Essential Items for a Flashpacker
By NomadicMatt | Published: November 13, 2008
I’m a flashpacker. I admit it, and I am proud of it. Flashpacking is backpacking for the 21st century. No longer about a fewer clothes, hitch-hiking, or hoping you have enough money for the day, flashpacking is about travel with means. The flashpacker contains the backpacking ethos, but wants to do it with a little more style and a lot more technology. Just because we are traveling doesn’t mean we can’t have some comforts.
If backpackers are defined by their lack of stuff, flashpackers are defined by their collection of expensive stuff. We flashpackers have a bit more cash, a desire for more creature comforts, and a lot more gadgets. If you are looking to become a flashpacker or trying to figure out if you already are one, here are the essential items no flashpacker would be without:
Camera- Everyone has a camera, but a flashpacker has a nicer one. A tiny point and click that takes pictures for scrapbooks? Not for you! You wouldn’t be caught dead with anything less than a SLR or at least a camera that will allow you to zoom in on the pore of a person 6 meters away. You may not be an award winning photographer, but your pictures will at least look like they came from one.
Camcorder- Cameras are good for still life, but nothing captures the essence of a trip like some video. Only that twenty minute clip of the Full Moon rave in Thailand will show your friends just how crazy it truly was. It made add a few extra pounds to your bag, but a flashpacker knows video is the only way to go.
Laptop- With all the electronics you’re carrying around, you need something to do with them. Internet cafes are just too slow and don’t have the power you need to handle all the pictures, videos, mp3s, and DVDs you brought. A laptop is essential for your trip, and with prices so cheap, it makes perfect sense to buy one now.
iTouch- We all want music when we travel, but a regular iPod or mp3 player is so boring. As a flashpacker, we want something with more features to entertain us on those 12 hour bus rides, and the iTouch does that with one great feature- video. Nothing makes a bus ride go by faster like watching a movie that wasn’t filmed with a camcorder on a screen you can barely see. Added bonus: wi-fi potential.
Body products- Just because you are on the road, exploring the world, and learning about new cultures doesn’t mean you can’t look good doing it. Backpackers are known for being unhygienic, but the dirty college student in you is still around. Whether guy or girl, just because you’re on the road, doesn’t mean you don’t want feel a little clean while doing it, especially when you go out at night to meet the opposite sex.
Cell phone- With SIM cards and phones so cheap, there’s no reason why you can’t have a phone. As a flashpacker, you don’t want to be inconvenienced by e-mail and missed messages. Getting a phone allows you to call up hostels and arrange meetings with friends. You’re on holiday, not in the stone age!
Extra Hard Drive- With all that data, photos, and videos you have, your hard drive will fill up faster than a supermodel at a buffet. Additionally, you’ll want to have a backup for your data in case your computer is ever stolen. A true flashpacker never goes anywhere without an extra hard drive to make sure those valuable pictures are always safe.
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With the new Canon and Nikons, you can ditch the camcorder, they do killer video. No need for an ITouch and cell phone, that’s so 20th century, consolidate…
R(etc… )
Seeing this makes me feel a bit better about all the gear we’re lugging around! We actually do use everything, but we’re now trying to consolidate and lighten up before the next leg of the journey (Africa or S. America). Just saw some gadgets that might reduce the bulk and weight of all the chargers, but can’t leave the essentials – laptop/camera/iPod/mobile – behind.
Matt,
You and I kicked around this topic around back in May.
http://sanddollaradventures.wordpress.com/2008/05/18/you-may-not-be-the-traveler-that-you-think-you-are/
Amazing the amount of websites and blogs devoted to this topic.
I notice you omit mention of an occasional fancy hotel stay. Or maybe it’s just my generation’s use of the term backpacking that inherently implies sleeping in a tent or a hostel.
Otherwise where would you get those TSA-approved sized bottles of designer-brand body products you mention?
