Backpacking (travel)

Backpacking is a form of low-cost, independent travel. It includes the use of a backpack that is easily carried for long distances or long periods of time; the use of public transport; inexpensive lodging such as youth hostels; often a longer duration of the trip when compared with conventional vacations; and often an interest in meeting locals as well as seeing sights.

Backpacking may include wilderness adventures, local travel and travel to nearby countries while working from the country in which they are based. The definition of a backpacker has evolved as travellers from different cultures and regions participate. A 2007 paper said "backpackers constituted a heterogeneous group with respect to the diversity of rationales and meanings attached to their travel experiences. They also displayed a common commitment to a non-institutionalised form of travel, which was central to their self-identification as backpackers." Backpacking as a lifestyle and as a business has grown considerably in the 2000s as a result of low-cost airlines and hostels or budget accommodations in many parts of the world.

Visa laws in many countries such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom enable backpackers with restricted visas to work and support themselves while they are in those countries.

Seventeenth-century Italian adventurer Giovanni Francesco Gemelli Careri has been suggested as one of the world's first backpackers.

While people have travelled for hundreds of years with their possessions on their backs, the modern concept of backpacking can be traced, at least partially, to the Hippie trail of the 1960s and '70s, which in turn followed sections of the old Silk Road. Some backpackers follow the same trail today.

Over the past few decades, backpackers have descended on South East Asia in huge numbers with popular Thai islands and several previously sleepy towns in Thailand, Cambodia and Laos being transformed by the influx of travellers. Backpacking in Europe, South America, Central America, Australia and New Zealand has also become more popular and there are several well-trodden routes around the world that backpackers tend to stick to.

Technological developments and improvements have contributed to changes in backpacking. Traditionally, backpackers did not travel with expensive electronic equipment like laptop computers, digital cameras and PDAs because of concerns about theft, damage and additional luggage weight. However, the desire to stay connected, coupled with breakthroughs in lightweight electronics, has given rise to a trend that has been termed "flashpacking".

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Wikipedia