| 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 word. A | | | | We’re all flashpackers, whether you like it or not. |
| flashpacker is defined as a person, unusually in their | | | | We may not be driving up to the hostel in a limo but |
| mid 20s to early 30s, who travels like a backpacker | | | | we all expect a little “flash” nowadays. |
| but has more disposal money as well as electronics | | | | According to a Hostelworld study in 2006, 21 percent |
| such as a camera or laptop. Flashpackers also expect | | | | of travelers travel with a laptop, 54 percent with an |
| better accommodation and services. | | | | MP3 player, 83 percent with a mobile phone and a |
| Neither fully backpacker nor tourist, flashpacking is new | | | | whopping 86 percent travel with a digital camera. |
| to the traveling lexicon. Flashpackers rest in hostels, | | | | Now think about your last vacation- how many people |
| carry a backpack, and find cheap transportation but | | | | did you see with cameras? Ipods? Laptops? I can’t |
| blow their wad on meals, beer, tours, and parties. They | | | | remember seeing one person without a camera, and |
| usually aren’t walking into a hostel randomly or | | | | at least 3/4 of the people I saw had Ipods. |
| wearing the same shirt for a week. A number of | | | | The truth is we all travel with expensive electronics |
| hostels are up scaling to meet the mounting wants and | | | | now. We check our email and Skype our friends. We |
| desires of flashpackers and you’ll find these hostels | | | | all have a camera and most of us have an Ipod. |
| in all over the world. Flashpackers still have no fixed | | | | We’ve become flashpackers and it’s not a bad |
| voyage and all the time to wander around but don’t | | | | thing. All these electronics allows us to stay better |
| pinch every penny. They are backpackers with means. | | | | connected with our friends, our family, and helps us |
| Backpacking is not about a look, it’s a lifestyle. Just | | | | better document our travels. The key is to once in |
| because a traveler doesn’t have a certain look, | | | | awhile to put down the camera, turn off the computer, |
| doesn’t mean they lack the will of a backpacker. It | | | | and enjoy the culture you came to see. |
| doesn’t make them less of a backpacker. It goes | | | | The backpacker who set off with 1 shirt, a small pack, |
| against the backpacker outlook to look down on | | | | and two baht to his name is getting hard to find. Many |
| someone because they travel a different way. | | | | of us have a little more money and want a little more |
| Aren’t we supposed to be embracing different | | | | but we still carry his spirit. We still seek new cultures, |
| ways of life? | | | | exotic locales, and long term travel. We still look for |
| It all comes down to what makes a backpacker a | | | | cheap hostels and transport. We camp on that jungle |
| backpacker. That’s sprit. The desire to explore | | | | trek. The difference is that now we also want a |
| new places and experience new people. Backpacking | | | | location to plug in our camera, check our e-mail, and |
| is about opening your mind to new things and looking | | | | take a hot shower. We just want to be |
| differently at the world. It’s not about the stuff you | | | | pampered…once in awhile. |