comfort

Flashpacker: a tech-savvy adventurer who often prefers to travel with a cell phone, digital camera, iPod and a laptop.  The term also reflects a growing demographic of travelers who are forsaking traditional organized travel, venturing to destinations once the reserve of more adventurous backpackers, and the increasing number of individuals who leave well paid jobs or take ‘career breaks’, using the time to travel independently, but with greater comfort and many of the gadgets they are accustomed to at home.[1]

Hello, my name is Amy, and I am…a flashpacker.  It’s official.  Keith and I fit squarely into the definition and have accepted that despite the 15 kilogram packs on our backs, we are not backpackers.

Our realization and acceptance of this label occurred last week in Singapore, when we arrived at the Backpacker’s Cozy Corner Guesthouse.  We arrived to a dirty, characterless hostel where the rooms were windowless, the sheets stained and the wifi nonexistent.  We were at least ten years older than the other travelers who were roaming the bleak hallways with that dazed, still-hung-over-even-though-it’s-4pm look in their eyes.  Our five-night reservation was immediately reduced to one night, and our first afternoon in Singapore was spent searching for a new place to stay.

We found what we were looking for at Sleepy Sam’s Bed & Breakfast: wifi, lockers for our valuables, a secure entrance both to our room and to the hostel itself, a clean kitchen for self-catering, comfortable common areas and a slightly older and less hung-over looking crowd.  Our room itself was smaller than at Cozy Corner, and the walls were paper thin, but for the extra $30 a night we had peace of mind, clean sheets and the ability to stay in touch with friends and family, work on our blog and research the next leg of our journey.

Looking back, we probably should have realized long ago that we weren’t cut out for the low-budget backpacking scene.  We’ve never been thrilled when staying in a hostel with “backpacker” in its name, and given our age, the amount of electronic gear we’re carrying and our proclivity for tour guides it should have been obvious.  I suppose we all must pass through denial – i.e. that we are no longer twenty-two and willing to sleep (or pass out) anywhere – before reaching acceptance.  We are flashpackers, flashpacking around the world, hopping from one wifi enabled hostel to the next on this well-guided and technologically connected adventure.

Are you a backpacker, flashpacker, or something else entirely?

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