This study addresses the shortage of research on the meaning of travel experiences for tourists as well as research on female travelers. I examine the activities of Canadian women who backpacked in Europe and to what extent, if any, these activities facilitated identity development. The sample group is comprised of 19 Canadian women ranging from 20-40 years of age. E-mail interviews were conducted with participants to gain information about their travel activities and the meanings of these activities. Identity growth was evaluated on the basis of participants’ reports including the extent to which participants reported experimentation. I hypothesized that during travel women would partake in risky behaviours (defined as increased alcohol and drug use, participation in adventure sports and atypical sexual activities) and thereby explore their identities. Interviews revealed that while women did explore their identities during travel, it was not primarily through risky behaviours. Moreover, participants responded with difficulty to questions concerning their out-of-character behaviours. Participants reported that while their behaviours may have been atypical, they did not necessarily define their behaviours as out-of-character. Rather, participants framed these behaviours as extensions of typical activities. Identity development principally resulted from respondents having to navigate the trip for themselves, which conferred a sense of independence and personal strength.

This study addresses the shortage of research on the meaning of travel experiences for tourists as well as research on female travelers. I examine the activities of Canadian women who backpacked in Europe and to what extent, if any, these activities facilitated identity development. The sample group is comprised of 19 Canadian women ranging from 20-40 years of age. E-mail interviews were conducted with participants to gain information about their travel activities and the meanings of these activities. Identity growth was evaluated on the basis of participants’ reports including the extent to which participants reported experimentation. I hypothesized that during travel women would partake in risky behaviours (defined as increased alcohol and drug use, participation in adventure sports and atypical sexual activities) and thereby explore their identities. Interviews revealed that while women did explore their identities during travel, it was not primarily through risky behaviours. Moreover, participants responded with difficulty to questions concerning their out-of-character behaviours. Participants reported that while their behaviours may have been atypical, they did not necessarily define their behaviours as out-of-character. Rather, participants framed these behaviours as extensions of typical activities. Identity development principally resulted from respondents having to navigate the trip for themselves, which conferred a sense of independence and personal strength.

Reaching beneath the market surface of backpacker culture, this doctoral research probes uncomfortable politics, excluded voices and global inequalities. It questions why, in a context of economic inequality, environmental crisis, terrorism and war, the tourism industry continues to grow, unhampered by politically fractured and uneasy mediations of the world. Arguing that tourist modalities are defined in a popular memory matrix where the rules and norms for becoming a tourist are negotiated through conversation, television, popular literature, travel guides and the Internet, this research project critiques both popular and academic tourist pedagogy. In forging an interdisciplinary dialogue between Cultural Studies and Tourism Studies, this doctoral research seeks new ways of theorising depost-globalisation. Market-driven renditions of the tourable world displace, marginalise and exclude oppositional, negative, violent and discriminatory narratives. Placing a spotlight on the discomforts found in backpacker discourse requires the application of progressive meta-theoretical discourses, alongside postcolonial and poststructuralist analysis. A serious study of touristic popular culture implicates tourism in terrorism, backpacking in poverty, imperialism in globalisation, mobility in power and backpacker discourse in the re-writing of a contemporary subaltern. The original contribution to knowledge emerging from this doctorate is via the application of Bauman and Said’s late work to independent tourist discourses. The innovation is formed through disciplinary connections and popular cultural applications. There is also a re-theorisation of Spivak’s most famous study, applying metaphors of the pyre to sites of backpacker tourism, with the aim of developing ‘listening literacies.’ My research justifies the introduction of two new theoretical trajectories for the Tourism Studies academy. The first new approach encourages and frames a listening literacy amongst tourist cultures so they can acknowledge silenced and displaced agents in host – guest interaction. The second new approach aims to infuse touristic popular culture with a powerful and political pedagogy that teaches mobile citizens to read difference and diversity. A pleasure filter obscures the costs and consequences of global markets, often at the expense of local communities and individuals. This thesis focuses on the inequalities disseminated in and through backpacker tourism. It posits that it is not only important to change the way the tourist industry operates but also that it is necessary to change the way tourists tour. Moving off the beaten track in approaches to the study of tourism, this research project forges a new path for Tourism Studies that merges cultural theory and everyday life to develop a critical academic literacy for backpacker discourse.

