AN INTRODUCTION TO FLASHPACKING

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The first question many travellers’ may have is this: What is flashpacking?

Well, a key element of flashpacking is the love of independent travel. This is a sensibility obviously carried over from the backpacking movement, which combines the thirst for independent travel with a meagre budget. I think we’d all agree that travelling is about expanding your horizons, opening your mind to new things and looking differently at the world. It’s not about the stuff you carry. If your spirit is the same, the amount of flash with you does not matter.

In this sense we’re all flashpackers, whether we like it or not. Flashpackers may not be driving up to the hostel in a limo but we all expect a little “flash” nowadays. According to a Hostelworld study in 2006, 21 percent of people travel with a laptop, 54 percent with an MP3 player, 83 percent with a mobile phone and a whopping 86 percent travel with a digital camera.

Now think about your last trip- how many people you see with cameras? Ipods? Laptops? Almost everybody. So many flashpackers are actually just the growing number of ‘techno-travellers’ out there. They’ve got iPods and digital cameras. They’re travelling with their laptops. They want to blog and broadcast live video streams of their travel experiences, so they need free WiFi at their hostel. All this stuff allows us to stay better connected with our friends, our family, and helps us better document our travels. The key is to once in awhile to put down the camera, turn off the computer, and enjoy the culture you came to experience.

While technology is a key element of flashpacking, though, it’s not the whole picture, by any means. A flashpacker is essentially just the usual backpacker or independent traveller, looking for something a bit more upmarket from their digs.

They want all the flexibility of the independent traveller – the unfixed itinerary that allows you to think on your feet and go wherever the fancy takes you – yet they also want (just a little!) of the look and feel of a boutique hotel. They don’t want your standard budget hotel: rather, they’re after the advantages of a good, old-fashioned cheap hostel, with just a bit more, well, luxury. Flashpackers will generally seek out more comfortable accommodation than backpackers would, often opting for private rooms (rather than dorms) at hostels.

And even the most hardcore backpackers among us can do with a bit of luxury from time to time…