Introducing the “Flashpacker or Backpacker?” Weekly Series

Since we started flashpackerguy.com, we have gotten one question over and over…..what is a Flashpacker and how exactly is it different than a backpacker? We’re so glad you asked.

We could make up a definition and stick to it, but we believe in the old adage of “show, don’t tell,” which is the philosophy behind all great writing and court room demonstration dolls. So we’ve decided to start a weekly series called “Flashpacker or Backpacker” in which we will demonstrate a travel situation and determine whether the situation’s protagonist, referred to in the second person, is a backpacker or Flashpacker. Here’s the first installment….Flashpacker or Backpacker?

1) You’re on a plane to from Medellin, Colombia to Quito, Ecuador. It’s run by a budget airline and so far your incredibly cheap ticket has been offset by an exorbitant bag fee, the taxi drive to the Medellin airport (which for some reason is nowhere near Medellin), and the tax/fee/extortion they charge you for leaving Colombia. It’s been a long day, and

as you fly somewhere over Ecuadorian airspace, you just want a drink. As the flight attendant makes his way through the cabin (of course it’s a he, it’s a budget airline) he asks you if you want anything to drink, and you tell him you’d love something strong, and he says it will be fourteen dollars and cash only. You are angry at the price, so you tell him a water is fine. He tells you that will be seven dollars. You give up and tell him you don’t want anything, and you resign yourself to waiting till Quito to buy some Rum.

So which is it? Flashpacker or Backpacker?

A: You’re a Flashpacker. The backpacker would’ve skipped the plane and spent three days on a bus through FARC territory freezing his ass off in a needlessly frigid Colombian bus that swayed over 1000 foot cliffs winding through the Andes.