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Whenever anyone asks me why I still travel on a shoestring at the 2)ripe old age of 38, I usually tell them about the time I learned how to play the 3)bagpipes in 4)Havana. My encounter with Cuban bagpipers wasn’t memorable for its mere quirkiness—it was memorable because it illustrates how travelling on the cheap can offer you windows into a culture that go beyond the 5)caricatured stereotype of what a place is supposed to be like.
The travel caricature of Havana, of course, is an elegantly aged vision of cigars and classic cars, 6)son and 7)salsa, and 8)café con leche. To 9)actualise this vision, many 10)upscale tourists head for the $120-a-night 11)Hotel Nacional, which features $8 12)mojitos and a lovely terrace looking out over the 13)Malecón and 14)the Straits of Florida. Unfortunately, most Cubans don’t have access to the Hotel Nacional, and—as is the case with luxury hotels in many parts of the world—it tends to create a travel experience based more on the idea of how the city should be than how the city is.
I spent my nights in Cuba just up the street from the Hotel Nacional, 15)shelling out just $15 a night to sleep at a 16)casa particulare homestay in Havana’s leafy Vedado district. I couldn’t see the Malecón from my bedroom, nor could I order room-service rum cocktails, but I did get to take part in the day-to-day home routine of my Cuban hosts. In the mornings I would have coffee with them and practise my Spanish; in the evenings we’d watch the state-run TV station, trying to spot bits of real news through the haze of official propaganda. My host family cheerfully introduced me to various friends and neighbours, and within a few days my little social network had offered me access to underground poetry readings, 17)pickup baseball games, and—on one fateful afternoon—a bagpipe performance at the 18)Asturian Federation in central Havana.
Where I come from in the United States, bagpipes are the pastime of earnest, middle-aged men. In Havana, I discovered that bagpipes are the passion of wicked-smart twenty something 19)Havana University graduates with a deep and soulful love of music. Instead of playing the Spanish guitar and African 20)percussion that distinguish son music, however, these guys were 21)channelling the Celtic rhythms of Spain’s Asturias region. When I befriended those 22)hipster kids and began to learn how to play the 23)gaita (an Asturian bagpipe with a single 24)drone pipe), I discovered a side of Havana that was as authentically a part of Cuba as baseball and 25)rumba. Like the tourists in the Hotel Nacional, I still had plenty of access to son, cigars and salsa—but I also got to see a side of Havana that revealed the complexity of the city and its 26)subcultures.
I’m not saying that you have to hang out with bagpipers if you really want to experience Havana; I’m just noting how spending less money has a way of 27)paying off in original and memorable experiences. And shoestring travel is not just for long trips. Last summer, I travelled to 28)the Czech Republic with my parents. We could have easily 29)splurged on expensive hotels and guided tours during our time in Prague, but instead we bought a three-day tram-pass and checked into a 30)hostel in the city’s suburban Vinohrady district. Even though my parents are in their 60s, the youthful backpackers staying at the hostel treated them as one of their own, and offered travel advice on topics ranging from tourist destinations to experimental theatre to where one can 31)sample the city’s best 32)absinthe. We ended up spending three days exploring various corners of the city on foot and by public transport. We 33)stumbled across 34)standard sights like 35)Stare Mesto and 36)the Charles bridge, of course, but we also happened upon children’s school-jazz performances and a Czech 37)Corvette-club rally. When we stopped into a random pub and used improvised hand signals to order 38)Plzensky Prazdroj and 39)knedliky, we felt as if we were the very first outsiders to discover the joys of Czech beer and dumplings.
The secret to my extraordinary thrift was neither secret nor extraordinary: like many generations of backpackers and shoestring travellers before me, I was able to make my modest savings last by slowing down and 40)forgoing a few comforts as I travelled. Instead of luxury hotels, I slept in clean, basic hotels, hostels and guesthouses. Instead of dining at 41)fancy restaurants, I ate food from street vendors and local cafeterias. Occasionally, I travelled on foot, slept out under the stars, and dined for free at the stubborn insistence of local hosts. Instead of investing my travel budget in luxuries and 42)amenities, I invested it in more travel time—and it never failed to pay off in amazing experiences.
Ultimately, the charm of budget travel has always been less about saving money than making the most of my time on the road. Travelling cheaply has forced me to be engaged and creative, rather than to throw money at my holidays and hope for the best. Freed from a rigid, expense-laden 43)itinerary, I’m more likely to be spontaneous, embrace 44)serendipity and enjoy each moment of my journey.
