You are never too old to travel, as the man likely to be the world's oldest backpacker tells CHRIS TITLEY.

JOHN Waite has travelled thousands of miles around the world. He has visited corners of continents forgotten by the rest of the planet, explored ancient civilisations and come under fire in several war zones.

Along the way he has met some extraordinary people, Mother Teresa and the Dalai Lama included.

But for all his globetrotting, there is one thing he has never done: encounter another backpacker who even comes close to his age.

John is 80. Not the time of life, you might think, to be kipping under the desert sky snuggling up to a camel for warmth, or to go white water rafting in Asia.

Yet John thinks nothing of such perilous pursuits. In that, he is out on his own.

"I haven't met a backpacker as old as me, or anywhere near it," he said.

Most of the people he meets on the road or in hostels are in their 20s, some have reached 30 and he has met up with the occasional middle-aged backpacker (but they flew to and from their destinations; John travels over land).

Soon, however, John will no longer be the world's lone 80-year-old youth hosteler. At the end of the month, he turns 81.

By that time, he'll probably be in Cuba, or perhaps South America. His family will find out a few weeks' later, when the postcards arrive.

As befits John's globetrotter status, his relatives are found on both sides of the world. Many live in York, where he was born and spent almost half his life. The rest are in his adopted home, Melbourne, Australia.

He began backpacking late in life, in 1983, after his wife, Elizabeth, known as Ella, died. He would never have expected her to rough it in hostels or, worse, sleep in open country.

So what is it about backpacking that appeals to him?

"Freedom. One word, freedom. You can go where you want, when you want."

John has visited all the world's continents, and it is easier for him to list the places he has not visited (East Timor, the Falkland Islands and Greenland among them) than all those he has.

After a chance meeting in Nairobi with a doctor working for UNICEF, John joined the organisation. He passed the medical, waived his insurance (no one over 60 is insured, they said) and has since worked wherever they have needed him.

He helped oversee the safe passage of food convoys into some of the world's poorest countries, such as Sudan. Although the villagers were usually friendly, it was often dangerous work.

"I have been in a few places where we have been bombed and shot at," he said. "A few of my friends have been shot and killed.

"It can be as peaceful as anything in a village, talking to them, dropping food for them. You can go out the next day, they're the ones hiding in the bush trying to kill you."

As for the highlights of 20 years of travelling, "white water rafting in Nepal down to the Indian border was terrific. You don't have too many safety features with those people".

John also enjoys visiting places which few foreigners see, such as the Pakistan-Afghanistan border "where al Qaida are supposed to be".

It was beautiful but tough.

"You are boiled in the daytime from about nine o'clock. Sleeping outside it was freezing. If you found a camel or a donkey you would cuddle up to it, because I didn't have a sleeping bag with me."

John has outstayed his welcome in the Soviet Union when his visa ran out, visited the People's Games in China, cycled along the Karakoram Highway in Pakistan - the highest highway in the world - and slept on beaches around the globe.

There can be little doubt that his York childhood prepared him for travelling on his wits. He was brought up in St Saviour's Place, "in the only house that's left" on the Fossgate side. "I could have bought it for £40 when my mum died in 1957, and it's on the market for £ million now," he said.

In his day, however, no estate agent could have described the poverty-stricken Hungate area as much sought after. The house then had no electricity and no hot water.

His dad was a butcher and slaughterman who was often out of work in the depression, and times were hard. Nevertheless, John remembers it as a happy childhood in an area with genuine community spirit.

And he emerged with a certain resourcefulness. "They weren't days when you had everything.

"As children we would go to the Tang Hall tip, find a couple of wheels and a frame and build a bicycle up. We'd go cycling, or brambling in season."

Kids would make hoops from old wire, or spend an afternoon playing with marbles or cigarette cards.

After leaving school, John went to work at Rowntree's before joining the West Yorkshire Regiment when war broke out. He was later in Special Services, training in survival techniques and undertaking commando raids in North Africa.

The war over, he returned to York and two stints at Rowntree's, working in the Scottish hydro-electricity industry in between. He was 38, married to Ella and with a young family when the chance came up to emigrate to Australia. They moved to Melbourne and John secured a job with prospects in Victoria's vehicle licensing department.

Nowadays, his five children, 11 grandchildren and one great granddaughter are often unsure where John is in the world. A settled working life has given way to a restless retirement.

He has proved that age is no bar to living your dreams.

"I would love to go around some of those old people's clubs, for want of a better word, and talk to them.

"They think that they can't do it, won't do it, won't try it. But they can."

What puts many people off is fear of illness, he said. The knack is to enjoy each day.

"If I have a heart attack in the middle of Africa, well, I have had a bloody good holiday, and I haven't the expense of a funeral parlour."

"ANYONE with a big backpack is a tourist." So says John Waite, who travels light. Very light.

The trick is to pack the bare minimum, then you are truly mobile. To show how it's done, John kindly displayed the full contents of his backpack (brand new; the previous one fell apart after only 19 years).

With the clothes he stood up in, this is everything he takes with him wherever he goes. Bear in mind that he has been away for as long as four years at a stretch.

Clothes: Two pairs of socks; one set of thermal underwear; two pairs of shorts; one jumper; two shirts; spare pair of underpants

On the beach: small towel, pair of swimming trunks, pair of flip-flops

Toiletries: razor, toothbrush, soap, comb, nail scissors, plasters

Cutlery: knife, fork, spoon, corkscrew

Other: sleeping bag, torch, book to read.

And that's it. All wrapped in plastic bags to keep the sand out. John washes his clothes nightly and when they wear out, replaces them.

So what are his tips to would-be backpackers? Number one: explore your own country first. "There's nothing worse than going overseas and someone asking where you come from. They will say, 'have you visited this place?' And you say no, and they reply 'I have'."

Also if you rough it in Britain first, you will know whether you like it. Then when you go abroad, all you have to cope with is the language and the currency.

As John puts it: "To be a backpacker, you don't just put a pack on your back. You have to serve an apprenticeship."

The other crucial rule is "respect another place's culture, religion, flag and their anthem.

"The flag and the national anthem belong to the people. Politicians come and go."

Get the most out of your travels by seeking as much contact with the locals as possible.

To do that, and for sound thrifty Yorkshire reasons, John journeyed across China in a fourth class train carriage, known, for self-evident reasons, as the "hard seat".

"They're wonderful people," he said. "When there's someone who can speak a little English, he'll make his way to sit next to you.

"People will fire questions, and he'll translate."

Above all, don't be afraid to rough it. In a particularly basic hostel, with a water trough for washing in, he met a disabled backpacker who was travelling on her own around Asia in her wheelchair. And she was loving it.

"People say, 'I'd love to do what you are doing, but - '. There's always a but. Yet she was paraplegic, and doing it."

Updated: 10:15 Wednesday, December 03, 2003