14 years
Are We All Flashpackers Now?
http://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-blogs/are-we-all-flashpackers-now/What do you think? Does the word "flashpacking" still mean anything?
to be honest, im not sure if it ever meant anything. carrying iPods/cameras/laptops isnt a new wave of travel - its just reflective of peoples home lives. when backpacker hostels first turned up, there was no such thing as an iPod and no way in hell could anybody afford a laptop, now theyre common place in wider society - why would backpackers be any different? its not a 'new breed', its just that such a way of life is filtering into the travel market.
as far as staying in fancier places etc... well, competition will do that. id be more worried if hostels werent get fancier. more and better facilities = more guests and higher prices. its the logical progression of things.
as far as guests getting older and having more disposable income; our education and work lives are changing. more and more people are in tertiary education and tahts becoming standardised. exchanges are booming, internships too. the ease of travel and the diminishing sense of the 'unknown' (thanks largely to TV and internet) means that any man and their dog can now spend a few months living abroad. teh fact that workers are far more transient - gone are the days of a 'job for life' - means that taking a year off during a career rather than before hand is no disadvantage.
flashpacking never really existed; backpackers change, of course they do, everything does. they dont need a new name.
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