| In 1996 me and 2 friends undertook our first | | | | will find another type of backpacker. The adventurer |
| backpacking experience. We traveled from Costa | | | | needs to work harder now to find his escape. He will |
| Rica to Guatemala in 6 months. Originally we had | | | | need to travel to even less accessible locations just to |
| planned to travel for a year, but half way decided to | | | | avoid the vacation atmosphere found in popular |
| do something more useful with our presence in Central | | | | destinations throughout Central American countries |
| America and applied for volunteer jobs in Honduras | | | | nowadays. Backpacking and adventure tourism has |
| and Guatemala. | | | | grown more fashionable over the last 10 years. It is |
| The travelers we met during our adventure travel | | | | now most common to take a 3 or even 2 week |
| from South to North Central America were very | | | | holiday to an exotic place like Guatemala. |
| different from the travelers you would meet now on | | | | This new adventure tourist is a lot less adventurous as |
| the same route. Most people were, just like we were, | | | | our explorers 10 years ago. He is not interested to |
| looking for a real escape. It would have been rare to | | | | leave regular day to day first world life. He is simply |
| find anyone traveling for less then 3 months. As a | | | | looking for a short break from it all. This adventurer |
| matter of fact, most people had started in the North of | | | | has not got the time to really adjust to another lifestyle; |
| the continent, or often in Mexico and were planning to | | | | he just wants a taste of it, a tiny bite. |
| travel as far south as Peru or Patagonia. They would | | | | The new adventure traveler is not genuinely interested |
| have 8 months or more to do so. The main reason for | | | | to get to know a third world lifestyle, he is not willing to |
| their trip was not so much traveling in itself; most | | | | live like the locals surrounding him on his travels. As if |
| backpackers were looking for a different lifestyle. | | | | the world was one big museum, he wants to be there |
| Either that or they had already found the lifestyle they | | | | and watch from a short distance. The consequence is |
| were looking for and had successfully made being an | | | | that local hotels and restaurants need to adjust their |
| adventurer their way of living. | | | | services to this new demand, even if this means |
| These adventurers had more time then money and | | | | loosing their own culture. Although the current traveler |
| were consciously escaping the first world. The idea | | | | claims to be interested in other cultures, he is really |
| was to make a statement against modern life and | | | | demanding it to change to his needs. A shift in |
| travel to third world countries was a way of | | | | backpacking culture is sadly leading to a shift in local |
| expressing disagreement with the hectic first world. | | | | third world culture. |
| Nowadays if you travel through Central America, you | | | | |