| Somewhere before my bus broke down in Australia, I | | | | carry. As your spirit is the same, what stuff you carry |
| was called a flashpacker. Despite traveling for 18 | | | | shouldn't matter. |
| months, it was the first time I'd heard the term. A | | | | We're all flashpackers, whether you like it or not. We |
| flashpacker is defined as someone, unusually in their | | | | may not be driving up to the hostel in a limo but we all |
| mid 20s to early 30s, who travels like a backpacker | | | | expect a little "flash" nowadays. According to a |
| but has more disposal income as well as electronics | | | | Hostelworld study in 2006, 21 percent of people travel |
| such as a camera or laptop. Flashpackers also expect | | | | with a laptop, 54 percent with an MP3 player, 83 |
| better hostels and services. | | | | percent with a mobile phone and a whopping 86 |
| Neither fully backpacker nor tourist, flashpackers are | | | | percent travel with a digital camera. |
| new to the traveling vocabulary. Flashpackers sleep in | | | | Think about your last holiday- how many travelers did |
| hostels, use a backpack, and want cheap | | | | you see with cameras? iPods? Laptops? I can't |
| transportation but blow their wad on meals, beer, tours, | | | | remember seeing one person without a camera, and |
| and parties. They usually aren't walking into a hostel | | | | at least 3/4 of the people I saw had iPods. |
| randomly or wearing the same shirt for a week. Many | | | | The truth is we all travel with costly electronics now. |
| hostels are up scaling to accommodate the increasing | | | | We check our email and Skype our friends. We all |
| wants and desires of flashpackers and you'll find these | | | | have a camera and most of us have an iPod. We are |
| hostels in all corners of the earth. Flashpackers still | | | | flashpackers and it's not a bad thing. All these |
| have no fixed journey and all the time to roam around | | | | electronics allows us to stay better connected with our |
| but don't pinch every penny. They are backpackers | | | | friends, our family, and helps us better document our |
| with means. | | | | travels. The key is to once in awhile to put down the |
| Backpacking is not about a look, it's a lifestyle. Just | | | | camera, turn off the computer, and enjoy the culture |
| because a person doesn't have a certain style, doesn't | | | | you came to see. |
| mean they lack the character of a backpacker. It | | | | The backpacker who set off with 1 shirt, a small pack, |
| doesn't make them less of a backpacker. It goes | | | | and two baht to his name is getting hard to find. Many |
| against the backpacker mentality to look down on | | | | of us have a little more money and want a little more |
| someone because they travel differently. Aren't we | | | | but we still carry the backpacker spirit. We still seek |
| supposed to be embracing different ways of life? | | | | new cultures, exotic locales, and long term travel. We |
| It all comes down to what makes a backpacker a | | | | still look for cheap hostels and transport. We camp on |
| backpacker. That's spirit. The desire to explore new | | | | that jungle trek. The divergence is that now we also |
| places and experience new people. Backpacking is | | | | want a place to plug in our camera, check our e-mail, |
| about opening your mind to new things and looking | | | | and take a hot shower. We just want to be |
| differently at the world. It's not about the stuff you | | | | pampered...once in awhile. |