As odd as it may sound, it now seems that backpackers that are traveling through Australia are putting their sexual health in danger. This is because backpackers apparently take a lot of risks that they would not consider doing back home.

The Sydney Sexual Health Care Center just recently finished up an eight year study which focused on backpackers originating from the UK and Ireland who were in their mid twenties and were traveling to Australia. The study found out that, amongst backpackers, they like to take part in unprotected sex and, of course, binge drinking. As a result of this promiscuity, STD’s like chlamydia and Herpes are being spread throughout Australia.

Just about 50 percent of males that were studied said that they had more than two sexual partners in the past three months. Only about 30 percent of women admitted to the same thing. Half of all the backpackers admitted to having sex with someone new while they were backpacking. 10 percent of those questioned had a sexual encounter in Thailand before coming to Australia. This is because Thailand is a very popular halfway point between Australia and the UK.

The study also found out that binge drinking was very popular among the younger crowd during backpacking trips. Men were three times more likely to binge drink and women were twice as likely.

However, the blame game is not over yet. The study also showed that local Australians were less likely to use a condom than backpackers. 22 percent of backpackers always used a condom while 19 percent of locals did.