Backpackerland

Sammendrag

This essay discusses Backpacker-country, a term the author uses to name a cluster of ideas and ideals as well as actual destinations that appeal to young, independent long-term travellers. Backpacker-country can be compared to the more common (Nor­wegians) notion of The South ("Syden"). Both notions are narrations concerning tourist landscapes.
Backpacker-country is "located" predominantly in low-cost countries in Asia, Africa, Latin- and South America. Hence Backpacker-country is both more exotic and much further away from Norway than The South, which refers to the area in and around the Mediterranean Sea. Backpacker-country is a place for personal projects and conquests. It is experienced as foreign, intense and authentic. In Backpacker-country the young travellers can experiment with their own identity, renegotiate social relations and create a new everyday life in movement.