This is the first part of 5 in a series of backpacking basics. You can catch up with Part 2 (Picking The Right Backpack), Part 3 (What Is A Hostel?), Part 4 (Where To Start Backpacking), and Part 5 (The Backpacker’s Dictionary) if you missed them.
Although many of you are seasoned travelers and several have taken RTW trips, there is a segment of you who’ve never gone ‘backpacking’, stayed in a hostel, or picked a bag to live out of for weeks on end. Some of you may be preparing for your first trip while others are just interested in the backpacker world and I’d like to introduce you to it. Over the next week I’ll be going over some backpacking basics if you’re planning on hitting the road in a new way or examining your past travels.
What Is Backpacking?
There is no real set definition of “backpacking” and many people have various ideas as to what it is. On top of that backpacking is evolving and the increased convenience and low cost of travel is making more travelers backpackers, whether they’re aware of it or not.
- Essentially backpacking is traveling with only a backpack and generally on a very low budget.
The backpack is the important part. Also, backpackers tend to be on the road for longer periods of time than the typical vacation; weeks, months, and some even longer.
No Set Definition
The bags are getting bigger and the world smaller, making it easier to live out of a single bag. There is also an extensive backpacking support system of hostels, travel blogs, and low-fare airlines. Plus there are websites like Freecycle, eBay plus many more that make trading and selling stuff for a few extra bucks accessible to more people around the world as well as lots of free software for digital nomads to call home and keep in touch.
- You can backpack for 3 days on a quick trip from New York to London, or take a weekend trip to to a nearby big city.
- Many backpackers don’t need to stick to a strict ‘student’s budget’, have a decent income but just like the style of travel. Some people use the ‘flashpackers‘ to describe them.
There are some common types of backpackers though – students traveling around Europe for a semester, those traveling to a specific part of the world in the gap between school and a “real job”, and RTWers.
It’s Not The Best Or Better
Backpacking can be a liberating feeling, one that puts your wits to the test as you try to manage a small budget and make your way around with as little gear as possible. Particularly after the first or second backpacking experience you can easily become a travel snob and get the impression that backpacking is the “best” way to travel. Keep in mind that it’s only one way to travel and one that’s not particularly well defined. It’s not for everyone but a form of travel that’s worth experiencing at least once.
While the definition of backpacking can vary quite bit there is one central thing to all the definitions – the backpack itself. Tomorrow in Part 2 I’ll start you off on selecting the right backpack for you and your travels.
[photos by: garryknight, thisisjustin]
Great teaser post! I can already tell I will want to read the whole series!
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Thanks Rod, hopefully people will find it interesting. I might be preaching to the choir 🙂
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Great post, I love backpacking, so many great experiences, thanks for posting my picture as well.
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I’m happy to be able to share the picture Justin, it was perfect for the post.
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Great point, Anil. Backpacking is just one way to travel. It’s my choice because of practicality and budget. Otherwise, hook me up with a flying magic carpet and a mini-bar. 🙂
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haha, a mini-bar on the magic carpet? I like the idea, nice upgrade 🙂
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Thanks, Anil! I’m an experienced backpacking traveler (just ask my back!) but I love reading about other people’s perspectives on it.
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Lately I’ve been reading quite a bit about the ‘different’ types of traveler. Researching about the history of backpacking was pretty interesting too.
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“The backpack is the important part.”
Hmmmm. I’m a little surprised by this. I thought backpacking was more of an attitude than how you were hauling your stuff. I’ve been around the world with and without a backpack but I’ve always said to people that I was “backpacking”. Have I been lying to myself and my friends all this time.
It wouldn’t be the first time I suppose.
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I thought quite a bit about putting that sentence in for this post. While I still think you need a backpack for the ‘backpacker’ definition, I agree that the culture behind the backpacking is a huge part of that.
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I thought the flashpacking thing was when you travelled with laptop, top end camera and video equipment & internet phone to be multi-media at all times – or perhaps that’s what some students have these days
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That’s what I thought before looking for a few definitions of it. I think it’s like backpacking though, with lots of definitions.
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Backpacking is the way to go when traveling to foreign countries. Just keep in mind that more gear means more hassles. Take into consideration the easiness of resupplying on the road, especially clothes. Make sure your pack can fit on buses, trains and plains and oxcarts without being a heavy burden. Less is more Fun.
