Abstract:
This thesis demonstrates how backpacking contributes to self-construction in autobiographical travel blogs of Dutch generation Z. The interpretation of the blogs through discourse analysis provided insight into fragments that showed constructive processes in the narrative. These entailed new identifications with the mode of travel and the variety of experiences that occur during the trip. The reoccurring themes of discourse appeared to support the argument that, independently of destinations and individuals, the cultural and ideological construction of a self is influenced by backpacking.
