Flashpackers

I’m embarrassed.

My name is Lauren, and I’m a flashpacker.

I was making a list of what to pack, when I realised that I had morphed into this new breed of backpacker, the kind that is loaded down with technology, chargers, and converters.

Besides my actual backpack, I’m going to be carrying a laptop, camera, camcorder and tripod.  Add to that my iPod, mobile phone, and – this is really humiliating – a hairdryer.  I never did get the whole concept of simplicity.  But what I am good at are justifications.

Laptop – That one’s easy.  I can’t blog without a computer, can I?

Camera/camcorder – Visuals are necessary for modern media.  I can’t blog without these, either.

iPod – This is so I can listen to my french language recordings.  In fact, I’m listening to Dialogue 5 right now, and I just learned how to say, “The socialists are finally taking power.”  (Les socialistes ont enfin pris le pouvoir.)  I dare you to tell me that isn’t useful.

Mobile Phone – It’s small and practically insignificant.  Also good in case of emergencies.

Hairdryer – I’m not going to lie, that’s pure vanity.

Anyway, since I’m booked into the Busabout hostels, I’ll be dropped off at the doorstep and picked up there, too.  This means I won’t have to trek all over Berlin with my things, paranoid that every small child is a thieving villain who is after my camera and french recordings.  I’ve also got a boosted-up insurance policy.  Flashpackers should never leave home without one.

So if anyone is wondering who I am, just look for the girl at the bus with all the bags.  And the perfectly dried hair.