Eurail pass? Check. Travel partner and best friend? Check. Enough clothes and supplies to last two months abroad? I sure hope so.

After scouring the Web for bargains, we book our flight to London. We’ve been studying maps, youth hostel websites, and train routes since January. Now with our last semester of high school behind us, we embark on a new adventure: the classic summer backpacking trip.

Upon arriving at the airport, we take the Tube and head toward our youth hostel in the city center. With our money belts tucked inside our jeans, we emerge from the Underground, and I begin to study the map I printed from the Internet.

Within a few minutes, my face wrinkles into a look of confusion. Luckily, a friendly Londoner notices we need help and points us in the right direction. The receptionist at the hostel’s front desk tells us where to leave our things, so we lock up our backpacks and set out. Following a proper meal of fish and chips, we spend the afternoon photographing Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, and Piccadilly Circus.

Back at the youth hostel that evening, we chat with our roommates. They are from California, and London is their last stop before heading back home. Later, we join some Canadian backpackers in the lobby, and we all go out to a pub for dinner. So far, all the hostellers we’ve met have been friendly and full of travel tips and suggestions. If this is a taste of what the next two months will be like, I could really get used to the life of a backpacker!

歐洲火車聯票？買了。一起旅行的好夥伴？有了。海外生活兩個月的衣服和補給品帶夠了嗎？但願。

在網路上搜尋了便宜的機票後，我們終於訂了去倫敦的班機。從一月開始，我們就已不斷地研究地圖、青年旅舍網站和火車路線。在高中生涯還剩最後一學期的此刻，我們著手開始一項新冒險：一次典型的夏天背包客之旅。

到達機場後，我們搭地鐵到市中心的青年旅社，我們將錢都塞在牛仔褲裡。出地鐵站後，我開始研究從網路上列印下來的地圖。

不到幾分鐘，我的眉頭皺了起來，露出困惑的表情。幸運的是，有位好心的倫敦客發現我們需要幫助，指引了我們正確的方向。青年旅社的櫃台接待員告訴我們行李該放置的地點，我們將背包放好並鎖上後就出門了。在享用了一頓炸魚和薯條之後，我們便花了整個下午拍大笨鐘、白金漢宮和皮卡迪利圓環。

當晚回到旅社後，我們和從美國加州來的室友聊天，倫敦是這些人返家前的最後一站。稍後，我們在大廳和一群加拿大背包客一起去酒吧享用晚餐。到目前為止，我們遇到的投宿者都很友善，而且不吝給予我們許多旅遊情報和叮嚀，如果接下來兩個月的生活都是像這樣的話，我可是會愛上背包客生活喔！