Last Updated: 4/8/19 | April 8th, 2019 (Originally Posted: 07/29/2009)
Note: So much has changed since I originally wrote this post 10 years ago (also, isn’t it crazy that I’ve been blogging for so long?) that I thought that this funny little article needed an update. The Flashpacker is long gone. The Digital Nomad has risen. Others have remained the same.
I redid this entire post on the curious species that is the backpacker after having embedded myself in their culture and learned their curious ways.
You always hear about the distinction between tourists and backpackers, but even among backpackers, we love to group each other into categories by who is the “better” traveler. Check into any hostel, and you will find a variety of travelers wearing their distinctive tribal gear and people going “Yeah, that guy over there? Definitely the partier.”
So who are the backpackers? What kind of types have I identified in the hostel jungle? After years of research, many!
Here are some of the more common species of backpackers that can be found in a hostel’s jungle:
The Spiritual Traveler
Usually white, Western, and sometimes young (though there are plenty still trapped in 1969), travelers spiritus have come to find themselves. Exploring local religions and customs, they spend their time reading books on Buddhism, Kabbalah, or yoga and talking about how connected life is. They’ve done ayahuasca in South America. They’ve done yoga in Bali and just “looooooove” Tulum.
Jaded by the materialism of their homeland, they have come to reconnect with the world, find inner peace, and learn some tantra among the tourist centers of India, the hill tribes of Asia, or the shamans of the world. Travelers spiritus forgo material possessions, except for a computer, which they use to blog about the healthy snacks they are eating and tell people how much freer they are now that they have been to six retreats in Bali and went on a juice cleanse.
These backpackers are usually found in South America, India, and Southeast Asia.
The Hippie
Not wanting to be held down by the man, the hippie can be found wearing fisherman pants, dreadlocks, and lots of necklaces, and has a distinct “I haven’t showered in two days” smell. This species of traveler is often thumbing a well-worn book on social justice.
Hippie travelers use local transportation, eat local food, and talk about cultural imperialism while watching the latest Hollywood movies on their Macbook and begging for money to get to the next place. They usually avoid most tourist destinations because “they’re too commercial, man.”
Mostly found in India or other developing countries (because they can’t afford anywhere else).
The Gap Yearer
Traveler gap-yearius is usually college-aged, English, Kiwi, or Aussie. This backpacking species tends to be traveling for exactly one year right before or after university. They follow the main round-the-world ticket route, spending most of their time in Southeast Asia, New Zealand, and Australia.
Gap-year travelers like to party a lot, see the main attractions, sleep in dorms, and tend to stick to the beaten path. They are out to have a good time, meet other travelers, and come home with a few good stories before they start their career.
They can be found wherever a round-the-world ticket will take them.
The Partier
Sporting sunglasses, shorts, flip-flops, and a Lao beer T-shirt, travelers partyoholic spend most of their time getting drunk in each country. Most of their day is spent nursing the hangover from last night while avoiding loud and well-lit areas. You’ll probably see them still in bed when you check in at 2pm. But they’re the first one at the bar each night. Very loud, these nocturnal creatures bounce from one party destination to the other.
Mostly found in “party destinations” like Amsterdam, Thailand, Barcelona, and Prague.
The Couple
The backpacking couple spends most of their time sightseeing, touring, and doing activities. They avoid most of the backpacker ghettos and parties and tend to gravitate toward other couples or older travelers. The younger version often goes the opposite route and tends to party a lot while breaking up about ten times on the road.
They are found worldwide.
The Better Traveler
While sipping on a drink in a hostel, this traveler will tell you how insincere and hypocritical all other travelers are and how they really are just tourists and not trying to find the “local culture.” He will speak about his experience taking local transportation, and that one time he spent living in a village for one day. He waxes on about the death of local cultures, globalization, and how he’s really out there traveling to be part of the world and not force his culture down other people’s throats.
This species is found being hypocritical in hostels all over the world.
The “Remember When” Backpacker
Traveler living-in-the-pastus has been traveling a long time (and usually to the same destinations). He’ll tell you all about how he remembers when the Full Moon Party used to be good and how Laos is too discovered now.
He’ll talk about how Ios used to be quiet and no one had heard of Queenstown. He’ll describe the time when he was the only person in Costa Rica or sailing the Amazon. When asked why he’s still here if he hates it so much, he’ll quickly change the topic.
This depressing species can be found in the same destinations he says are ruined now.