每当有人问我为什么在38岁这样的成熟年龄还是喜欢背包俭游，我总会告诉他们我在哈瓦那学吹风笛的时光。我和古巴风笛手相遇的经历之所以如此难忘，不只是因为过程的离奇古怪，而是因为它能让我们看到——“穷”游是如何打开一扇扇窗，让你真实了解一个地方的文化，而非歪曲死板地看待，人云亦云。
一说到哈瓦那旅行，大家脑海里自然浮现出一幅优雅而古老的画面：雪茄、老爷车、古巴颂乐和萨尔萨舞曲以及古巴奶咖啡等。为了亲身体验这想象中的情景，许多高消费层次的游客住进了每晚120美元的古巴国宾馆，其特色为8美元一杯的莫吉托鸡尾酒和一个令人赏心悦目的大露台，从那里可以俯瞰哈瓦那滨海大道和佛罗里达海峡。不幸的是，大多数古巴人是进不了古巴国宾馆的，而且像世界上许多地方的豪华酒店一样，其为游客创造的旅游体验更多的是基于对城市设想的样子，并不是城市真实的样子。
我在古巴的住宿处离古巴国宾馆不远，在哈瓦那市中心郁郁葱葱的瓦达度区的一家家庭旅馆，每晚只需15美元。从我的卧室看不见滨海大道，也没有客房服务——可以叫人把朗姆鸡尾酒送到房间，但我却实实在在地走进了我那古巴房东的日常家庭生活。上午我会和他们一起喝咖啡，趁机操练我的西班牙语；晚上我们会一起观看国营电视台的节目，试图从官方宣传的迷雾中找出一丁点真正的新闻来。房东一家人热情地把我介绍给各种各样的朋友和邻居，不过几天功夫，我那小小的社交网络就给了我机会去参加地下诗歌朗诵会，还有大家即兴举行的棒球比赛。有一天下午，像命中注定似的，我去了哈瓦那市中心的阿斯图里亚斯人联合会，并在那里欣赏了风笛表演。
在美国我家住的那地区，吹风笛是那些严肃的中年人的消遣。在哈瓦那，我发现风笛却是哈瓦那大学那些二十来岁精灵聪明的毕业生们的最爱，他们打心底里深深地热爱音乐。这些小伙子们不玩古巴颂乐里惯用的西班牙吉他或者非洲打击乐器，而是另辟天地——表现西班牙阿斯图里亚斯地区的凯尔特音乐节奏。当我和这些机灵的大孩子交上了朋友，开始学吹西班牙风笛（一种阿斯图里亚斯风笛，只有一根风管）时，我发现了哈瓦那的另外一面，跟棒球和伦巴一样，都是古巴地道真实的一部分。和住在古巴国宾馆的游客一样，我依然有很多的机会去欣赏古巴颂乐和萨尔萨舞曲，品尝雪茄，但是我也看到了哈瓦那的另一面——这个城市的复杂多元和亚文化显露无遗。
我不是说如果你真要体验哈瓦那就一定得去结交风笛手，我只是想表明，少花钱如何可以让你体验到原汁原味和难以忘怀的旅行经历。俭游不只是适合长途旅行。去年夏天，我和父母同游捷克共和国。在布拉格的时候，我们无疑可以大撒金钱入住昂贵的酒店，然后参团游览算了；但是相反，我们买了一张乘坐电车的三日通票，住进了市郊维诺拉迪区的一家青年旅馆。尽管我父母已经六十多岁了，青年旅馆里年轻的背包客们却视他俩为其圈子中的一员，提供了许多很好的旅行攻略，包括旅游景点、实验剧场以及到哪里可以品尝到城里最好的苦艾酒。三天的行程中，我们或步行或乘公共交通工具探寻了城里的许多角落。当然，我们会偶然走到大家一致认同的名胜景点，像布拉格旧城区和查尔斯桥，我们也会碰巧撞见学校的孩子们在演奏爵士乐，还遇到捷克克尔维特汽车俱乐部的集会。当我们随意走进一家酒吧，用即兴想到的手势要了捷克本地的皮耳森啤酒和面皮包肉馅的洋水饺时，我们觉得自己仿佛是第一批发现捷克啤酒和水饺如此美味的外地人。
其实我特别节俭的秘密既不算秘密也不能说很特别：像在我之前的一代又一代背包客和俭游人一样，我在旅行时放慢脚步和放弃一部分舒适，我有限的积蓄便能用得更长久一些。我不住豪华酒店，而是住在干净而只带基本设施的旅馆、青年旅馆或小旅舍里；我不在高级餐厅用餐，而是从街上小贩和当地快餐店里购买食物。有时候，我徒步行走，幕天席地宿营，还不时有当地人再三盛情款待，得以免费吃喝。我不把旅行开支用在奢侈享受和便利设施上，而是将其投入到更长的旅行时间上——这样做总是会带来奇妙的旅行体验。
归根到底，背包俭游的魅力一直都不只在省钱，而是在于让我充分享受行走在路上的时光。节俭地旅行迫使我变得投入且富有创造力，而不是挥霍金钱来度假以期得到最佳享受。从呆板且花费不菲的旅行路线中解放出来，我更喜欢自由自在的旅行，去拥抱一些意外惊喜，去享受旅程中的每一个瞬间。
The travel caricature of Havana, of course, is an elegantly aged vision of cigars and classic cars, 6)son and 7)salsa, and 8)café con leche. To 9)actualise this vision, many 10)upscale tourists head for the $120-a-night 11)Hotel Nacional, which features $8 12)mojitos and a lovely terrace looking out over the 13)Malecón and 14)the Straits of Florida. Unfortunately, most Cubans don’t have access to the Hotel Nacional, and—as is the case with luxury hotels in many parts of the world—it tends to create a travel experience based more on the idea of how the city should be than how the city is.
