Allow me to insert a more personal post on this Flashpacking Blog. It has to do with Flashpacking as well, of course.
The thing is.. maybe I don’t want to be a Digital Nomad. I know I am a nomad and that is not too likely to change, but maybe I want to be a slower, employed nomad instead of a digital one.

maybe it takes more effort...

There’s a lot of blogs and websites out there telling you how to “live your life making money online”:

How not to be location dependent; how to be an expert in social media, blogging, viral stuff, ebooks; how to be the ultimate digital nomad.

Many of them are very well done, and sure their authors make a very decent living out of it. But I’ve also seen a lot of bad ones, the “make a trillion online in a month” ones, where they show you proudly some Adsense receipt and ask you to give them your email address (if not also some of your money).

Well all this made me think that maybe a lot of what we see online is just a more advanced, refined version of the old crappy MLM and affiliate sites. I’m not saying this out of disillusion because I’ve tried and didn’t work for me. After all I’m living in a very affordable place at the moment (Budapest) and I’m making some little income. I could continue doing this is some place that I love and that’s even cheaper (like Thailand or Indonesia).

But as I’m trying to find out my next destination (and occupation) my thoughts go more or less like this:

I am a bit bored. It takes a lot of work, and it’s mainly work on your own: your laptop, you, and your virtual or real friends online for a chat even now and then.

If I have to spend 10 hours a day on my laptop on my own making little money (that can indeed allow me to live in some place), wouldn’t it be better then to spend only 8 hours a day in a company and make a lot more money (that would allow me to live anywhere I want)?

Then of course there’s the travel bug.

Indeed. Flashpacking around the word. Move from one destination to another, see and experience as much of you can of this old world. Well how about being a slow, employed nomad instead of a digital one? After all if you want to really get to know a place you have to live there, right? What better way to know a country than to really live there, work there, have friends and colleagues there? And then you can always use your holidays to see the neighboring countries.

In my case for example I’m thinking of moving to Singapore. Lovely place to start a new life, but quite expensive. A “real” job there would allow me to get to know the place a lot better than the impressions I had in my many visits there, and then.. well Thailand, Bali, Lombok, Vietnam, Philippines, you name it, just two hours away.

Does a more "normal" job (even an office) mean less travelling?

Don’t take this as a personal rant against Digital Nomads or “live free and make money online” websites. After all that’s what how I’m making my income at the moment. Take it as an honest brainstorming aloud, me trying to decide my future, and at the same time sharing my thoughts and hoping for some input.

Some of the resources that helped me get to this point (I cannot call it a conclusion yet) are:

What all the “Get Rich” Blogs don’t tell you but what you should know

I think @ChristiaanH point there is actually that you should act rather than just read, but combined with other readings it remembered me how there’s definitely an incredible abundance of people telling you how to get rich online.

What Should I Do With My Life?

Some good and more practical answers from @JetSetCitizen to the usual Lifestyle Design stuff we read everyday.

8 Reasons Why You Should Work in a Foreign Country

From the same author. Probably that’s simply what I’d like to hear right now, but this post, especially point 3 (You can travel more) and 8 (Did I mention? You are in a foreign country!) sounds very convincing to me.

What do you think based on your experience?

Isn’t that ironic that my thoughts of not wanting to be a Digital Nomad anymore came from tweets and blogs, and that I’m now asking your opinion online?

Please share your thoughts (comments section below, twitter, contact form, any way is appreciated). I’m not asking your opinion to get this post popular or to get backlinks, I honestly think this (almost ex-)Digital Nomad here would need to hear more opinions before deciding what to do. Thanks a mill, fellow travellers, digital nomads and corporate employees out there.

Hilarious video in which Irish comedian Dara Ó Briain talks about backpackers.

He’s notoriously a super-fast talker, and the Irish accent won’t be easy for everybody to understand, but surely the main idea will come out.

Maybe because he mentions that he’s getting too old and comfortable to backpack (”I had one of those moments when you go: I’m not doing that anymore”), or maybe because he prefers wheelie suitcases (”look, it’s on wheels, you feckin’ eijit”), but we like to think that Dara could easily be interested in travelling as a flashpacker.

