Yesterday I went to the pool, took a nap, and spent some time on the internet at the Pirates Cove. I intended to only spend two hours at the pool, but I started talking to some people, and suddenly it was late in the afternoon. Being in the sun makes me sleepy, so I had a nap.
I spent some of my time talking to a woman from England, trying to convince her that she and her husband could get by in Latin America without speaking a lot of Spanish. She tried to explain to me just how much the US is resented overseas because of Iraq. I already know.
Then I chatted with two English guys. The younger one, who is in his early forties, told me that when he first came to SE Asia as a backpacker back when he was 35, he felt a little old, that most of the backpackers were considerably younger than he is. Now, at 42, he feels young, because an increasing percentage of the backpackers are in their late fifties, their sixties, or even their seventies. Even after you drop out the aging European sex tourists, even if you restrict the count to couples, there has been a dramatic change in the composition of the backpacking community. I noticed this for the first time in India two years ago, and again here in Thailand.
All I can say is, "Senior Backpackers Rule!"
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