Term
The term `backpacking` (Eng. backpack - large bag) means a cheap way of travelling around the world. What differentiates this kind of travelling is the use of cheap public transport and sleeping in hostels rather than hotels. The typical `backpacker` tends to spend more time on their travels than a regular person on holiday from work or a traditional holiday. They often travel around the world for a few months or even years. The `backpacker` is interested as a rule in the culture of the country that they visit but is expressed most often not in the conventional sightseeing but more in the contact they enjoy with the people there. The term `backpacking` may also be extended to include those whose main article of luggage is a large rucksack.
Backpacking has evolved as a notion along with the growing popularity of travelling in different cultural circles. This is why the term escapes a single and definitive definition. The latest research shows that `backpackers are becoming a more multinational and multicultural group for whom the value is the change and experience gained as a result of their travels. Manifested in the choice of a non-institutionalised manner of travel, this is the dominant aspect and sign of being a `backpacker`. Backpacking as a style of life and as a branch of business began in 2000 with the popularisation of cheap airlines, hostels and other forms of cheap accommodation in many countries of the world. The growth of the Internet and other communication tools has made the planning, realisation and continuation of long term travelling significantly easier.
Culture
One of the main traits of backpacking is the need to be a part of a community. Whether it takes the form of sharing a room with other people in so-called dorm rooms in a hostel, using the shared kitchen or TV room or travelling in a group - the main aim is to share experiences. It allows backpackers to learn how to reduce their travel costs and get access to the most information from people in the know whose info is often more up to date than the backpacker`s bible - the Lonely Planet guide. The next trait is that of a need for independence. Backpacking places itself in opposition to the traditional idea of gap year in education, being rather an education and chance to broaden one`s knowledge in itself.
Backpackers want to experience the `real` goal of travelling which is attainable in getting to know the other culture to the fullest extent but which rarely happens through organised, mass market tourism. This is why backpacking has been described as `anti-tourism`. Backpacking often arouses controversy and criticism from many sides - the countries visited by the backpackers and other travellers for whom the lifestyle, external appearance or behaviour of backpackers causes hostility. However, the view of backpackers in many countries is very positive and the growing interest in this type of travelling shows that backpacking has left the `underground` and has become one of the main types of tourism.
