The opening page of the Macau chapter in “Giro del Mondo”
Backpacking is an activity that combines hiking, camping, and the maxim that with all you need on your back you can truly go anywhere.
Backpacking is typically signaled by the presence of the backpack itself – often the main or sole accompaniment to the traveler. However scholars Barbara Adkins and Eryn Grant define backpackers as having “displayed a common commitment to a non-institutionalized form of travel, which was central to their self-
identification.” By most definitions, a backpacker needs to spend at least one night outdoors and can only use what is in the traveler’s backpack.
The development of backpacking as a recreational activity dates back to the 1920s with Lloyd F Nelson’s invention of the camping backpack. Nelson designed a rigid pack board which gave structure to the backpack and made it easier to carry over long distances, thus making it more comfortable for travelers.
But it was not until the passing of the U.S. National Scenic Trail Act in 1968 that backpacking began to advance into the mainstream activity that it is today. The Act encouraged individuals to rediscover the outdoors, and led to a series of further innovations in hiking and camping gear to meet a renewed interest.
A popular, if informal, trail of the 1960s and ‘70s can be accredited with having had a significant influence on the rise in popularity of backpacking. The so-called “Hippie Trail” traced the ancient route of the Silk Road in reverse – often originating somewhere in Europe and terminating at Kathmandu, Nepal.
One of the main routes to Kathmandu meandered through Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. Backpackers who socialized and congregated in certain areas along the way created pockets known as “hippie hang-outs,” which in turn became celebrated hotspots of music, casual sex, and drug consumption.
Today manufacturers continue to find ways to improve and lighten conventional equipment and clothing used in backpacking. These innovations, along with the growth of low-cost airlines and budget accommodation, have made backpacking easier for seasoned explorers and more accessible to novices.
According to several accounts, the first known “backpacker” was Italian adventurer and traveler Giovanni Francesco Gemelli Careri (1651–1725). In his journal “Giro Del Mondo” he recounts his “Brief voyage to Macao.” From Macau, Napolitan-born Careri sailed to Manila, where he stayed two months while waiting to embark on the famous Manila galleon to Acapulco.
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