To investigate the ways in which communities of practice affect individuals' identity development, qualitative research methods were used to understand the impact solo travel had on American women's identity development. A theoretical framework developed from the disciplines of tourism, feminism and adult education was used to inform the study. Using a combined method methods approach (naturalistic inquiry and grounded theory), three components of the backpacker community of practice were identified which gave rise to a model of identity development within a particular community. This study has implications for adult education theory as it clearly suggests the interrelatedness of the social context in which this learning takes place (communities of practice), and adult development theory (identity formation). In practical terms it illustrates and also challenges the notion of identity change as irreversible, suggesting learners need constant support to retain new ways of viewing the world and themselves.

To investigate the ways in which communities of practice affect individuals' identity development, qualitative research methods were used to understand the impact solo travel had on American women's identity development. A theoretical framework developed from the disciplines of tourism, feminism and adult education was used to inform the study. Using a combined method methods approach (naturalistic inquiry and grounded theory), three components of the backpacker community of practice were identified which gave rise to a model of identity development within a particular community. This study has implications for adult education theory as it clearly suggests the interrelatedness of the social context in which this learning takes place (communities of practice), and adult development theory (identity formation). In practical terms it illustrates and also challenges the notion of identity change as irreversible, suggesting learners need constant support to retain new ways of viewing the world and themselves.

Traveling around the world is a highly appreciated phenomenon globally. In recent years, backpacking has grown in popularity. Characterised by simplicity and adventurousness, it is especially frequent within a young demographic. However, these types of trips produce certain risks to consider, with women being subject to greater risks in the society in large. This study aims to examine risk perception amongst young female backpackers. It was performed using a qualitative method based on 15 semi-structured interviews. Results showed that risk perception has a large impact on women’s chosen destination, with certain destinations subsequently being deselected. Moreover, variable risk perception can be observed over time, in response to the decision process. At commencement, high perception of risk was exhibited, yet later shown to gradually decrease as the trip progressed. Finally, an increased perception of risk was noted post returning from the journey. / Intresset för resor har ökat i stor omfattning. En växande trend under den senaste tiden är backpackerresor. Dessa resor karaktäriseras av en enklare reseform där äventyr står i fokus. Backpackerresor är förekommande speciellt hos unga resenärer. Dessa resor medför olika typer av risker för resenären att ta i beaktande, dessutom kan det uppmärksammas att kvinnor generellt sett utsätts för många risker. Målet med denna studie var därför att undersöka riskuppfattningen hos unga kvinnliga backpackers. Denna studie genomfördes med en kvalitativ metod baserad på 15 semistrukturerade intervjuer. Resultaten antyder att riskuppfattning har en stor påverkan på valet av destination hos kvinnliga resenärer. Till följd av detta tenderar vissa destinationer att väljas bort på grund av de höga uppfattade riskerna. Dessutom kan en variation inom riskuppfattningen noteras över tid i samband med beslutsprocessen. Inför resan uppfattades en hög riskuppfattning som sedan minskade under resan. Följaktligen uppmärksammades återigen en ökad riskuppfattning efter resan.

