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.

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.

In the maze of Flashpacking definitions found online is refreshing to read something that doesn’t define the Flashpacker simply as someone backpacking on a bigger budget or with tech gadgets. While exploring the relationship between Thailand and Flashpacking the Thailand Musing post throws more light on the figure of the Flashpacker.

New elements appear, like for example the “fair trade” one: “Another inheritance from the backpacker ethos is a sense of responsibility, especially ‘fair trade’. Flashpackers tend to favor community operators and independent hotels over corporate chains.”

Moreover the Flashpacker is not only someone a bit older than a Flashpacker, but “often a veteran backpacker and very experience with independent travel”. That would explain how it is possible to Flashpack even if you don’t have a huge budget; the know-how, allowing you to book comfortable flights over bus rides and comfortable accommodations over dorms without spending much more. And speaking of which low-cost-no-frills airlines are mentioned as well as one of the main Flashpackers’ transportation.

Definitely one of the most objectives and complete definition of a Flashpacker. Check it out, you never know, it might get you in the mood to Flashpack in Thailand!