I spent my nights in Cuba just up the street from the Hotel Nacional, 15)shelling out just $15 a night to sleep at a 16)casa particulare homestay in Havana’s leafy Vedado district. I couldn’t see the Malecón from my bedroom, nor could I order room-service rum cocktails, but I did get to take part in the day-to-day home routine of my Cuban hosts. In the mornings I would have coffee with them and practise my Spanish; in the evenings we’d watch the state-run TV station, trying to spot bits of real news through the haze of official propaganda. My host family cheerfully introduced me to various friends and neighbours, and within a few days my little social network had offered me access to underground poetry readings, 17)pickup baseball games, and—on one fateful afternoon—a bagpipe performance at the 18)Asturian Federation in central Havana.
Where I come from in the United States, bagpipes are the pastime of earnest, middle-aged men. In Havana, I discovered that bagpipes are the passion of wicked-smart twenty something 19)Havana University graduates with a deep and soulful love of music. Instead of playing the Spanish guitar and African 20)percussion that distinguish son music, however, these guys were 21)channelling the Celtic rhythms of Spain’s Asturias region. When I befriended those 22)hipster kids and began to learn how to play the 23)gaita (an Asturian bagpipe with a single 24)drone pipe), I discovered a side of Havana that was as authentically a part of Cuba as baseball and 25)rumba. Like the tourists in the Hotel Nacional, I still had plenty of access to son, cigars and salsa—but I also got to see a side of Havana that revealed the complexity of the city and its 26)subcultures.
I’m not saying that you have to hang out with bagpipers if you really want to experience Havana; I’m just noting how spending less money has a way of 27)paying off in original and memorable experiences. And shoestring travel is not just for long trips. Last summer, I travelled to 28)the Czech Republic with my parents. We could have easily 29)splurged on expensive hotels and guided tours during our time in Prague, but instead we bought a three-day tram-pass and checked into a 30)hostel in the city’s suburban Vinohrady district. Even though my parents are in their 60s, the youthful backpackers staying at the hostel treated them as one of their own, and offered travel advice on topics ranging from tourist destinations to experimental theatre to where one can 31)sample the city’s best 32)absinthe. We ended up spending three days exploring various corners of the city on foot and by public transport. We 33)stumbled across 34)standard sights like 35)Stare Mesto and 36)the Charles bridge, of course, but we also happened upon children’s school-jazz performances and a Czech 37)Corvette-club rally. When we stopped into a random pub and used improvised hand signals to order 38)Plzensky Prazdroj and 39)knedliky, we felt as if we were the very first outsiders to discover the joys of Czech beer and dumplings.
The secret to my extraordinary thrift was neither secret nor extraordinary: like many generations of backpackers and shoestring travellers before me, I was able to make my modest savings last by slowing down and 40)forgoing a few comforts as I travelled. Instead of luxury hotels, I slept in clean, basic hotels, hostels and guesthouses. Instead of dining at 41)fancy restaurants, I ate food from street vendors and local cafeterias. Occasionally, I travelled on foot, slept out under the stars, and dined for free at the stubborn insistence of local hosts. Instead of investing my travel budget in luxuries and 42)amenities, I invested it in more travel time—and it never failed to pay off in amazing experiences.
Ultimately, the charm of budget travel has always been less about saving money than making the most of my time on the road. Travelling cheaply has forced me to be engaged and creative, rather than to throw money at my holidays and hope for the best. Freed from a rigid, expense-laden 43)itinerary, I’m more likely to be spontaneous, embrace 44)serendipity and enjoy each moment of my journey.