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Less is easier as well 🙂 Just checked out your site, was wondering if you’ve got any information on any of the Eagle backpacks? Someone was asking for some information in Part 2 of this series.
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Anil: Normally I agree with everything you write, but I have to take issue with the following:
“Essentially backpacking is traveling with only a backpack…the backpack is the important part.”
I have traveled around the world for months at a time and have always considered my method of travel to be backpacking. I stay at hostels much of the time, hit the trails, travel without reservations, and go wherever my fancy takes me. I prefer local buses, trains, trucks and ferries to airplanes, in order to rally get to know the culture. I do carry a backpack, but I also use a 22″ rolling soft-sided suitcase. Everything of value goes in the backpack, along with necessities like toiletries, a sarong, a change of clothes, swimsuit, etc. I changed from a larger backpack because it was impossible to get on a crowded bus or train with it on my back. Locals HATE the big backpacks because they are always getting bumped and battered by them whenever a backpacker turns around in a crowded place. Not only is my smaller backpack and tiny suitcase more considerate, it is easier to manage and much easier on my back. But the fact that I no loner carry everything on my back doesn’t mean I’m not still a backpacker. As David said so succinctly, backpacking is more of an attitude than anything else.
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I deleted and added that line a few times. A few more minutes and I probably would have removed it for good or perhaps not. I’m still back and forth on it!
Backpacking is evolving and it’s difficult to wrap a definition around it – it’s a culture more than anything else and people travel in so many different ways to describe it.
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Backpacking is not for everyone though.
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Oops. You already stated backpacking isn’t for everyone. My fault. Backpacking and hostel/couchsurfing thing isn’t for me.
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Great overview, Anil. I do think ‘backpacking’ is a way of travel for everyone who enjoys seeing the world to experience once. Even if it isn’t your forte, it’s worth giving it a go.
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Thanks Matt. I’m with you, I think it’s worth trying the various ways of traveling. I think backpacking (and the definition) is expanding giving more people the incentive to try it.
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Thanks to emphasize that the word backpacking has a wide meaning. My husband and I are flexible backpackers. We do a lot of stuff that typical for backpackers most of the time (walking for hours to get to the hostel, living in low budget, train, bus,etc). We pretty much do what is cheap of us, just like other backpackers will, but we don’t get attached to hostels. In Amsterdam and Copenhagen, we successfully pricelined our 4 stars hotel rooms. With Priceline, the costs per night of 1 room for 2 of us there were very cheap: almost as cheap as 2 beds per night in Amsterdam’s hostels, and cheaper than the cheapest 2 beds in hostel in Copenhagen! With our backpacks and our “modest” quick-dry outfits, we stayed in 4 stars hotel because money wise it makes sense.
I also did transatlantic cruise ship from Florida to Barcelona. Why? It was the same cost with flying! Why not choosing cruise that gave us extra places to visits in between. I remember coming to fancy dinners where other people were wearing suits and cocktail dresses, I was wearing my dark green baggy cargo pants, or my modest summer dress at most. That’s with our backpacks 🙂
(If you want to check out more, Ryan (my husband) wrote about it, here’s the URL)
http://www.vagabondquest.com/travel-tips/transatlantic-cruises-for-backpackers-a-way-to-see-more-and-pay-less/
So yeah, we love backpacking and light traveling because it is convenient and cheap. If we find cheaper deal than typical backpacker’s choice, we take it!
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There are many ways to backpack and see the world, and if you can get a cheap hotel over a hostel why not? There are deals in every sector of travel – it’s best to take advantage of them 🙂 Enjoyed your post on the transatlantic, it’s something I’ve always wanted to do. Having crossed the Atlantic many times via plane I’d really like to take the scenic route 🙂
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If you do, you have to share your experience here! 😀
The thing that I wish to have on a cruise ship is a cheap internet access. The price is killing there, so we never used the internet on board. We sometimes found free WiFi in random public places when we were on the land, but we preferred not to be bothered by that too much since the time on the land are short typically.
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I most certainly would and will! I’d probably have to break down and pay for the Internet connection though, both to get work done and to satisfy my Twitter addiction 🙂
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Hahaha! Report that as well in your post!
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