The Hippie
Not wanting to be held down by the man, the
hippie can be found wearing fisherman pants,
dreadlocks, and lots of necklaces, and has a
distinct "I haven't showered in two days" smell.
This species of traveler is often thumbing a
well-worn book on social justice.
Hippie travelers use local transportation, eat
local food, and talk about cultural imperialism
while watching the latest Hollywood movies on
their Macbook and begging for money to get to
the next place. They usually avoid most tourist
destinations because "they're too commercial,
man."
Mostly found in India or other developing
countries (because they can't afford anywhere
else).
The Gap Yearer
Traveler gap-yearius is usually college-aged,
English, Kiwi, or Aussie. This backpacking
species tends to be traveling for exactly one
year right before or after university. They
follow the main round-the-world ticket route,
spending most of their time in Southeast Asia,
New Zealand, and Australia.
Gap-year travelers like to party a lot, see the
main attractions, sleep in dorms, and tend to
stick to the beaten path. They are out to have a
good time, meet other travelers, and come
home with a few good stories before they start
their career.
They can be found wherever a round-the-world
ticket will take them.
The Partier
Sporting sunglasses, shorts, flip-flops, and a
Lao beer T-shirt, travelers partyoholic spend
most of their time getting drunk in each
country. Most of their day is spent nursing the
hangover from last night while avoiding loud
and well-lit areas. You'll probably see them still
in bed when you check in at 2pm. But they're
the first one at the bar each night. Very loud,
these nocturnal creatures bounce from one
party destination to the other.
Mostly found in "party destinations" like
Amsterdam, Thailand, Barcelona, and Prague.
The Couple
The backpacking couple spends most of their
time sightseeing, touring, and doing activities.
They avoid most of the backpacker ghettos and
parties and tend to gravitate toward other
couples or older travelers. The younger version
often goes the opposite route and tends to
party a lot while breaking up about ten times
on the road.
They are found worldwide.
The Better Traveler
While sipping on a drink in a hostel, this
traveler will tell you how insincere and
hypocritical all other travelers are and how
they really are just tourists and not trying to
find the "local culture." He will speak about his
experience taking local transportation, and that
one time he spent living in a village for one day.
He waxes on about the death of local cultures,
globalization, and how he's really out there
traveling to be part of the world and not force
his culture down other people's throats.
This species is found being hypocritical in
hostels all over the world.
The "Remember When"
Backpacker
Traveler living-in-the-pasts has been traveling
a long time (and usually to the same
destinations). He'll tell you all about how he
remembers when the Full Moon Party used to
be good and how Laos is too discovered now.
He'll talk about how iOS used to be quiet and
no one had heard of Queenstown. He'll describe
the time when he was the only person in Costa
Rica or sailing the Amazon. When asked why
he's still here if he hates it so much, he'll
quickly change the topic.