The Tux in the Backpack

Everybody is talking about Flashpacking, the new travel phenomenon. Many though define Flashpacking as backpacking with techno gadgets or on a bigger budget. Is a laptop, a digital camera and an I-pod all it takes to be a flashpacker? Those accessories are more and more common, and just because a Backpacker travels with them does it automatically make him/her a Flashpacker?

Some say the real Backpacking is dead anyway, as Backpackers want to see different realities and have a bit of culture-shock, but “they now expect the comforts of home, albeit with some exotic twists, but nothing that makes them too uncomfortable or homesick. They expect people to speak their language, buses to run on their schedule and locals to treat them with respect.”

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Popularity: 7% [?]

The Flashpacking phenomenon is getting more and more attention. A master’s student at Ceram Business School in France, Melissa Rambaud-Chanoz, is writing her thesis on flashpacking, for her degree in Tourism Management.

The title is Flashpacking: What are the flashpackers made of?

You can find her Facebook group here, and even help her out by filling out a Flashpacking survey for her. Best of luck Melissa!

Popularity: 4% [?]

The definitions you find online for Flashpacking reduce it to backpacking with loads of tech gadget and/or a big budget. To us the concept of Flashpacking is like the one of James Bond: yes, you have the gadgets, yes you have the luxury, but what really makes the difference is the style. And look what we’ve found online while investigating similarities between Flashpacking and James Bond:
The closest you can get to a 007 backpack. Full review here.

Popularity: 14% [?]

What better way to start this blog than with Paulo Coelho’s advices on travelling differently.

The tips apply to all kind of travelers, but we like to think that the way of seeing places suggested by Coelho apply particularly to Flashpackers. After all they are a very independent kind of travelers, they avoid organised tours and really want to connect with people and culture of the place they’re visiting.

Hindu Temple Batu Bolong, Lombok, Indonesia

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Popularity: 10% [?]