The dream of simplicity, or simple living, touches many of us in the first world. The 'lay on a beach as the ideal vacation' selling fantasy is one variant. Backpacking, as an fine example of the simple life, is (as Colin Fletcher noted) a corrective, not a substitute.

Living the simple lifestyle is another matter. It seems to me that people with seemingly simple lifestyles in fact have remarkably complex strategies for meeting the necessities of life.

I note that many people in the third world are desperate to escape into our world of complexity. Perhaps they see things we don't.

If we could learn to be more disciplined, more mentally focused, we could shoo away many of the nattering details that bog us down, overwhelm us. Without giving up the important advantages that our complex systems bring. Many of these complexities we voluntarily take upon ourselves, even though we don't need them.

BTW, going barefoot in Costa Rica is a really bad idea. Hookworm.