But in the age of social media, crowdfunding, and hashtags, the dream of free travel has morphed once again, giving us the phenomenon of #begpackers: People who travel backpacker-style on a beggar’s budget, asking for contributions, freebies, and handouts from locals or fellow travelers…as they go.

I recently came across a unique kind of traveller: the beg-packer. Like the name implies, it literally means begging your way through the places you travel.

Images of so-called begpackers — Western tourists who beg, busk or sell trinkets on the streets — have been widely shared on Twitter, drawing criticism from locals who says the practice is deeply disrespectful.

"Beg-packers" is the word sometimes used to describe young Western tourists who play music or sell knick-knacks in the streets of southeast Asia to pay for their trips or to purchase their ticket back home.

#begpacking: When you have no money to travel and need funding from others. #wotd #poor #needmoneytotravel