Foot-pilgrims and backpackers: contemporary ways of travelling

This article deals with two modern forms of travelling, which both have developed into boom industries over the last 25 years: the foot pilgrimage along the Camino Francés to Santiago de Compostela in Spain and journeys along so called backpacker’s trails. Whereas the label of ‘pilgrim’ is still mostly associated with devotional persons leaving home out of purely religious motives, young people taking to the road as ‘backpackers’ are generally perceived as pleasure seeking globetrotters. However, the intention of this essay is to break with these stereotypes and to work out some of the major similarities between what at first glance appear as two entirely different ways of travelling. Within this long lasting travelling process the exterior journey always correlates with the inner journey. At the same time, a personal transformation of the protagonists is very possible to occur, be it an increase in self-confidence or an enhancement in status, prestige and identity, alongside further personal insights. Whilst travelling can therefore be seen as a form of a transition, in contrast to traditional rites de passage there is neither a fixed starting point nor a determined ending point, moreover the transformation is self-imposed and occurs on an individual than on a social level. In this context a foot-pilgrimage and a backpacker’s trip can be understood as an ideal way to evade the daily routine and the societal pressure in order to look for a different kind of living. But it may also be a personal quest for a change or an improvement of one’s situation as well as an alternative to the established social and religious institutions