Blog Post #5

The discourse community I will be writing about is the backpacking Travel community. The more I explore this community, the more I want to learn. After reviewing more articles, watching travel vlogs, and hearing the experiences directly, this community definitely has its own value, ways of communication, and target audience, making it a good discourse community to write about. A discourse community consists of goal-oriented people who are engaged. I believe that the backpacking community is a community based on the mutual wish to seek adventure, experience new culture, and travel on a budget. Many follow the same unspoken rules of how to behave in hostels, how to pack efficiently and lightly, and how to interact respectfully with the local people. They give advice, motivate, and support one another. There are multiple sites of communication in this community. Websites like Hostelworld and Lonely Planet, serve as both an informational resource and place to just talk. These sites contain things like personal blogs, itineraries, hostel reviews, safety tips, and gear checklists. I am also very interested in investigating the ways that language practices and values are interpreted among fellow backpackers when shared. So what kind of vocabulary do they use that is unique to them? How would they present themselves on social media? Is there a certain style in their writing?  I am interested in the ways they determine travelers vs tourists; also, what type of “rules” are required for eligibility as a real backpacker. I hope that this research could possibly highlight how travel, a lifestyle and language, signify many different values. Like independence, global knowledge, among the backpacking community. Throughout the semester I hope to learn not only about where backpackers go, but how they characterize it, and about what this shows about their identity.

Photo from Wix

Photo from Wix

Photo from Wix