Great list Matt. I too carry a lot of electronics, but I’m more of a backpacker when in comes to clothing. (A few quick-dry shirts along with 2 nicer outfits).
Question- what sort of bag do you use to carry all of your electronics?
Ground control to Major Matt
NASA called and said they want their equipment back!
I’m headed down that path. What can I say? I like gadgets. Next up is the DSLR. I think I’m going with a Canon 30D or a Nikon D80. We’ll see what the budget allows.
Oh Yeah, if you are going to do deep immersion, truly extended travel, you must have some goodies, for sure.
We don’t bother with everything you mention , but as you know, we are a 3 laptop family on our third year of an open ended world tour.We are a flashpacking family…..great way to go!
@ron: will keep that in mind
@wannabe: goes in the checked baggage!
@Elizabeth: A day pack and some goes into my big big backpack.
@Daniel: Gagets = good
@Quick: just call me major tom
Except for the body products(?), I agree with everything on the list. All of the power adapters you have to carry is the real killer. I wish companies could agree to a universal power supply.
Didn’t know Flashpackers travelled behind the wings…
)
Wow, that’s a lot of gear! I’m doing a stint of travelling from January for a few months and sites like yours make me want to just pack my bags and turn up at Heathrow….not looking forward to the packing though!
Kat
Too funny. By this definition, I think I’m closer to a backpacker than a flashpacker – after a few days on the road I find I can do without the camera and the laptop. Any time I’ve remembered to pack a video camera it didn’t get used anyway. But I can’t do without the toiletries.
Guess that makes me a Flackpacker! I’m somewhere between a backpacker and flashpacker. Though I’m definitely agreeing with you on the idea of staying in a nice hotels rather than frequently questionable hostels. Damn, I must be getting old!
Is there a backpack designed with flashpackers in mind? I mean a backpack that you can travel RTW with, not a day bag before some smart alec chips in! I carry a laptop but i’d never slip it in my main backpack, maybe there’s a gap in the modern market – are you listening, Karrimor?!
Yep, I think I am a flashpacker as one of the most important gadget for my trip will be my digital camera and the laptop.
.
Photos for me are like instants of life printed in paper (actually digital format
When I will be old I want to be able to watch my pictures, read about my life and remember the old times….
Take care
With the emphasis on taking pictures, I got to wondering – what is one to do with all the pictures once captured?
http://sanddollaradventures.wordpress.com/2008/11/16/home-movies-of-our-travels-apparently-only-the-technology-has-changed/
Great article. Now I really believe my husband when he tells me he needs the extra hard drive!
It’s funny how many of these items come in one or two small devices. For example, I just purchased the AT&T Tilt Phone which is Unlocked. It has a camera, camcorder, MP3 player, a cell phone for any country, a place for a mini-SD card, a keyboard, and wireless access. Although it is not as fast as a laptop, I can still check and send emails from it, which I thought was cool and was why I bought it. So, now that I am looking at your list…I feel ready for my next trip abroad (in December).
Great article.
OMG ! I think I’m a flashpacker too
Maximum respect for all this stuff !
Many of these “essentials” are only essential if your business is maintaining a blog during extended travelling. If you’re doing it for your own pleasure, cut back on the gadgets.
Any gadget that relies on power is a potential headache.
Consumer electronics firms have done a great job in making us want digital cameras – and to upgrade them every trip. One great way to make you upgrade is to have a ‘measurable’ improvement. People who know nothing about photography can still compare megapixels between current models and their existing camera and can convince themselves that more=better. Unless you plan to make poster sized prints from your images, you don’t need massive megapixels. If you DO plan to make big prints, you probably don’t want any of the consumer level digital cameras – they all produce boring looking images unless you spend time on post-production. Better to use a 35mm or APS film camera which you can get very cheaply second hand.
If you want your pictures to stand out use film: black & white film, very grainy colour film, very natural looking transparency film. Use it while it’s still readily available.
