Backpack to the future:For the new generation of backpackers, laptops and MP3 players are the essential pieces of travelling kit, writes self-confessed "flashpacker" Ailbhe Conneely
I HAVE TAKEN A step closer to becoming a "flashpacker". It's not as if I set out to be this new breed of backpacker; I simply gained the title after my rucksack gained three kilos.
Flashpacking is a relatively new term for backpackers who travel with every technical gadget imaginable. Rolled-up sleeping bags, mats and flasks made up luggage of the past, but nowadays it's anything with a battery or a plug.
Digital camera: check. Mobile phone: check. Headset to call home via the internet: check. MP3 player: check. Adaptors for various countries: check, check and check. And a laptop: check.
It was the purchase of that laptop that resulted in my new-found flashpacking status, although I am not quite there yet. A global-positioning-system device, an iPhone and a camera tripod would put me on a par with most of today's technically savvy travellers, but my credit card doesn't swipe that far.
In South America, where my journey began, I was a true backpacker, because laptops were unnecessary. The internet was easily accessible and free in most hostels.
North America proved entirely different. Getting online was expensive, and most travellers had their own laptops. I sapped those people of information on the pros of buying (they are cheap in the US) and the cons (there's always a worry it'll be stolen). The cheap deal won me over. I bought three extra kilos of luggage at a very reasonable price. It's perfect for storing photographs, helps me plan the next leg of the trip and enables me to Skype the folks now and then.
But the extra weight is a killer, and when you go out for some sightseeing there is always that niggling doubt about whether it will still be in the hostel on your return.
Then there are the scornful looks from true backpackers because they're roughing it and you're not. Once you pull out that laptop, in their eyes you are a flashpacker.
When I met Stephen Gray, an Australian from Adelaide, at the Green Tortoise Hostel in Seattle, he was two-finger-punching a tiny new laptop for the first time, having been on the road for 13 months. "In South America not many people have computers, so it's easy to find internet cafes at reasonable prices. In North America and Canada, internet cafes are harder to come by, because nearly everyone owns a computer, so I bought a laptop."
Does he consider himself a flashpacker now? "I'd like to think of myself as a traditional backpacker, but I guess I'm not," he says, gesturing at his new purchase. "I mean, in any afternoon there could be up to 20 people in this hostel on their laptops."
Indeed, the travellers staying at the Green Tortoise are a prime example of young flashpackers today. It's a growing trend, according to Aisling White of Hostelworld.
"A recent survey we carried out shows nine out of 10 people won't go travelling without their mobile phones, over a quarter of travellers pack their laptops, 85 per cent bring a digital camera and 71 per cent are plugged into their MP3 player."
The growing number of flashpackers has forced hostel owners to meet their needs. Dave Cassidy from Waterford is a co-owner of Loki Hostels in South America.
"We see more and more travellers with laptops and other gadgets. We have installed free Wi-Fi in all our hostels and supply sockets in secure lockers, so guests can charge their laptops and cameras in a safe location."
It's not all about technology, however; flashpacking also means seeking the right accommodation. Usually aged in their late 20s or early 30s, flashpackers have bigger budgets and demand luxury. They want more comfort than a hostel but with the same amount of interaction with other guests.
Recognising a gap in the market, US hotel owner Bill Lanting opened Stay, a boutique hostel in downtown Los Angeles.
"The response has been overwhelming. Our guests appreciate the sense of community at Stay, not unlike that of traditional youth hostels, paired with the design sensibility of an upscale boutique hotel."
Rooms at Stay feature small flatscreen TVs, brightly coloured bedspreads, alarm clocks and free internet.
"The traditional youth hostel experience is often rather hostile," according to Lanting. "Accommodations are usually spartan and amenities are mostly absent. Stay represents a new, radical departure from that experience."
And what about those who are forced to share long bus and train journeys with the flashpacker? Niamh Fannon from Galway is due home shortly after travelling for a year. She splits flashpackers into two categories: the solo flashpackers and the herd flashpackers.
"The solos will just sit beside you on a bus, flick away on their laptop and tell a story about the last great place they went out on the town. I believe they can be redeemed," she says.
"Whereas the herd, they can and should be avoided at all costs. They generally don't want anything to do with you or anyone else, they carry on as they would at home, with a bit more sand, sun, opposite sex and more excuses to be sickly rude. They completely ignore the travel policies of 'do as the locals do' and 'try to fit in, not stand out'. They are generally insulting, not at all funny and go around asking highland or village tribespeople where they can get some ganja."
With flashpacking on the increase, there is a fear that traditional backpacking will disappear. Many young travellers are more engrossed in their iPods, laptops and Facebook than the countries they visit.
In Japan, where the locals love their gadgets, I am currently staying in a hostel that offers free wireless on multiple floors. In the Khaosan Tokyo Guesthouse, flashpackers don't even have to get out of bed to get online. However, Wi-Fi in the dorms means less interaction among travellers in the hostel common room, which is what traditional backpacking is all about.
While I don't surf the web from the comfort of my bunk-bed, part of me feels that by having a laptop on the road I have sold out. If I look as if I'm holding my flashpacker head in shame every time I pull the laptop out of its case, it's because I am. But I'm also looking for a wall socket to plug in the charger.