its hard not to relax when all you are literally watching clothes dry
How to base camp
Picking the right location to basecamp is key to enjoying some of the benefits listed above.
Size: You base camp needs to be big enough, but not too big (like a city) that everything is spread out or too far away for easy…
Access: your basecamp must be easily accessible via public transport or rental car and have access to nearby transport networks to facilitate moving around and achieving your chosen activities, of which you need a….
Variety: a variety of activities is required so you don’t get bored and all travel parties can find something they enjoy and have a good…
Time: you will know within 2-3 days if you have made the right choice regarding your base camp. If you haven’t, 36-48 hours is no great loss and you can try some place else.
After 5-6 days you will be beginning to get beneath the surface and get the hang of things in ….enter location here….. Locals will recognise you, public transport networks will be easy to navigate, you will know where to get a good coffee or cheap beer.
Knowing when to move on and shift base camp is important. I have found 10 days to 2 weeks is a good amount of time. Leave before you do everything and get bored. Leave some mystery and let the desire to return or keep travelling continue.