In Part I of this interview we asked Josh Cohen, the man behind HostelManagement.com about him, his website and how it can be beneficial to hostels owners, and then taking advantage of his expertise in the field, we asked what is his definition of a hostel, and if hostels offering single rooms (Flashpacker ones for example) can be considered real hostels. We now continue asking Josh his opinion on hotels sold as hostels, the type of guests in hostels and their choices, and of course his point of view on the Flashpacking phenomenon.

The Tux in Backpack: What do you think of Hostel booking engines offering proper hotels in their results? And of budget hotels calling themselves hostels?

HostelManagement.com (Josh): I think that budget hotels calling themselves hostels is bad for real hostels.  It doesn’t bother me that booking engines offer hotels, but they should more clearly distinguish hotels from hostels, and stop listing hotel prices as “beds” when the entire room has to be booked.  Selling a hotel or motel room for “$50 per bed” isn’t fair to the solo traveler because the price is really “$100 per room” — or even “$400 per room” depending on the minimum number of “beds” that has to be booked.   It’s impossible to know the actual price until you try to book the property.

hostel room or hotel room?

I understand that the “per bed” price is useful for comparison with dorm room prices, but if the “per bed” rate is listed for comparison there should also be information about the total price of the room and it should be very clear that it’s a room, not a bed.

My main complaints about hotels in hostel booking engines is that generally isn’t a clear enough distinction between hostels and hotels, and sometimes the lists of “hostels” in a city will be more hotels than hostels.  For example, in Miami Hostelworld.com lists 13 hotels/apartments/guesthouses, and 8 hostels.  There are enough hostels in Miami to only list hostels in the default view, but there is more money to be made by up-selling hotels, some of which start at $239 for a 1-person private room.

The Tux in Backpack: Do you think hostels are for backpackers only or for other kind of travellers too?

HostelManagement.com (Josh): There are different types of hostels for different types of guests.  A hostel might cater to traditional backpackers, school groups, working travelers, flashpackers, older travelers, partiers, conference attendees, long-stay guests, outdoorsy types, or other kinds of travelers.  A hostel like Hostelling International’s “J. Ira and Nicki Harris Family Hostel” in Chicago attracts a vastly different crowd than a place like the “Rising Cock Hostel” in Portugal.

I think it’s a good thing to have many kinds of people using hostels.  Different hostels can fill different niches.

The Tux in Backpack: Would you agree that the majority of travellers sleep in dorm just because of budget reasons? They would get a single room if they could afford it without shortening the length of their trip?

HostelManagement.com (Josh): I once saw a guy pull into a hostel’s parking lot in a rented Ferrari and then check into an 8-bed dorm for $20 even though there were private rooms available.

Could this be that Ferrari in the hostel parking?

I’ve also met people staying (or even working) in hostels who were secretly very wealthy.  Hostelling is as much about the social environment as it is about saving money.  Staying in a dorm room and interacting with people who you would normally never encounter in daily life back home is part of that social aspect.

The Tux in Backpack: What is your opinion of Flashpackers (as in travellers, not hostels in this case)? Do you think they can be targeted by hostels offering dorm accommodations?

HostelManagement.com (Josh): “Flashpackers” is still a loosely-defined word.  I think the primary attraction of hostels is the social factor, and dorms are a great place to meet people.  For many travelers, hostels aren’t necessarily about saving money.  Many people will stay in dorms even if they have the budget to afford private rooms.

For me, the word flashpackers refers to high-tech backpackers who generally have a higher budget than traditional backpackers.  Sometimes they have backpacks, or sometimes wheelie suitcases.  They may stay at hostels, backpacker hotels, boutique hotels, or other accommodation, but they often prefer private rooms even when staying at hostels.

The word flashpackers can also refer to hostels that are designed to accommodate these high-tech travelers, with features like power outlets by the beds, wifi, private rooms, and often “boutique” design.  I wouldn’t call a “flashpackers hostel” without dorms a “flashpackers” — I would call it a backpacker hotel, or boutique hotel depending on what the facilities and common areas were like.

Backpackers (the people) don’t always stay in backpackers (the hostels), and flashpackers (the people) don’t always stay in flashpackers (the hostels).  In terms of accommodation, backpackers and flashpackers are two styles of hostels — the words describe the styles, but both backpackers and flashpackers are hostels, and they both have dorm beds even if they also provide private rooms.