The Digital Nomad
Traveler flashpackosaurus has evolved into a new species called digital nomadosaurus. These creatures work online to afford their travels, often clustering with others of their species in spots like Bali, Chiang Mai, or Medellín.
Carrying laptops, cameras, video cameras, and iPads, they spend much of their time behind their computer touting their free lifestyle and/or recent startup while often never seeing much of the destination they are at. Their first question is always about the Wi-Fi.
They are found behind their computer, talking into their phone, and wherever there is good internet access and a cheap cost of living.
Life in a hostel on the backpacker trail sure is interesting. There is a lot of diversity out there in the hostel jungle!
To further investigate the habits of these fabulously interesting creatures, I shall continue to travel the world and stay in hostels.
Ya know, for science!
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Jason
Quite funny. Spot on. You have described all of us!
zachary
So what kind of backpacker are you Matt? 🙂
jen laceda
What a comprehensive list. I can’t believe these classifications have spawned blog posts and articles 🙂
JessieV
too funny! i’ve never backpacked bc of my disabilities, so it is all a new world to me. thanks for sharing!
NomadicMatt
To answer everyone’s question: I’m a proud flashpacker.
Tanya
Great list. Tried to think of additional types, but you covered the spectrum well! Maybe The Recluse? Seems like there was always a backpacker who didn’t talk to anyone, didn’t seem to be traveling with anyone, and was all around kind of a mystery.
JoAnna
I know which one I am!
I agree with Zachary ~ we want to know what type you are, Matt!
Stevo
Too funny, Matt. I’ve seen them all. I was planning something similar regarding the types of ESL teachers I have met.
Mark H
You’ve captured so much of the essence of these different species with the matching photos.
Mara
So Matt – do you see a bit of yourself in each of these profiles? Or are you a category unto yourself – perhaps a Fraggle backpacker?
I do like this post – has the ring of truth that can only come from true experience & observation.
Heather
Interesting. I don’t know where I fit. None are quite feminine enough. I suppose I’m closest to a flashpacker also…but I’m definitely ok eating pasta in a hostel! 🙂 Nice post. Thanks.
NomadicMatt
I eat in hostels often but I didn’t travel all the way to a country to eat the majority of my meals there. A lot about culture is expressed through the food. It amazes that people spend time in France or Italy and rarely eat out because of the cost. Yes, it is expensive but italy without the food isn’t italy!
Heather
Haha! Yes, I see your point 100%. I usually try for the one meal in and two meals out each day. Italian food…mmmm….I’m hungry. I love food. Bon appetite! Itadakimasu!
Liz
I’m with you on that one, Heather. I loved the “Found wherever there is internet access.” That’s me, all right. 🙂
Alex Berger
Can’t say like I felt any of them fit me very well. I guess I fall in as part gap year, part partier and part flashpacker.
Dawn
Matt! You are a party flashpacker. Amsterdam, Thailand….so you! 🙂
Kayt Sukel
You’ve forgotten the Mom-packer! We’re found all over the world either lugging our offspring in a baby backpack or, if parent to older children, lugging around all their junk in a knapsack. You can recognize us by the weird stains on our shirts, the beleaguered expressions on our faces and the pervasive odor of apple juice and french fries.
Franny
Okay this is totally hilarious. And an equal-opportunity backpacker-roast. Nice.
brian
MUST have that Internet access so I would have to be a flashpacker.
Denny
too funny
Heather
Hmmm….reading through everyone’s responses has got me thinking. Do you have to travel with a backpack to be considered a backpacker? If not, what’s the definition? Staying in a hostel? Traveling on a budget? Not taking a ‘tour’ vacation? Hmmmmm…..
Monica
I’ve haven’t backpacked yet but if I were to, I’d say I’d be The Couple Backpacker. I’ve been traveling with my boyfriend since I met him while studying abroad in Shanghai. I was 20 then.
Jeni
I love the one about the ‘better traveller’… not sure how many people would admit to being this species though!
Jodi
Enjoyed the post. I was hoping I wouldn’t fit one of the categories, but nope you nailed it with the couple backpacker.
Audrey
I was just catching up on my RSS feed after being offline for a week and got a good laugh reading this. In the hostel we’re in right now in Quito, we’ve got a good variety of types, especially the Gap Yearer and the Partiers. Earplugs come in handy when bunking with them.
We’re definitely in the Couple/Flashpacker category – you can usually find with a beer in a hostel with free wifi.
Deb
Interesting, but you must be missing one as I don’t fit into any of those.
