LTBoston

I have nothing against backpackers except when they whack me in the face with their overstuffed gear while trying to find their seat on the plane.

Proudelitist

To me, "Backpakers" are young 20 somethings on international student passes, doing the trip on the cheap. The VERY cheap. They stay in hostels, sleep on trains, hitchhike..in South America they love to go native. It always amuses me to return to the US via IAD or MIA and see them in their ponchos and gauchos made from alpaca hair in the customs line. Yeah, get back to Akron asap Chad Guevara.

The problem is that if backpakers are congregating in a specific area, it means the area is cheap to the point of seedy. They are attracted to free..or close to free, and moreso in an expensive city like Copenhagen or Zurich.

darthbimmer

Yes! That's usually my biggest concern, too. Though to be fair people traveling with day-packs are actually worse because they're more likely to have slung their packs over just one shoulder, leaving them to swing wildly and bang into other passengers during aircraft boarding.

Giggleswick

I've had people bump me with their rollaboard or luggage cart quite a few times, especially at baggage claim or when waiting in line. It was especially fun when I was recovering from a broken ankle and somebody bashed their full luggage cart into it. Is this more acceptable than getting hit with a backpack, because it seems like the backpack thing gets all the complaints?

LTBoston

It's not okay in either case, but I would argue the backpack-bashers are far more common. On my last flight it happened three times and not a single apology was offered because the very nature of a backpack (being behind the wearer) renders the owners oblivious to the havoc they are wreaking behind them.

pinniped

Wait a sec... Backpackers that I'm thinking of can't carry their pack on the plane. It's not even remotely close to being a carry-on. It's a massive thing, sometimes with an external frame, and definitely checked.

I'm more likely to get whacked by the smaller bags - those Swiss-Army-looking backpacks that are ubiquitous among the traveling consultant set. I generally don't think of those people as "backpackers", even though they use backpacks.

pairofkeets

I get the feeling that they are the type of people who don't wear shoes because they are 'feel more grounded that way and why would you wear shoes do you hate earth that much' type people. Probably funded by parents money. I don't really pay them any mind though as long as they don't smell and don't get in the way.

I just don't like when they are too cheap to get a taxi and bring their massive external frame backpack onto the metro during rush hour.

Saw it the last time I was in Tokyo, rush hour on the Yamanote line people packed in like sardines and this cheap guy is trying to bring his massive backpack on the train.

CDTraveler

A real backpack is far too large to be taken on the aircraft as a carry-on.

I have a relatively small backpack (women's frame) and it wouldn't meet the carry-on size limit on any airline. When I travel with the pack, it has to be carefully wrapped, strapped with tape and checked.

You may be thinking of day packs or book bag sized packs; neither of those are real "backpacker" bags.

IME the worst culprits in the "hitting you with their bag" category are the DYKWIA types pushing the rollaboard, laptop bag swinging off their should and another random bag hitting you as they go past, both at the gate and on the plane. Generally these types are also on their phones.

darthbimmer

One of the posts early in the thread posed the question, paraphrased, "What do you think when you read/hear that a place is 'popular with backpackers'? Do you avoid it?"

When I read/hear that a place is "popular with backpackers" (not talking about the backcountry here!) I figure:

• It's cheap. Many backpackers travel on a shoestring budget.
• It probably offers a freebie of some kind-- free wifi, buffet food, etc.-- and there will be a lot of people sharing it. Again, because shoestring budget.
• A good portion of the crowd will be young adults from the US, Canada, and/or Western EU.
• It's recommended in travel books and blogs that are popular with the above groups.

Each of these could be a plus or a minus depending on what I am looking for. For example, maybe I want cheap, too. And just because a place is touted in Lonely Planet, etc., doesn't mean it's bad. Sure, I'd prefer to visit things without crowds of tourists but I'm not a hipster; I accept that great things are often popular things, and dealing with crowds is part of the tradeoff required to see them.

pinniped

I'm far beyond the "cheap" backpack years, and I still often use public transportation when I travel. I don't think that's a bad thing if you're careful about it. I've use HEX and the London Underground on business trips many times...I'm not sure if that makes me "cheap" or environmentally conscious. (My primary motivation: it's faster than a cab. )

Unless the form of transportation prohibits baggage, then I don't see the problem with a backpacker on the train. (I've taken baggage onto a Tokyo bus before, but not a train. I know the trains are often crowded...is there a rule about this?)

PilgrimsProgress

I owe my passion for travel to backpacking in my younger days. These days on a trip I will mix it up ... stay in a private room in a hostel for a day or two, then check into a Hilton or Marriott for a few days. The contrast is exhilarating!!! I like the interaction for a few days and independence on the other days. I try to wear middle of the road clothes and carry middle of the road luggage so I stand out only a little in both situations.

celle

I would like to pay a huge tribute to some backpackers. Here in New Zealand, we recently had a huge stranding of pilot whales on Farewell Spit, at the top of the South Island.

In total, over 700 whales stranded and over 400 were successfully re-floated and helped safely out to sea.

It was a massive operation, overseen by our Department of Conservation and Project Jonah.

However, the vast majority of people helping were volunteers, composed of NZ citizens and overseas holidaymakers, many of them backpackers.

For three days, these people helped the whales, keeping them wet, covering them against sunburn, digging trenches in the sand, so the whales did not damage their fins, and talking to them and comforting them. When the tide came in, these volunteers helped to re-float the whales, helping them to stay upright.

When it looked as if some of the whales would try to strand themselves again, the volunteers formed a human chain in deep water, to keep the whales safely at sea, in spite of the presence of sharks in the water.

Although the whales each weighed about a ton, none of them caused any harm to the helpers. They seemed to realise that people were trying to help them.

Those volunteers endured cold, blazing sun, and constant fatigue, in their efforts to help the whales.

I just wanted to record that many of the people who worked so hard to help the whales were overseas visitors, including backpackers. Thank you to every one of you. It was a magnificent effort.

LTBoston

I've seen some pretty massive ones on planes, but I agree the really enormous ones get checked.

eigenvector

Solution: ultralight frameless backpack. Easily carried on to any airplane unless totally rammed full.

http://www.zpacks.com/backpacks/arc_blast.shtml

pinniped

Mine's a 110L monstrosity. The TSA would have to be totally asleep while I ram that puppy through the x-ray machine...