I was very excited to join this Backpacker Program because I would be traveling for one year without meeting my parents, but instead I would be together with my friends who had spent the previous year with me. Although we experienced many problems and challenges during that year, the activity we had been waiting for was finally coming: the 20-country Backpacker Program.
Before starting the backpacking journey, all students were allowed to return to their respective homes. The students participating in this program came from many different regions and islands. Some of them went back to Sumatra, Makassar, Kalimantan, and some students from the Greater Jakarta area (Jabodetabek) and its surroundings also returned home.
The backpacker students were given more time at home because we needed to prepare many things for this journey. There were many preparations needed before starting this program. One of the most important things was preparing our mentality. We had to be ready to face any challenges that might happen in the countries we visited.
For example, we had to be prepared if we visited a country where people might be racist or uncomfortable with our presence. We also had to be ready if the food did not match our taste. Besides mental preparation, we also needed to prepare many types of equipment, such as a carrier backpack, clothes, pants, medicine, and learning equipment like laptops, chargers, and mice.
Students were also encouraged to bring cameras because during this Backpacker Program, we had an assignment to create a vlog in every country we visited. In addition, every semester we were given assignments, such as writing a book with a minimum of 300 pages, as well as completing assignments related to our respective majors.