Live an adventure camping


Backpacking overview

Backpacking is a term used to denote a form
of low-cost independent international travel,Hostels and other budget accommodations in
differentiating it from other forms ofthe 'developed' world tend to be communal to
tourism notably by the following typicalsome degree, and thus backpacker culture is
attributes: minimal budget use, longeroften highly social and emphasizes the
duration traveling, use of public transportcamaraderie of communal life, such as the
and multipliable destinations/countries. Theshared kitchens common in many hostels. When
origin of the name comes from the backpacksbackpackers stay in one place for a while,
that budget travelers generally carry in thethey often seek a house-share with numerous
interests  of  mobility  and  flexibility.other backpackers and are likely to share a
room to keep the costs down. In the
Many commentators see backpacking as'developing' world accommodation is normally
descriptive, not only of low-cost travel, butfound in cheap hotels, pensions or
of the culture and philosophy oftenguesthouses.
associated with it, especially anti or
trans-nationalism as well as aThe common language of backpackers is
romanticization of wanderlust and a desireoverwhelmingly English in varying levels of
for  "authentic"  contact with local culture.fluency while German is arguably the second
most common language encountered due to the
The term backpacking is said to havelarge presence of backpackers from Germany or
originated in the early 1970s with the adventSwitzerland. (However, German-speakers will
of low-cost jet airplane fares. During thisusually only speak German informally amongst
era it became common for young Westerners, toone another, and will otherwise speak English
follow the hippie trail into India andin most other situations). Britons,
Southeast Asia. This period also gave birthAustralians, Canadians and Germans typically
to the first budget guidebooks (see Tony andform among the most common backpacker
Maureen Wheeler) and began to change the waynationalities in the world, in addition to
that many people looked at the possibilitiesIsraelis, New Zealanders and numerous other
and  opportunities  of  travel.Western European nations such as Switzerland
or The Netherlands. Backpackers from Spain
More recently, backpacking has becomeare very common in Latin America, where there
something of a rite of passage in the popularis little or no language barriers and the
culture of some countries, most notablycost of travel and living expenses is often
Australia, Israel and New Zealand where aftervery favorable for the Spanish. The same is
finishing high school, university or a periodtrue of French in West Africa. Per head of
in the army they take several months to twopopulation, Australia is thought to have the
year's break in Europe (some of whom work inhighest representation of backpackers,
this region), Asia or the Americas. This canalthough there is no data available to
be put down to the light population anddemonstrate  this  empirically.
geographic isolation of these two countries
from much of the world's population andBackpacker culture is perhaps typified by the
history, the fact that Australia and NewLonely Planet (Australian) series of
Zealand are both affluent English-speakingguidebooks, which caters to budget travelers
countries where the majority of theirboth in its regular guides as well as, more
citizens can afford overseas travel, and thatspecifically, the "On a Shoestring" regional
both countries have a tradition of studentscompilations. The Rough Guide (UK) and Let's
attending university in the home city ratherGo (USA) series of guidebooks are also
than moving away for college. A substantialpopular. In France, the traditional
amount of young adults from Israel alsobackpacker's guidebook is the Guide du
undertake long-term backpacking trips,routard.
particularly after they finish their
mandatory military service. Travel of aTraditionally, backpackers do not travel with
backpacking nature is also extremely popularexpensive electronic equipment such as laptop
with Northern Europeans, particularly thecomputers and PDAs due to concerns about
Dutch and British and with small sections oftheft, damage, and additional luggage weight.
North  Americans  and  Japaneses.However, the desire to stay connected coupled
with trends in lightweight electronics have
Low-cost options are popular: such as sharinggiven rise to the flashpacking trend. Some
lifts, budget flights, rail/bus passes (or ifbackpackers take a high resolution digital
the backpacking trip is circumglobal, acamera and/or high capacity MP3 Player with
relatively cheap round-the-world air ticketthem on their travels. Blogging from various
which permits numerous stops), youth hostels,Internet cafes around the world is also a
free hospitality services and buying food atgrowing phenomenon, offering a more
supermarkets abroad instead of going toconvenient way to relay information to
restaurants.interested friends and family at home.



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