Renny
You hit the nail on all eight heads here Matt!
Candice
Hi Matt, great blog post – made me laugh!! I can recall at least one person I met on all my travels who would fit each category…
Great blog!!
Carrie
Great post, Matt. I’ve moved through several backpacking phases in the past seven years: a gap-year backpacker, a party backpacker and now a couple/flashpacker. And I think I’d have to agree with Dawn and her assessment of you – I’m basing it on our shenanigans in Taipei and all the Thailand status updates on Facebook this spring. 🙂
It’s interesting to note that there seem to be quite a lot of couple backpackers out there these days, certainly a lot more than ten years ago.
Mike
Haha, I tried to come up with more, but that list pretty much covers all of them. Good stuff. I am the dreaded couple traveler…
Chris
This reminds me of a picture in La Paz at the Pub Olivers Travels. They had a picture of a Guy and pointed out all of his “faults” as a back packer, seemed kind of mean so i asked the owner about it and he said it was in fact a real person and the most annoying person in the world. Nevertheless does anyone have a picture of this? Anyone who has been in there will know what i’m talking about.
lu
and yet, all backpackers are still tourists no matter how hard they try not to be.
Vero
Funny and interesting post but I think you’re a bit too demeaning of some of the groups you describe.
NomadicMatt
FOAD?
Jessica
Lol, funnies, I think I must be a cross between a flashpacker and a couple.
You missed one we saw a lot of though, the retired whinge bag packers. Lots of money but no cultural sense. Easily confused by something slightly different, and complain about the hotel rooms constantly, along with everything else. And they always carry tea bags and portable kettles, if *gasp, horror!* they should not have their cup of tea in the morning.
Lissie
You missed me! I’m an older backpacker – but not in my 30s LOL – older than that! And not inexperienced – I was a backpacker in the 80s I know what I’m doing, I don’t stay in dorms I stay in doubles, because I bring my partner along, I carry a netbook to take my business on the road, I laugh at the “gap yearers” who won’t go anywhere that isn’t recommended on Twitter or FB and I try to take government buses (with real locals on them) rather than the “backpacker circuit” travel deals flogged by the travel agents
NomadicMatt
I guess I will have to update my list.
Judith
I think ‘Single’ meant f*** off and die. Kinda harsh, don’t you think, Single?
Georgia
Ha ha 🙂 How about the single female traveller? which group will she belong to?
NomadicMatt
The solo traveler?
Linda
I am in that group myself. 60 is only a couple of months away. My budget is limited, and so is my mobility. My wanderlust has not abated, and I have time and flexibility. Hostels are an excellent choice in expensive cities, and you usually go to their bar even if not a guest if you feel a deep need for an English speaker. I usually try to book in a woman’s 4 as these usually have their own bathroom.
There is still quite a bit of the Partier still lurking at least once or twice on a vacation.
Samuel
Matt, maybe you could include a category for ‘perpetual’ 😛 I’d fall into flashpacker with my dSLR, computer and i-toys & hopefully not too much of ‘the remember when’ type. Which of these categories do you find most annoying personally?
Regin
I’m a “The Couple” backpacker. I’m proud of it. It’s cool and so meaningful. Sorry @Single.
Clarissa
So good!
But I do think there should be some sort of healthy balance between the ‘gap year’ group and the ‘better traveler’ group. =)
Lauren
hahahaha.
I was once a backpacker couple, and yes, we did break up about 10 times. That’s how I managed to run away in Paris with some hostel boy. Great experience. Not sure what I am now…I guess partier, except I don’t wear a lot of makeup.
This was a fun read 🙂
Derrick
Don’t forget the “Pretentious traveler who likes to categorize all other travelers”
Red G.
Yes! Touche!
Malc
Well as a couple we started backpacking about 6 ago on the recommendation of our grown up children. We started with Burma went on to China, Ethiopia and Indonesia. Im 66 and my wife late 50s. We tend to keep to ourselves mostly but have met some really nice people from all over the world. Much prefer backpacking to tours which we have done for about 35 years. We have stayed in all sorts of place nothing from a 5 star hotel to. Tent in the African mountains.
Linda
Grown up children rock! My daughter and I stayed in a hostel in Bruges, although we stayed Airbnb in Amsterdam about three years ago as I spend so little one on one time with her since she has been a mom.
Wally
Definitely The “Remember When” Backpacker. And don’t tell these idiots about Laos!
Thailand in the 80s (gone and ruined) Vietnam in the 90s (gone) There’s always India. Stay away from Laos…how about Cambodia that’s nice go there.
