Mutant mobilities : backpacker tourism in ââ"šÂ¬Ã‹Å“globalââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ Sydney

This essay explores the complex mobilities of contemporary backpackers. Backpackers are not just tourists; they are also frequently students, working holidaymakers, highly skilled professional workers, and even, at times, long-term semi-permanent residents. How to define this group of physically and conceptually mobile travellers is often problematic, especially for local authorities. It is difficult to discern what cultural space and identity this type of mobility and this category of traveller occupy. Focusing on the tensions in residential communities which have developed as a result of backpackers not only travelling through but frequently dwelling in place, the essay analyses the ââ"šÂ¬Ã‹Å“backpacker phenomenonââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ as a complex and mutating mix of working, holiday and residential experiences that needs to be understood within a framework of increasing(ly) uneven, diverse and contested mobilities.