My only "true" backpacking was a one-month tour of Europe in '93. The traditional trip with some college buddies, where those three items listed above were very high on the priority list. We tried to be cool, not go "ugly American" on anyone, and actually took showers, but still...we pretty much hooked up with the backpacker crowd in every city.
I'm laughing now, just thinking about it. We all thought the Pink Palace in Corfu was the holy grail of five-star accommodation. We thought Prague was soooo twenty minutes ago, but Budapest was hip, cool, and unspoiled. None of us remember a damn thing about Amsterdam, but we were there for about 24 hours.
The first week of our month-long trip was well planned. After that, we would just head to the nearest train station at midnight or so and see what was going where. Lots of random, on-the-fly decisions based on where the overnight trains were going. I still keep in touch with a couple of people we met on that trip - one in Rome, one in Munich, and one in Budapest.
Wonderful memories - and yeah, I can totally see why both locals and more "mature" travelers are somewhat turned off by the backpacking "scene".
As for the pack itself, it's still the way I travel. Much better than other forms of luggage for a longer trip. My wife and I have done several of our long trips exclusively with backpacks, but when we're checking into a Hilton on an ALON or a Marriott on an 087 award, it's hard to say "We're backpackers" with a straight face.
