Gadgets and accessories are indeed vital for a Flashpacker. It’s not surprising then to see many articles on the web about what are the must-have Flashpacking accessories.

Flashpacking though is not simply travelling with a huge amount of tech gadgets. I believe a Flashpacker is defined by the travelling style; even if accessories are a big help, the ideal Flashpacker is not the one with the most gadgets in the backpack. At the contrary, Flashpacking is also travelling in a comfortable (read: light) way.

The gadgets you need depends mainly on what is your “basic package” of accessories following you on your travels. For example if you have a big laptop with lot of memory you don’t necessarily need an external hard drive, or if you have an iPod you don’t necessarily need an iPhone too.

Here’s a list of gadgets that, depending on what you bring with you, you might not necessarily need.

LAPTOP
What? A Flashpacker without a laptop?
Well, if you only need to check your emails, update your Facebook and do some minimal blogging even a good phone with a browser could simply do. The most known (and expensive) of all is of course the iPhone. With a toy like that you can do even quite advanced blogging tasks. Check out these 13 Apps to Turn Your iPhone into a Blogging Machine.

PORTABLE HARD DRIVE
As mentioned, if you are already carrying with you a decent laptop with plenty of memory, and thanks to all online virtual back-ups you don’t necessarily need to bring with you a portable hard drive. If instead you have a netbook with little memory and an old 160GB iPod, how about bringing the iPod to listen to your 20GB of music and use the rest of the space as an hard drive?

INTERNATIONAL SIM CARD
No matter how cheap they are getting nowadays, there are still better options. If you have anything with you that connects to internet (even a PSP would do) Skype or similar VoIP services are still cheaper. If you don’t mind having few SIM cards with you and you are not visiting 20 countries in a month then a cheap option is buying a local SIM card. Prices to same-country phones calls are unbeatable and in most cases calling abroad is cheaper then with an international SIM card.

IPHONE
If you already have a netbook or a laptop, and your old mobile phone is still working, do you need an iPhone too? Especially if you already possess a camera and maybe an iPod to listen to your music. Definitely fashionable, but with only 16GB of memory is it the wisest choice?

CARD READER
Many laptops and netbooks nowadays come with a built-in card reader. Again it depends on what is your “basic package” of accessories.

WIFI FINDER
Pretty handy to find out if there’s some Wireless connection available in the area. It will save you the time to drop your bags, take out and turn on your big laptop. But what if you’re using a tiny netbook or an iPhone instead? Another down side is that many of those little “keychain” wifi finder don’t distinguish between free networks and protected ones, although this one does.

GPS
Let’s be honest here. If you’re not going in the very middle of an inextricable jungle, or going to drive through the desert for a week, do you really need one? Is it not part of the trip getting lost in a city and in this way discover an off-the-beaten track jewel? Consider also that most mobile phones nowadays come with a GPS or at least Google Maps.

Well, I guess the bottom line is: be wise in choosing your gadgets, there’s a lot there you might not need.. It all depends on how and why you travel. After all Flashpacking is about the style, and that do means travelling comfortably as well.

But I’d like to hear from you: any useless gadgets you’ve been carrying around lately? What you think for example of water purifiers or universal adapters?

Lately Flashpacking is associated more and more often with Fast Travel, on the run, hopping from one destination to another. This is due to a couple of misconceptions, that we’d like to clarify here before explaining why real Flashpacking is Slow Travel.

Misconception 1. Flashpackers tend to prefer a 2 hours flight to a 19 hours bus ride.
This makes them automatically fast travellers. They don’t want to spend time getting there and probably have somewhere else to go after this destination.

Misconception 2. Some Flashpackers have a job (or had a job).
As a consequence they have to see as much as possible in a month, or whatever long is their holiday from work.

These two misconceptions helped creating the idea of Flashpacking as Fast Travelling with a good amount of money and a load of tech gadgets. Fly in, stay in a nice hotel, take pictures, fly somewhere else tomorrow. All boxes ticked at the end of the trip.

Let’s clear the two misconceptions before moving to Flashpacking as Slow Travel.

Flashpackers tend to prefer a 2 hours flight to a 19 hours bus ride.
That’s because what distinguishes Flashpacker from Backpackers is the style. It doesn’t mean that when in a destination Flashpackers don’t take their time to explore the place and get to know the culture. And no, just because they flew in doesn’t mean they will fly somewhere else in a couple of days.

Some Flashpackers have a job (or had a job).
Most Flashpackers don’t have a job, or best case they’re on a career break. In this sense Flashpacking is closer to Backpacking. The trip lasts for a long time. Going somewhere on your holidays from work IS NOT Flashpacking.

