Flashpackers' roaming the globe with tech gear in tow
More backpackers are travelling with laptops and other electronic
gadgets
Jul 08, 2006
AP
'
NEW YORK - THERE is a new type of backpacker roaming the globe -
the flashpacker. And no, it has nothing to do with how fast you
pack your bag. Nor is it a streaker in a raincoat.
'Flashpacking is just backpacking with an awful lot of tech gear
going along for the ride,' said 29-year-old writer Lee Gimpel from
Virginia, who 'flashpacked' around India for a few months and
recorded his adventures at http://www.passingthroughindia.com
'I sometimes felt that half of what I was carrying was tech stuff -
digital camera and memory cards, USB memory drive, a laptop,
cellphone, three battery chargers, a dozen rechargeable batteries,
a power adaptor, blank CD-RWs and a handful of cables and cords,'
he said.
A survey completed earlier this year by 2,561 visitors to the
Hostelworld.com website found that 21 per cent of them travel with
a laptop, 54 per cent with an MP3 player, 83 per cent with a mobile
phone and 86 per cent with a digital camera.
Tourism New Zealand manager Cas Carter said the term 'flashpacking'
has been in use in New Zealand for three years, and it refers both
to backpackers carrying high-tech gear and to the upscaling of
hostels to accommodate them.
Auckland Central Backpackers manager Campbell Shepherd said: 'We
have just put in a brand new Internet cafe, we got Sky (satellite
TV), we have got chip readers for digital cameras, we have got
video cameras so you can watch a person on the other side of the
world.'
Many hostels around the world also now offer both dorm-style and
private rooms - including Hostelling International in New York City
at 103rd St and Amsterdam Ave.
In addition, the Manhattan hostel offers Internet access and more
than eight electric outlets in most rooms to accommodate
everybody's gadgets - yet rates begin at just US$29 (S$46) a night
for a bed, according to assistant general manager Louis
Cutri.
'Just because you can afford a cellphone and a laptop does not mean
you can afford a US$350-a-night room in Manhattan,' he said.
Meanwhile, Dublin-based editor of Hostelworld.com Colm Hanratty
said the phrase 'flashpacking' remains a novelty in Britain,
although the phenomenon is widespread.
He noted that flashpackers seem to come in two distinct age groups:
'The young type, still in college, who might have all the gadgets
but not that much money, and someone in later life, late 20s and
early 30s, who has more money to spend and carries an iPod and a
digital camera.' -- ASSOCIATED PRESS
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