Update 2026: The post below was written in 2015 when we began our RTW journey. Now 10 years later, I can say we are really no longer Flashpackers. Check out the updated post in 2026 to see how our travel style has evolved over the last decade on the road.
Flashpacker vs. Backpacker vs. The Two-Week Tourist
So, what’s the actual difference between a Flashpacker, a Backpacker, and a two-week package tourist on holiday from work?
Simply put: a flashpacker is just a backpacker with a bigger bank account. That’s it. We sleep in more comfortable spots, eat out wherever we want, and drop cash on cool experiences that traditional backpackers have to skip because they’re counting pennies.
Flashpackers are usually 30 and up, seeking real adventure and new experiences. Most of us have a bigger travel budget because we’re taking a breather from an established career. How we choose to blow our money varies a bit, but one thing is for certain: flashpackers maintain that raw backpacker mentality. And that’s exactly what keeps us hip.
The Mentality: Experiencing vs. Just Seeing
Backpackers are fiercely independent. They opt for low-cost destinations and budget lodging for one specific reason: to prolong their trip as long as humanly possible. They prefer to experience a destination rather than just see it. As flashpackers, Barbie and I take the exact same approach—we just have the financial cushion to elevate those experiences..
Both backpackers and flashpackers prefer local guesthouses over massive, corporate hotels. Just because we travel with more money doesn’t mean we’re willing to throw it away on an overpriced resort room that we barely step foot in. More importantly, a good guesthouse is the ultimate hub for meeting like-minded travelers and trading the inside scoop on local spots.
Unlike the two-week package tourists, we’re also way more likely to jump on public transportation rather than rent a car. It gives us another great opportunity to interact with locals, and honestly, it’s usually way less hassle than trying to navigate a vehicle in a foreign country. Embracing those authentic local transit options is a massive part of the adventure.
The Art of the Long-Term Burn
We both prefer long-term travel over a quick vacation. A two-week trip simply isn’t enough time to dig in, get a feel for the rhythm of a place, and actually connect with the people. Plus, this long-term mindset drastically reduces your single biggest travel expense: transit to and from the destination. By staying put longer, both flashpackers and backpackers can keep the journey alive for months or even years.
We’re hunting for adventure, not tourist traps. A flashpacker is just as excited about a chaotic local market or a hole-in-the-wall noodle shop as they are about the top sightseeing landmarks. Over the years, I’ve found that my absolute best travel memories are about the random people I’ve met and the bizarre local activities I’ve stumbled into, rather than staring at some famous monument.
The Luggage: It’s All in the Wheels
You can easily spot a flashpacker by their gear. We carry the new breed of backpacks: convertible wheeled packs. These bad boys have heavy-duty built-in wheels, so you can effortlessly roll your life through airports and city streets.
Our brand of choice is Osprey. These packs feature a brilliant, zip-away harness system. If you hit a spot where wheels are totally useless—like getting unloaded off a boat straight onto a sandy tropical beach, or hauling your gear up three flights of stairs in a local guesthouse—you just zip out the straps and throw it on your back.
-
Backpackers: Their packs are strictly harness straps. No wheels. They carry every single pound on their spine and usually balance it out with a daypack strapped to their chest like a human sandwich.
-
Two-Week Tourists: They lug around giant, heavy suitcases stuffed with a bunch of junk they don’t actually need—and they’ll probably only wear half of what they packed anyway.
We Are Not All Gap-Year Hippies
I am constantly amazed by the sheer number of both backpackers and flashpackers out here on similar long-term journeys. Let’s bust a myth right now: they aren’t all hippies or twenty-something, gap-year ganja dudes who have never held a real job in their lives.
Out here on the road, you run into ex-professionals, singles, couples, and plenty of 30, 40, and 50-year-olds. Some of them even bring their kids along for the ride. They check out of society for a bit, get completely refreshed and reinvigorated, and eventually return to the exact same lives they left behind months or years prior.
Barbie and I have met so many fellow travelers who share our exact outlook. We swap stories with a ton of Australians, Kiwis, Israelis, and Europeans—though, funnily enough, we rarely bump into fellow Americans.
If I’ve learned one single thing in my 51 years on this planet, it’s that you are never too old to try something completely new. After all, as the old saying goes: “You’ll never, ever be as young as you are right now.”
Big Doug & Barbie Drop Out of Society 