“Flash Packing” in today’s Hotspots

Whilst traveling in the classic sense has been popular since the days of the Grand Tour, it was to all intents and purposes restricted to the aristocracy, as they were the only ones who could afford such frivolities.

Since the 1960’s, the baby-boomer generation augmented the ‘Backpacking’ revolution that has been de rigueur ever since.

Indeed the stereotypes still inhabit many of the countries on route now – burek in the former Yugoslavia, banana pancakes everywhere, pies in Kathmandu and some seriously strong charas in India.

The hippy overland trail ran through Yugoslavia to the Greek islands, Turkey, some frolicking in pre-revolution Iran – Tehran hosted a pretty wild party scene by all accounts – before hopping over the Border and into poppy heaven in Afghanistan.

After this, the average traveler took the best part of a year to travel through India and Nepal, before moving onto South-East Asia and down towards Australia. This trip is characterized by Tony and Maureen Wheeler, famous of course for, “Across Asia on the cheap” (1973), a book created in a hostel in Singapore that would later become known as the Yellow Bible….South-East Asia on a Shoestring, formulating into the publishing ingenuity that is Lonely Planet.

Backpacking of the traditional kind still exists. There are always students willing to head overseas before, during or after they complete Uni.

However, it seems many of the backpackers of the 1990’s are now entertaining a new trend,a terminology known as, “Flashpacking”.

This is when travelers choose to travel as they did in their halcyon days; independent, using a rough itinerary, and often in a far-flung place not visited by mass tourism…however the change is that instead of bussing between cities, they are now flying, instead of staying in a $5 a night hostel, they are now staying in the Ritz-Carlton.

Welcome to the World of Flash Packing. Flashpackers often travel with iPod, laptop and digital camera in tow.

Flashpackers are often people in their late 20’s/ early 30’s who are taking a career break, or who often or not are just traveling because they would rather do that than be in a boring office doing work.

So where are the hotspots for travelers for 2008?

Many of the big, traditional centers for backpackers have now been trumped by the mass tourism market. India (Goa in particular), Thailand and the Caribbean are no longer the realm of the itinerant traveler. Indeed you have to get well off of the beaten track to go somewhere where the masses have not touched.

Arrive at Angkor Wat expecting to find a serene of calm and you are likely to be trampled by ten-of-thousands of Western (especially French) tourists. China, once closed to Westerners is now rammed with them. The former capitals of Eastern Europe of are being run amok by English stag weekends.

If Prague was the new Paris, Tallinn became the new Prague, then did Riga, Krakow and Budapest…..Kyiv, Sofia and Belgrade are next in line. With increasingly open border policies and a lust for EU membership, the former COMECON capitals are vying to be the new Prague.

Another big growth area is South America. Many people conclude this is an area not at risk to highjackings or terrorist attacks (The Shining Path excluded).

Here are escapework.net’s hotspots (in no particular order) for travel in the next couple of years:

1. Kyiv – a beautiful city that is full of history: Looking to the west whilst retaining the prices of Eastern Europe.

2. South Korea: a country virtually untouched by travelers, yet offer so much. The author visited here in 2004 and was still viewed as a curiosity.

3. Nicaragua: Now thankfully devoid of the political turmoil’s of the 1990’s, Nicaragua is a top surfing destination.

4. Colombia: Shedding off its dangerous tag, Colombia offers everything South America has in a nutshell, with some of the most hospitable people on the planet.

5. Rwanda: Forget your preconceptions of this place; it is not what you think. Africa’s first wireless nation is being bankrolled and cherry picked by some of the World’s corporate giants. Go now before it is overrun. THE place to see Mountain Gorilla’s in the wild.

6. Northern Ireland: Again, forget your preconceptions. Northern Ireland is one of the most beautiful parts of the UK and Belfast has a thriving nightlife…the only problem is the lack of hotels!