Local backpackers flock together - The Boston Globe

Local backpackers flock together

Seasoned travelers tour with novices

Matt Caskey (center) discusses the upcoming trip to Ireland with fellow Budget Backpackers including (from left) Bill Jannino, Nick Leesam, Laurie Pearlstein, and Louise Nunn. (George Rizer/Globe Staff)

It started as a classic 20-something backpacking trip to Europe.

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Matt Caskey, then of Atlanta, and a buddy had landed a landscaping gig that paid good money. They decided to use the extra cash to explore Eastern Europe.

It was 1998 and neither Caskey nor his friend had ever left the United States. They struggled with the language, spent way too much money, and slept in more than a few train stations. But in the end, they came home so enamored with the experience that they made a vow to repeat it every year.

Fast forward a decade. Caskey, who now works at MIT and lives in the North End, has trekked across Europe more times than he can count. In 2006, he decided to help travel novices on a limited budget experience what he did. He launched a group called the Budget Backpacker, which leads inexperienced travelers down the same routes he once stumbled along.

"I made a lot of mistakes in a lot of cities," Caskey explained with a rueful grin. "Knowing what hostels to stay at, how to handle lost train tickets - that's priceless!"

To date, Caskey has guided five groups of backpackers through destinations ranging from Amsterdam and Paris to the UK and Poland. The latest group is set to take off for Ireland on Saturday.

One recent Sunday evening found a few travel newbies, plus a handful of Budget Backpacker veterans, gathered at a Back Bay restaurant to prepare for the trip. The talk very quickly turned to the sights and adventures of past trips, including a UK travel mishap - the group arrived at the London Underground at rush hour with 40-pound backpacks in tow - and the ease of getting around Amsterdam by bike.

Bill Jannino, of Roslindale, eagerly chimed in: "I even saw a rolling bar when I was there. It was 10 people on bikes, all pedaling, with a bartender in the middle mixing drinks. They were all smashed - it was the best thing I'd ever seen!"

A main draw of the tours that Caskey puts together is that they leave travelers pretty much on their own to explore the various destinations. Fees cover the cost of airfares, lodging, transportation between cities, and a few incidentals such as maps and travel insurance.

Caskey organizes these details, and generally tries to "keep the good times going." But what travelers do with their time abroad is more or less up to them.

In practice, Caskey said, backpackers on each trip - who typically start out as strangers - tend to venture out into each new city in pairs or as a group. Most of the people who sign up for the tours are in their 20s or early 30s, he said, and all of them are looking for an adventure. But, like Caskey himself 10 years ago, many have never left the United States before - and they simply don't know how to get going without some practical help and moral support.

Such was the case for Jannino, a native of Walpole, who found Budget Backpacker on Craigslist.

He took his first trip with the group in 2006, traveling to Amsterdam, through Belgium, and finally to Paris. He said he recalls being amazed by the laid-back European culture, and by how most people, even in Paris, would help you out if you just showed them your map.

"It was really just, you know, sensory overload," he added.

Jannino, who works as a union carpenter, has participated in every Budget Backpacker trip since - there are about two per year. His travels so far have taken him from Ireland to the Czech Republic. He is gearing up now to lead a group trip sometime in the next year.

"Travel is easier than I thought it was," he said. "It's not really that intimidating once you're actually there."