Now that we got these two misconceptions out of the way we can explore more the concept of Slow Travel. Although “pure” Slow Travel is taking your time even to get to the destination, and that often excludes flying there, it doesn’t mean that once there you can’t take your time to unwind and savour the place and the culture like a good old wine.

As you can read in this article “Slow travel is not so much a particular mode of transportation as it is a mindset. Rather than attempting to squeeze as many sights or cities as possible into each trip, the slow traveler takes the time to explore each destination thoroughly and to experience the local culture.”

Slowtrav.com suggests to ”shop for groceries and supplies in the local shops, stop at the same cafe every morning, see the people in your village or neighborhood each day”.

One of the main similarities with Flashpacking is the fact that you don’t rely on a Travel Agency or a concierge to organise things for you. You are on your own; you do your own research and create your own travel plans. And often you prefer off the beaten track destinations, not highly recommended on guidebooks and jam packed with tourists.

That’s why we like to think that Flashpacking is indeed Slow Travel. Flashpacking Is not a vacation from your office where you try to squeeze as many locations as possible to “relax”, only to find out when you get back home that you need a holiday to recover from your holiday. And Flashpackers do love to follow Slowplanet.com suggestion and “making time to read a big novel or amble through the streets of a new town, to lounge by the pool, to sleep a delicious siesta.”

If then we can do that without flying to a certain destination even better. Better for the environment and better for our soul.

Is Flashpacking wrong?

To start with, the term itself has some kind of negative connotation: Flash, as in ostentation, or acting pretentiously.

Many sources in fact define Flashpacking as Backpacking on a bigger budget; the money being the one making the difference as it allows Flashpackers to afford traveling for a long time, but mainly to afford good quality (if not luxurious) accommodations.

Reading a comment on a Vagabondish article we discovered how some “unconscious” Flashpacker even felt bad in having more money than the average Backpacker and upgrading for a single room instead of a dorm: “My wife and I are flashpackers and we didn’t even know it. We felt a little guilty or even ostracized for having a bigger budget than backpackers, and it’s great to see that we have nothing to be ashamed about and we’re not alone.”

In the news you can find some bad stories of wealthy flashpackers bribing farmers in Australia in order to get holiday Visa extensions.

So is Flashpacking just a richer, sometime more incorrect, version of Backpacking?

Fair Flashpacking

You have both the cash and the ideas to actually help out a bit.

We like to think that the flash in Flashpacking is about doing things in a certain style, rather than ostentation of your money. Fortunately looks like we are not alone, as we are seeing lately more and more definitions of the Flashpacker as a conscious individual, who is aware of having a bigger budget to use, and wants to do that in a proper and correct way. So we’re starting to see the appearance online of concepts like “giving back” or the importance of being “earnest”.

Some ways to do that includes:

- Choose independent of family owned accommodations and restaurants over corporate chains. Your money will go to the local people rather than to some international corporation.

Support local commerce

- Support local community tour operators. They hire local guides and keep much of the income generated by travelers like you within local economy.

- Be ecologically conscious. Avoid ecologically destructive operations like underwater hotels or wildlife theme parks. A visit to a sanctuary for mistreated elephants can be more useful (for them and for you) than an elephant ride.

- Be socially responsible. Consider volunteer tourism. Rather than simply giving charity to beggars in India or Asia find out what else you can do, or support NGOs or poverty reduction programs.

Pics from our friends at Proyek Kampung Loco.

The same Hostelworld survey that throw so much light on the “new backpackers” that travel in more comfort – helping to create awareness on the Flashpacking phenomenon – also reveals how these new travelers often arrive at the hostel carrying “their modern day gadgets safely stowed in their wheelie suitcase”. You can see the related article here.

Is that the end of the backpack then? And as a consequence we cannot really define backpackers as such anymore? We like to think that the backpack is till quite handy. A lot of course depends on your destinations. A wheelie suitcase won’t be too useful on the destroyed footpaths of Bali, or in any sandy path for all that matters. Mountains and jungle destinations would be more problematic without a backpack.

City destinations of course are a lot more enjoyable with wheels on your suitcase, especially if we’re talking of some hot cities.

But what if you’re planning to visit both a city and some village in a remote beach or mountain? Well backpack would be the preferred choice, but if you still want to travel both places in the most comfortable way here’s something for you. How a about a Wheeled Convertible Backpack?

The description they offer seems ideal: Super light for rolling in mega airports, backpacking through Europe, or bus riding in Peru.

One again we bring you the “best of the web” when it comes to Flashpacking. This time regarding tips to Flashpack in extreme conditions.

How about scented travel candles to create a bit of an atmosphere even in places where atmosphere (or decent smell) is the last thing you would find?

Or how about small French style coffee presses and your favorite roast to get the coffee you want even in the most remote place?

Check out the full post! Because once again Flashpack is not about the money or the gadgets, but about the style!