Many young people dream of travelling to foreign countries- experiencing different cultures, learning new languages, walking through streets built centuries ago, dancing in clubs and meeting new people. Their focus is on the fun and freedom involved. However, with the recent discovery of the body of 21-year-old Melbourne student Britt Lapthorne, a dark shadow has been cast across the culture of youth backpacking.

After a night out at a nightclub in Dubrovnik, Croatia, Britt disappeared, leaving behind no clues regarding her whereabouts.  After hearing of her disappearance and contacting Britt’s travel companions through social networking website Facebook, Britt’s father and brother travelled to Croatia with the hope of finding her still alive.

19 days after her disappearance on October 6th, a body was found badly decomposed floating in the sea off the coast of Dubrovnik. Tests revealed that the body found belonged to Britt Lapthorne.

Britt’s father, Dale Lapthorne, has called for further enquiries to be made into his daughter’s death in Dubrovnik.

“It is just extraordinary. It’s your worst nightmare in many ways,” he said.

Travelling can be a daunting experience and many young travellers are now taking extra precautions to ensure they stay safe when overseas.

Alicia King, 20, and Martin Skinner, 21, a Sydney couple currently living in Ireland, spent all of 2007 saving for their trip to Europe this year.  They wanted to enjoy the experience and freedom of travelling abroad, and so far their preparation has seen them undertake their travels with few difficulties.

“Personally we haven’t been affected by any troubles, although we have seen robberies and scams happening.  I think if we'd tried to backpack through Europe on our own we definitely would have come across some sort of trouble at some point. On our budget we would have been forced to sleep in hostels in six to eight [people] share rooms with total strangers, probably in some of the worst parts of the city,” Alicia said.

Like many young travellers today, Alicia and Martin chose to undertake a 35-day Contiki tour through Europe before venturing out on their own. They believe that this was a great idea, especially because they were on a guided tour where everyone was accounted for.

“Being in a group with an experienced tour guide and driver made you feel a whole lot safer than being on your own in a foreign place, where you don’t know anyone and don’t speak the language.

“Contiki organised all of our day-to-day travel and activities, so you could just sit back and enjoy the experience.  We were also guaranteed a certain basic level of quality as well as safety with accommodation, as everyone was roomed with someone they knew from the tour,” Martin says.

Shawn Hildebrandt, 27 from Canada, has travelled all through Europe and recently to Australia, and has seen and heard many stories involving fellow travellers while overseas.

“I hear it, especially from the experienced backpackers, saying something has happened to them, all the time.  Robberies and small things are the most common.  One of my tour leaders was robbed in Egypt and another was pick-pocketed in Rome,” he says.

Currently taking a break from his adventures in his home country, Shawn was recently informed of the disappearance and death of Britt Lapthorne.  He says to try to prevent future difficulties, travellers need to be very aware of their surroundings, especially the people that surround them, which is why he prefers to travel in groups.

“To make it the safest I always do a lot of research beforehand. It’s about where you have to be, at what time, how to get there and what you need to get there. The best way is to go along with an experienced traveller who knows the ropes,” he says.

However, Shawn says young people shouldn’t be deterred from seeing the world. While people should always be on the look out for odd behavior, the best part of travelling is experiencing “the great unknown”.

“No matter how well planned a trip is, surprises will always pop up,” he says.

Alicia and Martin both agree that often challenges pop up along the way and in a lot of cases luck has plenty to do with the outcome.

“Some people on the tour had stayed with some really dodgy people in budget hostels and one had even had his credit card stolen and about $1000 worth of transactions made.

“Our Contiki tour driver, who has been working for Contiki as a driver for eight years, was mugged in Barcelona and he was well aware of the danger of pickpockets and took necessary precautions but obviously that wasn’t enough,” Alicia said.

It can be a struggle for young backpackers to be in control of all situations while overseas, especially because the lifestyle is full of partying and exploring. Many are now making good use of technologies such as the internet, however, to let family and friends know they are safe and to prevent falling into dangerous situations.

“We've been very lucky in our travels so far. We've tried to be very careful whilst being on the road – taking care at ATMs and watching who's standing around us, definitely staying away from the bad areas of town and most importantly regularly keeping in contact with family and friends through things like Facebook,” Alicia says.

Image by[[ranciedad]], licensed byCreative Commons.