Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Flashpacking: The New Way of Backpacking

It was a calm and peaceful busy week, the funeral service and the prayers were occupying all the time over the weekend.

I personally want to thank everyone of you who had attended my dad's prayer and service last week.

Dad had been really strong for the past ten months, he was a tough, a leading role in the family, very charismatic and charming.

His love covered every corner, connecting everyone of us deeply to him from within, Dad, you will be missed, rest in peace. You are blessed with our love and prayer.

Flashpack, The New Way of Backpacking

If you take a closer look at flashpacker, they generally aged between early 20s to late 30s. I'm no doubt categorizing myself in this group due to several reasons.

These flashpackers want to travel like the backpackers but with more disposable income, which makes perfect sense in any way assuming they are from higher income group.

They have more budget, they would probably blow their budget with more meals, tours, beer, and parties. They carry more clothes, and more electronics such as iPod, laptop, nice camera.

Don't get me wrong, the flashpackers don't behave much differently than normal backpackers, it's just that the latter are more persistent and generally with better budgeting discipline unlike the first.

While flashpackers would probably compromise on budget looking for slightly better quality of traveling experience in basic amenities doesn't mean they don't bargain on every items and service purchased.

In short, the tolerance of expenditure could differ, but they all are seeking for the common thing in traveling, that is the fulfillment of cultural exploration and meeting up with new friends from all backgrounds with great stories to share.

I like the quote from How to travel the world, whether you are a backpacker or flashpacker, there's no difference in the spirit and soul.

Backpacking is about opening up your mind to new things and looking differently at the world, it's about the spirit, not about the amount you carry, and how much of flash you are.

Flashpacker, the new way of backpacking

So are you a backpacker or flashpacker? It doesn't really matter.