Comparative analysis of backpacking and tourism

The topic in the article” backpackers hit the tourist trail” (text 2) is about backpackers not being as exploring as they may think themselves. As a backpacker, you travel around the world exploring other countries and learn new cultures. According to the article “the modern backpacker” is all about smoking dope, sleeping around and congregating in well-established travelers’ ghettos. The backpackers are just meeting each other in the so-called “abroad” places they visit. They are still eating the same junk food as they are eating at home and still drink and smoke, just in another country.

In text 1 “wanderlust” we hear about the view of a backpacker who tells about what he loves about travelling. Contrary to what text 2 says about today’s backpackers, he mentions his experiences from backpacking as giving and educational. He loves meeting new people from a different culture. Being a foreign person makes him notice and enjoy every detail in the society, that makes it feel more real than at home. In text 2 Heba Aziz, a lecturer in tourism from Roehampton Institute in London, uses an example from the beach town Dahab in Egypt where the sea front has been build up with bars and cafes with international names to attract the tourists including the backpackers. Aziz maintains that backpackers do not experience the local culture or meet local people, but instead they mix with ordinary tourists.