每当有人问我为什么在38岁这样的成熟年龄还是喜欢背包俭游，我总会告诉他们我在哈瓦那学吹风笛的时光。我和古巴风笛手相遇的经历之所以如此难忘，不只是因为过程的离奇古怪，而是因为它能让我们看到——“穷”游是如何打开一扇扇窗，让你真实了解一个地方的文化，而非歪曲死板地看待，人云亦云。
一说到哈瓦那旅行，大家脑海里自然浮现出一幅优雅而古老的画面：雪茄、老爷车、古巴颂乐和萨尔萨舞曲以及古巴奶咖啡等。为了亲身体验这想象中的情景，许多高消费层次的游客住进了每晚120美元的古巴国宾馆，其特色为8美元一杯的莫吉托鸡尾酒和一个令人赏心悦目的大露台，从那里可以俯瞰哈瓦那滨海大道和佛罗里达海峡。不幸的是，大多数古巴人是进不了古巴国宾馆的，而且像世界上许多地方的豪华酒店一样，其为游客创造的旅游体验更多的是基于对城市设想的样子，并不是城市真实的样子。
我在古巴的住宿处离古巴国宾馆不远，在哈瓦那市中心郁郁葱葱的瓦达度区的一家家庭旅馆，每晚只需15美元。从我的卧室看不见滨海大道，也没有客房服务——可以叫人把朗姆鸡尾酒送到房间，但我却实实在在地走进了我那古巴房东的日常家庭生活。上午我会和他们一起喝咖啡，趁机操练我的西班牙语；晚上我们会一起观看国营电视台的节目，试图从官方宣传的迷雾中找出一丁点真正的新闻来。房东一家人热情地把我介绍给各种各样的朋友和邻居，不过几天功夫，我那小小的社交网络就给了我机会去参加地下诗歌朗诵会，还有大家即兴举行的棒球比赛。有一天下午，像命中注定似的，我去了哈瓦那市中心的阿斯图里亚斯人联合会，并在那里欣赏了风笛表演。
在美国我家住的那地区，吹风笛是那些严肃的中年人的消遣。在哈瓦那，我发现风笛却是哈瓦那大学那些二十来岁精灵聪明的毕业生们的最爱，他们打心底里深深地热爱音乐。这些小伙子们不玩古巴颂乐里惯用的西班牙吉他或者非洲打击乐器，而是另辟天地——表现西班牙阿斯图里亚斯地区的凯尔特音乐节奏。当我和这些机灵的大孩子交上了朋友，开始学吹西班牙风笛（一种阿斯图里亚斯风笛，只有一根风管）时，我发现了哈瓦那的另外一面，跟棒球和伦巴一样，都是古巴地道真实的一部分。和住在古巴国宾馆的游客一样，我依然有很多的机会去欣赏古巴颂乐和萨尔萨舞曲，品尝雪茄，但是我也看到了哈瓦那的另一面——这个城市的复杂多元和亚文化显露无遗。
我不是说如果你真要体验哈瓦那就一定得去结交风笛手，我只是想表明，少花钱如何可以让你体验到原汁原味和难以忘怀的旅行经历。俭游不只是适合长途旅行。去年夏天，我和父母同游捷克共和国。在布拉格的时候，我们无疑可以大撒金钱入住昂贵的酒店，然后参团游览算了；但是相反，我们买了一张乘坐电车的三日通票，住进了市郊维诺拉迪区的一家青年旅馆。尽管我父母已经六十多岁了，青年旅馆里年轻的背包客们却视他俩为其圈子中的一员，提供了许多很好的旅行攻略，包括旅游景点、实验剧场以及到哪里可以品尝到城里最好的苦艾酒。三天的行程中，我们或步行或乘公共交通工具探寻了城里的许多角落。当然，我们会偶然走到大家一致认同的名胜景点，像布拉格旧城区和查尔斯桥，我们也会碰巧撞见学校的孩子们在演奏爵士乐，还遇到捷克克尔维特汽车俱乐部的集会。当我们随意走进一家酒吧，用即兴想到的手势要了捷克本地的皮耳森啤酒和面皮包肉馅的洋水饺时，我们觉得自己仿佛是第一批发现捷克啤酒和水饺如此美味的外地人。
其实我特别节俭的秘密既不算秘密也不能说很特别：像在我之前的一代又一代背包客和俭游人一样，我在旅行时放慢脚步和放弃一部分舒适，我有限的积蓄便能用得更长久一些。我不住豪华酒店，而是住在干净而只带基本设施的旅馆、青年旅馆或小旅舍里；我不在高级餐厅用餐，而是从街上小贩和当地快餐店里购买食物。有时候，我徒步行走，幕天席地宿营，还不时有当地人再三盛情款待，得以免费吃喝。我不把旅行开支用在奢侈享受和便利设施上，而是将其投入到更长的旅行时间上——这样做总是会带来奇妙的旅行体验。
归根到底，背包俭游的魅力一直都不只在省钱，而是在于让我充分享受行走在路上的时光。节俭地旅行迫使我变得投入且富有创造力，而不是挥霍金钱来度假以期得到最佳享受。从呆板且花费不菲的旅行路线中解放出来，我更喜欢自由自在的旅行，去拥抱一些意外惊喜，去享受旅程中的每一个瞬间。