backpacker

nounB1+Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #14,637 of 15,258neutral

Other forms: backpackers

A backpacker is a budget traveller carrying everything on their back. Hostels, night buses, and a rucksack bigger than they are.

The word describes a style of travel rather than an age, though it is usually the young. It brought its own economy with it, since backpacker hostels, backpacker routes and backpacker visas all exist as categories. Australia and South East Asia have whole industries built around it. The verb backpack and the noun backpacking follow, and a gap year is the British institution most associated with it.

Definitions of backpacker

1nounbackpackerA traveller who journeys cheaply carrying a rucksack.B1+
“The hostel was full of backpackers heading north.”

Where it comes from

From backpack + -er.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Travel & Transport, A Man Called Ove

First appears in chapter 15 of A Man Called Ove.

Practise this word

backpacker in the wild

Hostels are popular forms of lodging for backpackers and with youth travel; however, most do not impose age limits.
Hostel
Hill walking is equivalent in Britain (but this can also refer to a day walk), though backpackers make use of a variety of accommodation, in addition to camping.
Backpacking (hiking)
As such, backpackers can be of any age, but are typically aged 18 to 30.
Backpacking (travel)
Colin Fletcher was a pioneering backpacker and writer.
Colin Fletcher
The backpacker murders were a spate of serial killings that took place in New South Wales, Australia, between 1989 and 1993, committed by Ivan Milat.
Backpacker murders

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

backpack

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