---EXCERPT FROM CHAPTER 1---
The familiar smell of budget noodles boiling in dented aluminum pots became obvious as soon as I stepped through the front door. Hostels never change. A few travellers waited near the front desk, straddling backpacks between their feet. Another had fallen asleep in a corner lounge chair while hugging his closed laptop, unbothered by the abundance of well-travelled dirt between the cushions. A cracked guitar leaned against a book-swap shelf filled with outdated guidebooks, long since replaced by smartphones. Heavily accented conversation rang out from the communal kitchen. For at least a decade of my life, I wanted only to be in places like this. That era of exploration and self-discovery was now well behind me, but never far from my thoughts. And now I found myself back at a hostel, hitting reset and starting again. Inevitably. Despite the years of absence from backpacking, I still felt at home.
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The journey a backpacker takes through 20 years and 45 countries is as much about the person as it is about the places. In The Backpacker Lifecycle, Brendyn Zachary shares his hilarious (and sometimes highly personal) experiences of travelling through different countries and different states of mind as the years go by.

From hostels to hotels.
Backpacks to suitcases.
Hitchhiking to guided tours.