Backpaking lifestyle
81).
Ideology and Identity
Whilst it is well-established that backpackers returning home often mobilise narratives of
self-transformation on the road (Noy, 2004), lifestyle travellers are subject to years of
exposure to varied cultural praxes and backpacker subculture, which may manifest in extreme
pressure on their socio-cultural identities. One possible outcome of sustained, diverse cultural
interaction is a cosmopolitan disposition (in contrast to parochialism), in which it is suggested
that tourism may lead to a subjective open-orientation or outlook towards other ways of life
(Enoch & Grossman, 2010; Germann Molz, 2006; 2008; Hannerz, 1990). Indeed, Ryan
8
(Australian, 48) after 14 years of lifestyle travel attested: ‘I’ve experienced a continued
acceptance of all lifestyles and all types of people. A greater knowledge about the world as a
annaabi.ee 
