Flashpacking or Backpacking? How to Tell the Difference

But what exactly is a flashpacker, anyway?

According to Wikipedia, it's a backpacker with flash. To others, it's someone who backpacks with more money or less time than a traditional backpacker.

Taking into account collective wisdom and a wealth of definitions across the web, you're probably a flashpacker if:

• your first question when you check in is "Do you have WIFI?"


• your second question is "How many power points/plugs do you have in the room?"


• you're carrying at least four of the following electronic devices and their chargers: laptop, Blackberry, GPS, iPod (or MP3), cellphone, sat phone, digital camera, digital video, flash drive, headphones, multi-plug adapter


• your gear has recognizable brand names - but this isn't hard and fast, since the poorest of backpackers can appreciate and often buy the finest gear


• you're asking for directions to the airport rather than the bus terminal when it's time to travel


• you have your own bathroom


• your backpack has wheels, or you don't even have a backpack - you have a suitcase!

There isn't a flashpacking prototype but there are trends.

A Flashpacker's Backpack?
Photo: powerbooktrance via Flickr

Flashpackers tend to be a bit older than backpackers, although it's hard to generalize, since there are plenty of 80-year-old backpackers, and 20-year-old flashpackers. They probably have more money (though they're not necessarily rich at all), and they may have less time, having perhaps taken a leave of absence from a job to travel. And they may require a bit more comfort - why take an overnight bus trip when you can fly?

There are major similarities as well. Flashpackers aren't 'if it's Tuesday it must be Belgium' types - they tend to travel for longer periods of time, as backpackers do. Many flashpackers also stay in hostels (even if they do prefer their own bathroom). And they are an independent lot, not tour rats or tourists. Like backpackers, their trips tend to be less planned, more spontaneous and often solo. Flashpackers also share travel destinations with backpackers and travel to Bali or Bangkok, Brasilia or Buenos Aires, just like the rest of us.

Where the 'flash' comes in is in the special knowledge the flashpacker might have. After all, if you're plugged into your laptop, blackberry and cellphone, you may be plugged into the best deals and the most offbeat or secluded spots.

The line isn't clear cut, though.

Some flashpackers may backpack at times, and I know I've indulged in flashpacking too - like splurging on a Sunday brunch in a five-star hotel after weeks of rough travel, for example, or by carrying around a few pieces of electronic gear. I'm a journalist, after all, and I couldn't always be expected to file stories from a pay phone.

The line between backpacking and flashpacking is a fluid one that many of us traverse, often several times. Neither is better than the other. We're mostly seeking the same thing - it's more a question of how we get there.

And many of us like a lot of those toys - we just can't afford them!