This Quartz post ‘The ‘begpacker’ phenomenon shows how fake poverty has become a status symbol‘ addresses the issue of the ‘begpackers’ – typically western young people who travel far and beg their money for travel. I have seen them in Asia as quite a recent trend, begging in very public and central locations, and this is strongly resented by inhabitants of many poorer countries. I believe this is an effect of social media and the habit to get a lot for free.
“In the age of social media, crowdfunding, and hashtags, the dream of free travel has morphed once again, giving us the phenomenon of #begpackers: People who travel backpacker-style on a beggar’s budget, asking for contributions, freebies, and handouts from locals or fellow travelers to as they go.”
While travelling on a shoestring is definitely not new (that’s the motto of the famous Lonely Planet guides), visibly begging in public spaces is. Before, people either depended on their own limited resources, or took some jobs to get more.
The article expands on the fact that begging is a status symbol in the age of social networks. I am not so sure. I would tend to believe that we are getting used to having access to many services for free (in exchange for our data of course) and that as a consequence we don’t necessarily understand that it does not apply fully to the real world, in particular far from home.
Let’s remember that having access to so much for free is not actually for free, and that there are ethical boundaries that should not be crossed in relying on others to get along for free.
