Stereotyping various types of "travelers" is great fun...just sit in a cafe somewhere and watch the crowd go by...and try to classify them into their various species....
Of course there is the classic "Lonely Planet Type"...20 something...traveling on Daddy's Dime...little or no work experience...usually found in hostels...the cheaper the hostel the bigger the backpacks tend to be... Usually shows up at the airport (flashpacker?) or train station in a worn T-shirt, short pants and flip flops and a very small daybag carry on...? Hmmm....? Everything must be in the checked backpack ....?
This type tends to travel in groups or as a couple... If a couple She walks staring down at the LP book...While he is carrying the big pack a few steps behind... This type often "looks at maps"....as if maps will do you any good...when none of the streets are marked...and the streets are so short that the name ...if any...would change every few hundred feet anyway......
Maps only make sense to people who don't need a map...!
Then the Gap Year types ...they are long term travelers...they tend to be a little older...some work experience...often very well planned...usually on the road for months... Their LP books are color coded and indexed with highlighted cross references for ease of use...at the next destination.
There are the Expats...These people tend to be on the road for years...between various jobs...usually "teaching English"...often have lived in many exotic places for years...
There are the "retirees"...50s 60s...living off pensions that are directly accessed via ATMs world wide...they look for apartments and condos to rent cheaply and often stay at 1 or 2 star hotels to save money... Often consider themselves "too old" for hostels... Many of these folks are doing the "100 places to see before you die" Tour... I call these travelers: The "Last Chancers"...
The last and most hated type is the "package tourist"... This is the person who buys a package tour deal...includes everything...air fare, tours, group rates in nice 3 star hotels...all meals included...and guides who actually speak fairly good English...!These are the people often seen at touristic places....mostly older...more "respectable looking" and following a guide with a long stick with something shiny on top...
They have never heard of Lonely Planet...
