FLASHPACKERS: An Emerging Sub-Culture?

Abstract

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Developments and key issues in tourism mobilities

“…Thus tourism mobilities research is responding to the call for -better theorization and research, especially to examine the interdependencies between changes in physical movement and in electronic and tablet computers, and social media-expand and modify the traditional contours of tourism (Mascheroni, 2007;White and White, 2007;Paris, 2010Paris, , 2012Germann Molz, 2012;Wang, Park, and Fesenmaier, 2012;Tussyadiah and Fesenmaier, 2008). These new technologies are reconfiguring both time and space (Green, 2002) for their users as they become more ubiquitous parts of daily life.…”

“…For some ‗lifestyle travellers' (Cohen, 2011), ‗flashpackers' (Paris, 2012; Germann Molz and Paris, forthcoming; Butler and Hannam, 2013b), and other members of the new ‗mobile elite' (Bauman, 1998) without a permanent physical abode, an individual's email, blog, Twitter, and/or Facebook are often their only permanent address (Mascheroni, 2007). These same technological advances now allow for greater flexibility of tourist's paths through time and space, allowing for new opportunities of micro-coordination, collective planning, and more open time schedules (Sorensen, 2003) as tourists' personal schedules become more Moreover, mobile devices, mobile connectivity, and social media are not just technological objects used by tourists, but are in themselves social objects (Germann Molz, 2006) and part of a tourists' sociality.…”

“…Conversely, mobile users can also use these technologies as ‗technologies of separation' (Bull, 2007) to escape their immediate situations or remove themselves from the physicality of social interactions while travelling (Wilken, 2010;Paris, 2012).…”

Surveying “difficult-to-sample” backpackers throughFacebook? Employing a mixed-mode dual-frame procedure

“…This point, arguably, is even truer for the study of backpackers. Backpackers' inherent mobility means that, in some cases, backpackers' only permanent/stationary addresses are their email addresses and/or social media profiles (Paris, 2012;Mascheroni, 2007).…”

Backpacking, Social Media, and Crises: A Discussion of Online Social Convergence

“…The use of social media and mobile devices has become an ubiquitous part of the backpacker experience (Paris, 2012). Recent innovations in information and communication technologies have provided a perceived 'safety-net' for backpackers, as they can maintain contact and share their experiences with friends and family.…”