A big thank you to Josh for sharing his knowledge and expert point of views. We would certainly love to hear from other hostel owners, booking platforms and customers of course. The Comments section is all yours!

What is a hostel really? Would you consider a place offering rooms for a quite expensive price a hostel even if they define themselves so? What is the line between an expensive hostel and a cheap hotel? And are hostels catering for Flashpackers hostels at all? We ask Josh Cohen, who is an expert indeed, having helped Hostels marketing themselves and improve their quality since 2004 with his Hostelmanagement.com.

The Tux in Backpack: First of all Josh, can you tell us more about yourself and Hostelmanagement.com?

HostelManagement.com (Josh): I starting working in hostels in 2001.  I noticed that the quality of some hostels was lower than it could be, and that the solutions to the problems were often very simple.  In 2004 I decided to create a website where hostels could exchange tips on how to make hostels better.  The main goals of HostelManagement.com are to increase the quality of existing hostels and to help develop new hostels, especially in places where there aren’t many hostels.  HostelManagement.com focuses on the hostel industry from the perspective of the hostels themselves.

At first, people in the hostel industry told me that they liked the idea of HostelManagement.com, but that it wouldn’t succeed because hostels didn’t want to share their secrets.  It has taken years to build up an online community, but now people from all areas of the hostel business are participating in the site, from small rural hostels to the largest hostel chains in the world, as well as all the major booking engines.  As of April, 2009 we have over 2000 subscribers from around the world, and over 7000 posts in our hostel forum, with new hostels signing up daily.

HostelManagement.com is basically not-for-profit and doesn’t bring in any direct income.  I make a living doing hostel marketing and management consulting through HostelMarketing.com.  Outside of hostel work, my background is in SEO and Internet marketing.

The Tux in Backpack: How can Hostelmanagement.com help hostel owners?

HostelManagement.com (Josh): HostelManagement.com provides hundreds of pages of free information for hostels as well as an online community where people in the hostel industry can network.  In addition to the forum there is a “best practices” Wiki with guides on everything from how to improve online reviews, to how to use Facebook, to how to start a hostel.  The are hostels for sale, hostel jobs listings, a hostel directory, an email newsletter, a free ebook on hostel marketing, and much more.

The site has grown so large we now have a 6-page PDF guide to how to use the website!

Everything on HostelManagement.com is free.

The Tux in Backpack: What is your definition of hostel?

HostelManagement.com (Josh): We define the word “hostel” as “budget-oriented dormitory accommodation that accepts individual travelers for short-term stays, and that provides common areas and communal facilities.”

Hostels can also sell private rooms, but if they don’t also sell dorm beds we don’t consider them to be hostels.

Dorm beds, one of hostels' main features

That definition is the result of a 6-page forum discussion between people in the hostel industry, including hostel managers and people who have been involved with hostels for many years.

The reason we limit the definition of hostel to properties that sell individual dorm beds to solo travelers is because there has to be a line drawn somewhere or the word “hostel” becomes meaningless.  If a hotel has a common kitchen does it suddenly become a “hostel” even though the cheapest rooms cost 100 euro per night?  Is a private room for rent on a monthly basis in an apartment that has a shared kitchen a hostel?  I’ve seen a long-term room-rental property calling itself a hostel.

Solo backpackers who are looking for hostels are typically looking for dorm beds.  The student groups who are looking for hostels are looking for dorm beds.  Dorms are an original core element of the hostelling movement and should remain at the core of the definition of the word hostel.

The Tux in Backpack: Are hostels offering single rooms (like Flashpackers hostels) not real hostel in your view?

HostelManagement.com (Josh): As far as I know almost all of the properties that call themselves “flashpackers” sell dorm bed accommodation (e.g., Nomads Industry), and are hostels.  The few that don’t are hotels that are trying to ride the popularity of hostels.

Often, news articles will include hotels in their articles about “boutique hostels” or “flashpackers”, but I believe this is because the reporters often don’t do careful research.  They see the hotel on Hostelworld.com or Hostels.com and think it’s a hostel because it’s listed on a website with the word “hostel” in the name.

For example, I just searched Google for “Las Vegas hostels” and Hostelworld.com was the #1 result.  I clicked on one of the listed properties — Las Vegas Platinum Suites — and tried to find the cheapest accommodation for myself, a solo traveler.  Hostelworld claims the property is selling “beds” for $52.25 per night, but when I tried to book the bed, the $52.25 rate is “per bed” when you book a 4-bed hotel room. At “$52.25 per bed” the price for a solo traveler is $209 per night.  Or the solo traveler can get a 1-person private room for $189.

