The aboriginal tradition of the walkabout is alive and well in a more modern form with Australia's youth. On almost every single trip we take, we share a bus, a hostel room, a table, or at least a "G'day mate" with Australian backpackers, who are always among the most friendly people we meet. They are typically spending many months in Europe as part of a gap year (usually time between finishing school and getting a job/going to college).I think it's really cool that there is some kind of cultural predisposition to travel among the college-age Australians and I'd love to understand how it has come about (comment below if you have insight). But of course, I also find it a little troubling that we don't encounter more US travelers, considering the United States has 15 times as many people as Australia. Do we lack the same sense of adventure and curiosity? Are we too focused on developing careers? Or do we tend to just travel within our own borders?
In a marginally related note, we encounter almost as many snorers as Australians during our hostel stays. The award for the worst ever snoring, however, actually goes to the lone Welsh guy we've met, in a hostel in Cologne (Germany). He snored as if he was alternatingly coughing up and then swallowing his own lungs and when it started, I actually awoke scared for his life. Had I not had toilet paper earplugs at my disposal, I might have woke him up with an attempt to dislodge his internal organs from his breathing path via the Heimlich maneuver. Instead, one of his buddies, accustomed to but not happy with the racket, threw a shoe at him. (He awoke with a GRRRUMPH, and all was again right with the world.)
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