Bella
where’s the solo traveler? or bi-sexual traveler?
Surya Bhattacharya
Ha! Spot on! I identify with some, and I’ve definitely met at least a few of all the other kinds 😀
Miranda
Wow I found this post really late. Where’s the “I don’t know what to do with my life so I’m going where the wind takes me and have no idea what I’m doing” backpacker? I’m that one, haha!
Michael Dembenski
I am the “spiritual flashpacker” that wants to be a “couple partier”
Neil
There must be more types of travellers because im none of those categories. Sounds a bit like me then as i read on it becomes completely nothing like me.
So there has to be an 8th kind of traveller.
caroline
Aw, I guess I’m in a different genus: slow tourist. By the time I started traveling independently I already had enough money and little enough vacation that money is not the limiting factor. My work is rewarding, but after a few weeks at home I’m always antsy for another little adventure. Sleeping in tents is cool when there is legit nature involved, but the thought of not having a private bathroom and wearing proper clothes to bed is an unreasonable compromise. The paths of slow tourist and backpacker occasionally intersect, and usually we blow minds with our habit of arriving everywhere on-time and prepared.
Cassie
It’s crazy how much backpacking has evolved! I remember the days of hunting down the nearest internet cafe and paying a Euro/hour and hoping I could get everything done in that time because I was on such a small budget!
Part of me misses those days…no one was glued to their phones or constantly updating their social media platforms with their location. We just hung out, got to know each other and went on adventures – “what is wifi?!”
It’ll be fun to see what backpacking looks like 10+ years from now too! Who knows, maybe we’ll revert back to the old ways 😛
Michelle Lin
Fun list! I used to be a party backpacker, but now I’d say that I’m a couple traveller/flashpacker. Although I think I would describe myself mostly as a perpetual expat (I’ve been living abroad for the past 10 years!)
Keelie Cox
I loved this blog! So funny, and so true! I was the Gap Yearer. The only difference is I am American, and I took my Gap Year in between a career change. Keep up the great work, Matt!
Welly Dermawan
You missed me! I’m an older backpacker – but not in my 30s LOL – older than that! And not inexperienced – I was a backpacker in the 80s I know what I’m doing, I don’t stay in dorms I stay in doubles, because I bring my partner along, I carry a netbook to take my business on the road, I laugh at the “gap yearers” who won’t go anywhere that isn’t recommended on Twitter or FB and I try to take government buses (with real locals on them) rather than the “backpacker circuit” travel deals flogged by the travel agents
Emma Crosby
I am a digital nomad! 😀
Jacqueline
“Their first question is always how is the WiFi”
As someone who works online on the road I feel attacked.
Just kidding 😛 thanks for a good laugh and a nice read. I have definitely met ALL these travelers
Agness | the adventure traveler
This is very funny! All of a sudden I felt conscious about who I am as a traveler. The part where you said, “Their first question is always about the WiFi.” about the digital nomads was pretty funny. I guess if you really travel this much, you just realize that there are tons of people out there but they share similar interests at some point.
Cheryl
How about the rebellious backpacker? This is the older person who refuses to knit, babysit grandchildren, worry about doctor appointments, and listen to friends talk about their aches and pains. This is the retired person who runs away from home to find like-minded rebels ‘cause you won’t find them in your own community.
Jamie
I’m the better traveler. And I love the line about staying in a village for one day, especially since I actually did exactly that.
James V
One more… I’ll call the FAMpacker. May have begun as one of the other types. We definitely were the couple backerpacker but rather than quit after kids we take them with us training them in the ways of packing light, living in hostels and bnb’s, and enjoying the diversity of cultures we came to love in years past. I saw it the first time in Athens 10 years ago. My family has now become it! 7 countries coming up this summer! Yes we really are out there…
Michelle Nolan
We are family backpackers. We’ve spent 60 days at a time with only backpacks as we travel with our 3 young sons -12, 10 and 8. They have their own backpacks with 4 outfits, a bathing suit, pajamas, flip flops and sneakers. We have backpacked through Alaska, Eastern Europe, Kenya, and South Africa and have an upcoming trip to Japan and South Korea. We don’t stay at hostels but whatever we can find as we travel along. Our boys know how to carry their own supplies and be minimalists. I never thought I could only carry a backpack but it’s so much easier especially when traveling with 5!
Keith Beck
I wonder what I’ll end up being. Army veteran filming for YouTube ?