This study is the first to collect detailed empirical data on sexual practice among backpackers while exploring the material and social context of backpacking using an ethnographic framework. The theoretical concepts of liminality and sexual scripts were drawn on to analyse the findings. Backpackers were recruited from hostels in Sydney and Cairns; 559 backpackers (243 women, 316 men) completed an anonymous self-administered questionnaire. In addition, 25 in-depth one-to-one interviews with backpackers and 25 semi-structured interviews were conducted with sexual health and travel clinic staff and hostel service providers. Participant and non-participant observation in backpacker hostels also informed the analysis. Drinking alcohol, often to excess, was central to the backpacking setting and was both a reason for and a post-facto justification of unprotected sex. The backpacking setting encouraged transient liaisons. More than half (55%) of backpackers had sex with someone new during their trip and for 71% of them it was with someone that they had just met that day. Twenty-five per cent of those with no expectations to have casual sex on their trip and 22% of those with no previous experience of casual sex had casual sex during their trip. More than half (53%) of those who had sex with a someone new did so while other people were in the room. Only 55% always used a condom with their last new partner. While most backpackers carried condoms and intended to use them, unprotected sex was common. Perception of risk was low: 78% of those who did not use a condom the last time they had casual sex on the trip perceived their risk of getting HIV to be ??low?? to ??nil??. Three participants acquired HIV during their trip. The culture of backpacking encourages more sexually permissive attitudes but does not encourage condom use, especially for those who did not consistently use condoms at home. These findings highlight the need for more broad-based dissemination of information on STIs to young people, and for future sexual health campaigns to specifically target backpackers in the context in which they travel.

The overall purpose of this study was to better understand why youth travellers are visiting Manitoba. A web-survey was administered to visitors of the Hostelling International - Canada, Manitoba Region website. Youth leisure travellers planning to visit Manitoba were found to be between 24 and 28 years of age, mostly from Canada and Australia, not students, but educated and employed, with between $501 and $3,500 available for travel purposes. Respondents’ travel plans were found to include; travel alone or with one other person, an average stay of 5 days planned for Manitoba, travel by rented vehicle or by bus, and the use of the internet, guidebooks and family and friends as information sources prior to travel. Dominant motives for travel to Manitoba were uncovered, and relationships of Manitoba specific travel motives were found with several demographic and travel characteristics. The results of this study can be used by the Manitoba tourism sector to market Manitoba travel experiences and to emphasize how they cater to one or more dominant travel motives. This will enable them to better attract and satisfy their customers. / October 2007

The overall purpose of this study was to better understand why youth travellers are visiting Manitoba. A web-survey was administered to visitors of the Hostelling International - Canada, Manitoba Region website. Youth leisure travellers planning to visit Manitoba were found to be between 24 and 28 years of age, mostly from Canada and Australia, not students, but educated and employed, with between $501 and $3,500 available for travel purposes. Respondents’ travel plans were found to include; travel alone or with one other person, an average stay of 5 days planned for Manitoba, travel by rented vehicle or by bus, and the use of the internet, guidebooks and family and friends as information sources prior to travel. Dominant motives for travel to Manitoba were uncovered, and relationships of Manitoba specific travel motives were found with several demographic and travel characteristics. The results of this study can be used by the Manitoba tourism sector to market Manitoba travel experiences and to emphasize how they cater to one or more dominant travel motives. This will enable them to better attract and satisfy their customers.

The overall purpose of this study was to better understand why youth travellers are visiting Manitoba. A web-survey was administered to visitors of the Hostelling International - Canada, Manitoba Region website. Youth leisure travellers planning to visit Manitoba were found to be between 24 and 28 years of age, mostly from Canada and Australia, not students, but educated and employed, with between $501 and $3,500 available for travel purposes. Respondents’ travel plans were found to include; travel alone or with one other person, an average stay of 5 days planned for Manitoba, travel by rented vehicle or by bus, and the use of the internet, guidebooks and family and friends as information sources prior to travel. Dominant motives for travel to Manitoba were uncovered, and relationships of Manitoba specific travel motives were found with several demographic and travel characteristics. The results of this study can be used by the Manitoba tourism sector to market Manitoba travel experiences and to emphasize how they cater to one or more dominant travel motives. This will enable them to better attract and satisfy their customers.