I guess it’s the right time of year. We saw our first batch of backpackers today at Paddington Station. Giant clean backpacks (rucksacks as the Brits call them) obviously new. So full of stuff they don’t need (such newbies). And they even had big maple leaf patches sewn on. Of course that made me assume that they must be Americans, but on closer inspection they were carrying MEC packs! (sniff) Real Canadians. I Got a bit nostalgic seeing them staring at the Tube map in confusion. It will be 5 years in June since I did my cliche backpack around Europe trip.