Journalists who don’t understand how the hostel booking engines work may think they’ve found a hostel when they see a property like Las Vegas Platinum Suites selling “beds”, but it’s just a hotel where the price is displayed to look like the hotel is selling beds instead of rooms.  I believe this is why many news articles accidentally include hotels in their lists of “boutique hostels” and “flashpackers”.

Booking engines also sometimes include hotels in their lists of “boutique hostels” and “flashpackers” possibly because they make a higher commission on private rooms than on dorm beds.  If booking engines can get people to their sites who are looking for hostels and then upsell hotels, the booking engines make a lot more money from the commissions.

For example, a typical hostel booking engine makes $41.80 commission on a $418 hotel room, but only a $2 commission on a $20 dorm bed.  That provides motivation to sell hotel beds to people who are looking for hostels.

If a property doesn’t offer dorm beds, I don’t consider it to be a hostel.  Words like “backpackers hotel” or “flashpacker hotel” might be more descriptive.

For the moment we thank Josh for sharing his thoughts. In the next post the interview continues and we’ll ask Josh:

• his opinion on hostels booking engines offering proper hotels in their results,
• if hostels are for backpackers only, or for other kind of travellers too;
• if the majority of travellers sleep in dorm just because of budget reasons
• his your opinion on Flashpackers and if they can be targeted by hostels offering dorm accommodations

Don’t miss Part II of the interview then in 2 days, and to make sure you won’t, consider Subscribing to The Tux in Backpack RSS feeds, to receive automatically (and for free of course) anything new happening here.

You read often definitions of Flashpackers as backpackers who travel on a bigger budget or with some tech accessories. Somehow a general idea is emerging, that some accessories are the one that makes the Flashpacker. Well I’d like to state something different; bringing some accessories (especially on their own) with you while travelling don’t necessarily means you’re a Flashpacker.

Let’s have a look at the most common ones.

Digital camera
Ahem, who doesn’t bring one on a trip nowadays? My parents are in their late sixties, they do have a digital camera, but trust me, they’re not Flashpackers. It would be even more “Flashpacker” to have a non-digital camera nowadays; that could mean you’re into good old professional pictures.

Mobile phone
As above. I don’t think 86% of travellers (according to a Hostelworld study in 2006 that’s the number then of people travelling with a mobile phone) are Flashpackers.

Laptop
On a very long train journey I took lately I noticed how a good 3 quarters of people on the train were watching something on their laptop. But they were not Flashpackers of course, they were commuters, business people, etc. Who normally bring a laptop with them, especially if you have 6 hours of train ahead of you.

Netbook
Until a while ago carrying a netbook on your trips it was a good sign of being a Flashpacker. Not many would know how cheap, portable and powerful these toys can be. But again, the word spread fast and the cheap price helped, so now they’re extremely popular.

Ipod
Having some mp3 player doesn’t mean necessarily you’re a travelling geek crazy about technology, or a Flashpacker either. Mp3 players are getting more and more affordable and popular, like a Walkman in the old days.

Iphone
Another classic Flashpacker accessory, but having one one your trip doesn’t necessarily means you’re a Flashpacker. Iphones are very popular with anyone who wants or needs to be online almost anytime.

External hard-drive
Having one of these should actually means you’re not a Flashpacker. Flashpackers live online and love to travel light; as a consequence they back up everything on the Internet cloud. Pics go on Flickr, docs on Google docs, the rest on virtual hard drives. That also explains why netbooks with hard drive as small as 4GB were so popular with Flashpackers.

Don’t get me wrong, I use many of the above accessories, love a good few of them and think they’re quite indispensable. I just don’t believe gadgets makes you a Flashpacker. Flashpacking is all about the style; being able to travel with some kind of luxury without spending a fortune, and knowing how to do it (and internet comes handy here, that’s why being online can make the difference) in order to afford to do it for long periods of time.

What are your thoughts? Any obvious gadgets that doesn’t make you a Flashpacker missing from the list? Or you have a different opinion? Would love to hear your thoughts in the comment section below.. Happy Flashpacking!