Travel Ideas

Tune in, turn on, drop out and… log off?

Mention the word ‘hippie’ to most people and they’ll immediately give you the peace sign and make some corny joke about marijuana and the 60’s. Oh yeah, VW vans, long hair and make love not war, man!

Like there was something wrong with that. The mass media have managed to caricature one of the most important movements in the history of modern civilization to the point of ridicule – anyone who would rather live in a teepee than a condo must be a real loser, right? I mean, don’t the 80’s count for anything?

But 40 years on from when psychedelics and music set the hearts and minds of young people free from the material dream, hippies, freaks and heads are still to be found all over the planet, enjoying their lives without needing to go round and round the rat race, believing the establishment’s promise that happiness is just around the corner.

Whatever you think you know about hippies, forget it. Head out to a rainbow gathering or any of the freak havens included here and get in touch with a way of life that involves sharing, nature and doing things your own way.

Sure, there’s as much hypocrisy and falsity in the freak and hippie scenes as anywhere else – people who idol worship their crystal collections and who learn massage as an excuse to touch up people they find attractive – but you’ll also find more love, acceptance and interesting people amongst the hippies than most other places on the planet.

And, at the end of the day, sex, drugs and rock and roll and actually pretty cool.

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