Melburn

Melbourne is great. Truly. It was just voted the most livable city in the world, and after having spent a week there, I believe it. It’s got a beautiful location on the Yarra river, is full of parks, outdoor spaces (including lots of free wi-fi), bars, restaurants, sporting venues, events, and the beach is just a 15 minute tram ride away. It’s definitely one of those places that you come through as a backpacker and you think “I want to come back here when I’m a real person; I could totally live here”.

That said, big cities are tough as a backpacker – they’re expensive and crowded and impersonal. And, although there’s tons of hostels and tons of people in them, everybody has their guard up. The easiest way to meet people in a hostel is when you all gather in the lounge in the evening and discuss your day, but the city has so many diversions that people don’t ever gather there, so you don’t really meet anybody or even have any good conversations. Cities end up being the loneliest places on the backpacker route, and not much exciting or blog-worthy happens in them. Hence this boring post. But visit Melbourne!

Oh, it was hot there, bloody hot.