Tripfilms Travel Blog

 The Art of Backpacking is a blog that's devoted to all things backpacking. It unites backpackers and helps them to plan the best, most cost effective trips. It also has useful tips and gear section.

Their site will be embedding a favorite video on from Tripfilms once a week. Their choice this week is Bangkok Street Party by claytonklyne. See it here: http://www.artofbackpacking.com/film-feature-bangkok-street-party/

The founder, Mike Tieso, tells his story about the Art of Backpacking's birth and why backpacking beats luxury any day.

What was your first trip? Is that when you were bitten by the travel bug?
I took a spur of the moment road trip from NYC to Florida when I was
20. I had known nothing about budget traveling at the time but since I
had nearly no money, I was quickly learning how to do that. I got my
feet wet for budget traveling but still had no idea that was my
calling. Fast forward 4 years later and I discovered the backpacking
community online. I took a mini trip to Montreal and after that
planned a trip around the world for a year and then the rest is
history. I am now permanently diagnosed with the travel bug looking
for no cure.

Although my first backpacking trip was in Montreal for only about over
a week, I didn't get a real sense of backpacking until I left for a
around the world trip. I landed in Beijing, China with a one way
ticket and no clue where I was going next. This took me all throughout
Asia, Australia, and South America.
My parents took me to a cruise ship that lasted 7 days throughout the
Caribbean. Though I did meet wonderful people on the boat and was more
then spoiled, I did get bored after awhile itching to do something
more exciting. I like to do a bit more excursions then I do relaxing.
Not to say I would never stay in a hotel ever again but I do prefer
hostels, guest houses, or home stays.
Most definitely a free backpacking trip. Though the value may be a lot
less then a luxury resort vacation, I prefer the experience and
excitement of a backpacking trip. A very much a people person to be
stuck in a hotel room with no one around me.
Asia took a part of me thats still left there for me to pick up. It's
essentially the complete opposite in culture from what I grew up with
and for that reason, I fell in love with it. Everyday felt like I was
learning something new. Hoping to go back within the next year.

What places disappointed you?
There isn't place that highly disappointed me yet. I was however
disappointed on how expensive Australia was which was very unexpected.
After my Montreal trip, I decided to start something where I could jot
down the places I went to. None of my family and friends knew what
backpacking was so I figured I'd get a website going to share what I
learned. I already knew by now I was leaving for a one year RTW so it
couldn't have been a better timing. Now it's grown into something much
bigger then jotting down my experiences.

How has it evolved?
Through the power of Twitter, it seems anything is possible.
Popularity mostly grew by itself from constant updates. After a year
of being online, I figured I'd put a bit more time into the website
making it a full-time career. It keeps evolving and it there doesn't
seem there's an end to it either. Originally it was to educate family
and friends on distant cultures, budget travel, and backpacking but
now it's more on a global aspect with the same mission.
Networking is very important to me and through Art of Backpacking, I'd
like more opportunities to meet people around the world. I'm also
frequently called 'crazy' by fellow Americans at home because of my
travel experiences and they some never even heard of backpacking. I'm
hoping to inspire a new way to travel though I'd probably still be
called crazy. Because of Art of Backpacking, I've discovered new
places and met new people around the world. The recommendations I
receive are just overwhelming.
I want to share cultural knowledge as well as destinations to the
natural wonders of the world. It's a place to inform others about the
wonderful journey that is backpacking.
Video is a forever growing resource of information online. It captures
not just the visual aspect but the audio which is important about the
destination. Tripfilms has thousands of videos in destinations I've
never heard of from people all around the world. I feel as if I'm
learning something new with every video that I watch. The organization
of knowing that only Travel related videos will be uploaded helps a
lot. Featuring Tripfilms on Art of Backpacking fits the goal were
pushing towards which is sharing cultural knowledge and experiences
from all around the world.
To continue learning about the world around us which is great because
the goal is never ending.