UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones December 2016 Bursting the Backpacker Bubble: Exploring Backpacking Ideology, Practices, and Contradictions Mark J. Salvaggio University of Nevada, Las Vegas Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/thesesdissertations Part of the Sociology Commons Repository Citation Salvaggio, Mark J., "Bursting the Backpacker Bubble: Exploring Backpacking Ideology, Practices, and Contradictions" (2016). UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones. 2900. http://dx.doi.org/10.34917/10083212 This Dissertation is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by Digital Scholarship@UNLV with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Dissertation in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/or on the work itself. This Dissertation has been accepted for inclusion in UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones by an authorized administrator of Digital Scholarship@UNLV. For more information, please contact [email protected]. BURSTING THE BACKPACKER BUBBLE: EXPLORING BACKPACKING IDEOLOGY, PRACTICES, AND CONTRADICTIONS By Mark J. Salvaggio Bachelor of Science – Business Administration California State University, Bakersfield 2002 Master of Arts – Sociology California State University, Bakersfield 2007 A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy – Sociology Department of Sociology College of Liberal Arts The Graduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas December 2016 Copyright 2016 by Mark J. Salvaggio All Rights Reserved Dissertation Approval The Graduate College The University of Nevada, Las Vegas September 9, 2016 This dissertation prepared by Mark J. Salvaggio entitled Bursting the Backpacker Bubble: Exploring Backpacking Ideology, Practices, and Contradictions is approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy – Sociology Department of Sociology Robert Futrell, Ph.D. Kathryn Hausbeck Korgan, Ph.D. Examination Committee Chair Graduate College Interim Dean Barbara G. Brents, Ph.D. Examination Committee Member Simon Gottschalk, Ph.D. Examination Committee Member David R. Dickens, Ph.D. Examination Committee Member Andy Kirk, Ph.D. Graduate College Faculty Representative ii Abstract In this dissertation, I discuss the growing development of international backpacking in Central America. I focus on backpackers because they are a significant, yet understudied and undertheorized, part of the newly mobile world. Drawing from more than 12 months of ethnographic data collected in Central America, I explore backpacking as a youth subculture. I used a subcultural framework to explain backpacking ideology, practices, and contradictions. Understanding backpacking as a youth subculture tells us a lot about the myths and realities of 21st century adventure in the context of global mobility, globalization, and economic changes in international tourism that shape what backpackers experience and how they experience it. I find that backpackers’ ideology emphasizes a 1) desire to escape, 2) find a level of independence or freedom, which defines their 3) sense of adventure, and enables them to 4) self-reflect on their life and identity. Broadly, backpackers’ key travel practices emphasize the use of 1) the solitary backpack, 2) transportation modes, and 3) information sources. While backpackers have their own unique travel experiences in Central America, they also share and maintain these ideological beliefs and travel practices in common. I also find the backpacker hostel as the socio-cultural space to understand backpackers’ travel ideology in relation to their practices. As a home base, backpackers use the hostel to connect with one another and express their ideas about backpacking. They reflect their backpacking ideology through their real world traveling practices, as they venture outside of the hostel to explore new lands. Yet, backpackers also spend a significant amount of time using the inside of the hostel, which reflects many of the social and cultural vestiges that they hoped to leave behind. Backpackers share travel stories to critique, negotiate, and reconcile tensions in their 21st century backpacking experience. iii Acknowledgements This dissertation developed with the guidance and support from a number of people. First, I would like to thank Dr. Robert Futrell, my mentor and chair, in the Department of Sociology. His patience, encouragement, and suggestions throughout the entire dissertation process were invaluable to the final product. As this dissertation was about backpacking, I am happy that we were able to backpack together in Kazakhstan, a trip I will never forget. I would also like to thank each of my committee members: Dr. Barb Brents, Dr. Simon Gottschalk, and Dr. David Dickens in the Department of Sociology, and Dr. Andy Kirk in the Department of History. Each of your voices and insights are to be found throughout this dissertation. I want to express my gratitude to my cohort: Andi Dassopoulos, Sarah St. John, and Allison Sahl. I will never forget those nights studying theory together and discussing it during FDC gatherings. My parents also provided me with unconditional support, in too many ways to list here. Finally, I would not have completed this dissertation without the loving support from my partner-in- crime, Heather, and our adorable little fig, Apolline. iv Table of Contents Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………………....iii Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………………………..iv Table of Contents…………………………………………………………………………………….v List of Figures………………………………………………………………………………………..vi Chapter 1: Introduction……………………………………………………………………………….1 Chapter 2: Literature Review………………………………………………………………………...13 Chapter 3: Methodology……………………………………………………………………………...43 Chapter 4: Historical Context………………………………………………………………………...53 Chapter 5: Backpacking Ideology……………………………………………………………………67 Chapter 6: Backpacking in Practice………………………………………………………………….95 Chapter 7: The Backpacker Hostel: Ideology, Practice, and Contradictions………………………..124 Chapter 8: Discussion/Conclusion…………………………………………………………………..156 Appendix A: Interview Guide……………………………………………………………………….168 Appendix B: Copy of Informed Consent…………………………………………………………….169 Appendix C: Informant Characteristics……………………………………………………………...170 References……………………………………………………………………………………………171 Curriculum Vitae……………………………………………………………………………………..181 v List of Figures Figure 1 Central American Backpacking Route……………………………………………..47 vi CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Today’s generation of young people are more informed, more mobile and more adventurous than ever before. —Taleb Rifai, Secretary-General of the United Nations World Tourism Organization, 2011 The social and cultural benefits for the young traveller and the communities that host them are far reaching, long-term and measurably more sustainable than other forms of tourism. —Ulises Ortega, Executive Committee Chair of World Youth Student and Educational Travel Confederation, 2011 Contemporary social life is increasingly “on the move” (Creswell 2006). In today’s mobile social world, people, cultures, goods, money, energy, images, and information flow faster and further across time and space than ever before (Harvey 1992; Urry 2000). Moving people around the world for business and leisure is a huge economic feature of late-capitalism. International tourism is now a major part of global mobility, with wide ranging social and economic effects flowing from human travel and transport by land, sea, and air across national borders for both recreation and commerce.1 In 1992, the travel & tourism industry2 became the world’s largest economic sector, surpassing the business volume of oil exports, food products, and automobiles (Theobald 2005). According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) (2013), international tourist arrivals topped the 1 billion mark in 2012, generating more than US $1 trillion in travel receipts, both milestones for the travel & tourism industry. In 2015, international tourist arrivals reached a new record with 1.2 billion overnight 1 Along with leisure/recreation/holiday travel, the International Labor Organization’s (ILO) (ILO 2013) definition of international tourism includes business and professional travel, visiting friends and relatives, religious travel, and health treatments of travelers crossing borders and spending one or more nights in the host country. 2 According to the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) (2012), the travel & tourism industry comprises several subsector industries including hotels, travel agents, airports, airlines, other passenger transportation services (excluding commuter services), and also includes activities of the restaurant and leisure industries directly supported by tourists. Tourism activities include shopping, dining in restaurants, sightseeing, visiting historical places, amusement/theme parks, art galleries/museums, nightclubs/dancing, visiting national parks, and cultural heritage sites. 1 stays (UNWTO 2016). The World Tourism & Travel Council (WTTC) (2012) forecasts that the travel and tourism industry’s direct contribution to world Gross Domestic Product is expected to exceed US