Digital has some advantages: eg you can take 10000 photos on your trip and, apart from lugging the hard drive and/or laptop, it won’t cost you a lot extra for the extra photos. But do any of your friends really want to see thousands of your average pictures? (“This is my Taj Mahal folder. As you can see, it was raining the day I was there.)
Post cards are often made by local photographers who know their craft, know the location and capture it at the best time of day in the best season. If you want to make your friends jealous of your visit to a major tourist site or scene, get a postcard. Make it personal and write something on it. It’ll cost you a dollar and it doesn’t need batteries.
i love gadgets and these toys, but i feel that stuff just pulls me down when i travel. i wanna be independent and free. with a backpack worth of 3000 dollar of gadgets i would always have to worry to loose it.that would be in my head all the time. it probably depends in what places you stay. for hotels it’s almost okay. but guesthouses and stuff never really works. plus you end up having one bad only for these gadgets.
perfect packlist is only a toothbrush. that is not going to work, but i’m always trying to stay as close to that as possible. the less you own the better.
@Ant:
This might be a little late, but I have a backpack from the German brand “Deuter” which a rather renowned travelling/trekking equipment manufacturer and they sell a model called “Traveller” which comes in to sizes (“70+10″ for guys and “55+10″ for girls – the numbers represent volume in liters). The “+10″ stands for the small daypack which is attached to the back of the main bag and cat be removed and reattached very easily. Other than that the main backpack opens differently than regular backpacks. You don’t end up stuffing everything in from the top. It actually opens like a regular carry-on bag, which makes packing and unpacking very easy. You can also make the shoulder and belt straps dissappear when you are checking in the bag for a flight. It essentially looks like a regular bag then. It has a shitload of extras as well which are too many to mention, but if anything comes close to what you’re looking for, it’s this. It’s not the cheapest but it’ll serve you a looooong time. Comes with 5 year warranty as well.
Hmm the picture shows a lot more than the list describes, don’t underestimate accessories everyone! I spot tripod, big ass microphone, and a lot of spare batteries, chargers, adapters and cables there in addition to the listed items.
It’s possible to eliminate some bits. I used to use card reader built in my netbook for transferring photos but have gone back to cable now for for functions. I don’t carry a camcorder as I don’t video enough to justify it. Just replaced my 18-55 lens with a 18-270mm which gives a lot more useability but a lot more weight offsetting that bonus.
Hey Matt,
Doesn’t the packing in the morning with all that gear get a bit annoying and the constant charging?
The DSLR is not coming with me on this leg. It’s a pain, Canon 350D (Rebel) with 3 good lenses is over 2 KG. yeah you get some great shots but really… it’s never in my hand when I want that good shot. Either go with a four thirds camera, new tiny DSLR or get a decent point and shoot like the Canon S90.
I travel with a Samsung X360 for portability and battery power and yes a Canon S90 with underwater housing and fish eye lens.
Have hit this site a couple of times while looking for stuff. I am a gadget kinda guy and have been world travelling for a long time with my wife, kinda 30 something and ditched the jobs in London.
Breakfree people but try to enjoy travel without ‘all’ the gear. Trust me you feel better for it! Full Moon is sexier without the video camera. But you knew that.
Cheers
Brook
I have a power strip so I charge everything at once and I don’t unpack everything everyday.
These days you can get a very good point and shoot that does great video, that reduces your space and weight problem straight up. I agree, the iTouch is a godsend and I have a $99 phone which I just put a new SIM card into wherever I am. Unfortunately yes, the chargers are what take up the space. Camera, iTouch, phone, laptop all have separate chargers!
Matt, what’s the best external hard-drive to have?
We just bought a couple of iPhone 4’s, and we think they’d be a valuable addition to any “flashpacker”. They combine many of the devices you’re talking about in 1 – the iTouch, camcorder, camera, and phone. We reviewed it here:
http://www.ianandwendy.com/travel/travel-tips/top-5-new-iphone-4-features-for-travellers.htm