also called budget traveller
A traveller journeying cheaply and independently, typically carrying everything in a backpack and staying in budget accommodation.
A traveller doing it cheaply and independently, carrying their stuff in a backpack and sleeping in budget places like hostels. The whole style is built around a tight budget. A flashpacker travels the same way but with more money behind them: better gear, nicer rooms, the odd flight instead of the overnight bus. Treating the two as one crowd misjudges both the vibe and the price.
Someone books a hostel and a group tour described with backpacker in the title, expecting shoestring prices and a young budget crowd. It turns out to be pitched at flashpackers, with private rooms and a price to match, and the scene is nothing like the cheap-and-cheerful trip they had in mind.
A backpacker travels on a tight budget, while a flashpacker does the same style of trip with more money, better gear and nicer rooms, and treating them as one crowd misjudges both. Nomads pick hostels or tours labelled for one and find the vibe and price aimed at the other.
The difference is the whole point, so here is each one in a line.
A backpacker travels cheaply and independently, carrying everything in a backpack and staying in budget lodging.
Flashpacking is the same mobile, independent style but on a bigger budget, with more spent on comfort, technology and private rooms.
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