"Flashpacking" is newest trend combining tech gear with the great outdoors

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(NaturalNews) Backpacking has gone high-tech, giving way to "flashpacking." As Virginia resident Lee Gimpel describes it, flashpacking is "Backpacking, with an awful lot of tech gear going along for the ride."

Gimpel is not alone in his variation on a classic hobby. A survey of 2,561 members who visited HostelWorld.com found that 86 percent travel with a digital camera, 83 percent with a cell phone, 54 percent with an MP3 player, and 21 percent with a laptop.

The industries that cater to backpackers are rising to meet this new development in the travel hobby, acquiring high-tech hookups and amenities for travelers who are carrying their tech gear.

Auckland Central Backpackers' manager Campbell Shepherd said, "We've just put in a brand new internet cafe, we got Sky (satellite TV), we've got chip readers for photo cameras, we've got video cameras so you can watch a person on the other side of the world -- these guys know how it all works and we've got to provide it."

Hostelling International in New York is hopping on the bandwidth bandwagon by providing dorm-style or private rooms starting at $29 a night with internet access and more than eight electrical outlets.

As assistant general manager Louis Cutri noted, "Just because you can afford a cell phone and a laptop doesn't mean you can afford a $350-a-night room in Manhattan."

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