Flashpacking

Before this trip, I had no idea there were levels of backpacking.  I naively assumed that anyone who traveled on a budget, stayed in hostels or cheap hotels, and presumably, carried a backpacking pack, was simply a backpacker. Turns out I'm wrong, and there are multiple levels of backpacking. I mainly seem to be a flashpacker. As in, while in Siem Reap I paid $9/night to stay in a new, spacious hotel with a pool and A/C when I could've been paying $3-4/night to sleep in a dorm room with no A/C (and certainly no pool).  To be fair, the only reason I could afford the more expensive hotel is because I was traveling with people and we split the cost of the room.

Backpacking levels can also be seen by method of transportation (bus, private taxi, train, boat, airplane); where one eats (street food, market food, grocery store, cafe, restaurant); and accompanying technology (digital camera, ipod, laptop); etc. I'm definitely a flashpacker in most of those categories, although I have taken every method of transportation listed and bought food from all those places listed.  In terms of technology though, I'm a true flashpacker - I have a laptop and I judge hotels by whether or not they have free wifi. Still, a hotel doesn't have to be that nice so long as I can use the internet without leaving my room.

The point is, the term "backpacking" encompasses a huge variety of people traveling in very different ways, but we all identify ourselves as backpackers because it's a mentality as much as a style of travel.
With the exception of technology, my flashpacking days will soon be over...no more free tuk-tuk rides into town, or late night dips in the pool. And that's cool. Once I'm on my own, my standards will go way down. At least, they'll go down for the next two weeks until I get to Singapore where will not be doing any sort of backpacking at all - I'll be checking into the five-star Marriott Hotel and living in luxury for 2.5 days (courtesy of Marriott Rewards points).

But hey, I deserve it - I've been backpacking in some capacity for over three months now, and in Israel I'll be living on a kibbutz so I deserve a few days of non-backpacking, non-flashpacking travel.  Overall though, I've definitely been converted into a hard-core flashpacker, and it's now my preferred way to travel.