Hybrid Backpackers: The New Twist on Backpacking
When we started our trip around the world, we left home thinking we were going to be “backpackers”. We were very excited with our spanking new Osprey backpacks! For the first leg of the world tour we headed to Europe. Europe was our first stop because we knew it was going to be the most expensive part of our trip. We needed to be very budget conscious because that is what backpackers do right? They stick to a budget? London was our first European city. We noticed a few backpackers here and there, but not as many as we thought we would. In our travels we visited our bucketlist places which included; Ibiza, Mykonos, Munich, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Nice, Cannes and Monaco to name a few. We shortly realized we were “not your average backpackers”.
To be completely honest, we didn’t really know what a backpacker was until we realized that we weren’t it, well kind of…we couldn’t find a definition of what we were so we created one. We are "Hybrid Backpackers". We are a mix of traits between backpackers, tourists and travelers. We are very budget conscious, love to explore local customs and go off the beaten path. You will find us in hostels, airbnbs, guesthouses, nothing is out of the question. We might spend a little more on accommodation and we will not sacrifice an experience to save a dollar. We will however, decide to skip the expensive dinner and opt for the ramen noodles from time to time. We cook at home when we have the space. We travel without the help of a travel agency and rarely do we spend money on organized tours. We are avid planners who create a travel plan and know where we want to go, but we also enjoy some flexibility in our travels. We tend to stay at places for longer periods of time. We opt for the low cost travel like overnight sleeper trains in Thailand or the FlexiBuses in the U.K. and Italy. Since we have more time, we use that to our advantage to save money. We enjoy a drink from time to time and we love meeting people from all over the world. When you look at our habits and our traveling lifestyle, you can easily see that we are not your average backpacker. We look like regular tourists/travelers, but in reality we try to be on a real backpacker budget. For all the reasons stated above, we are self proclaimed "Hybrid Backpackers".
Regardless of the label, reality of it is that technology and cheap flight tickets are making traveling accessible to everyone. You can be a backpacker, hybrid backpacker, tourist or traveler, carry a backpack, suitcase or wheeled luggage take your pick and book that ticket. This world is too beautiful to be left undiscovered!
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