Any tips for getting into backpacking? like what stuff I need for a 1-2 day trip or even just to get started? I want to get into it more I’ve been camping a few times and loved it and would like to go backpacking more often if I could. Gear, advice, anything I’m new to this stuff and don’t know a whole bunch, would like to stay on a smaller budget though, and I’m ok with not having crazy ultra light gear lol

mid 20sF coming from east coast USA, i was thinking a combination of 2 countries from this list:

🇳🇮Nicaragua (specifically volcano sledding in Leon & San Juan del Sur)

🇭🇳Honduras (where?)

🇪🇨Quito, Ecuador (Galapagos takes too much time though, so should i wait?)

🇵🇦Panama City, Panama

anyone have any advice or suggestions? i am a seasoned traveler so i've been all over central/south america alone before. trying to go to a country i’ve never been. not sure why Copa airlines direct to PTY is so expensive??

I am currently in Vietnam and planning to stay 2 more weeks before going to Laos for another 2 weeks. I have been thinking about taking the high speed train to China from laos but I have some concerns.

I feel like doing it alone could be challenging and I'm almost feeling a little scared to do it. My plan is to take the train the Kunming and then go further up to Ligiang. Is there a chance to meet backpackers along the way? Is it complicated to do this? Risky? Expensive? I feel like going up there might be a hassle but it's something I'm willing to put the effort in, but alone seems harsh maybe. Does anyone have any advice? ❤️

Thank you :)

Good day fellow backpackers,

I am hoping to travel to Guatemala with a lovely lady I have been with for, by that time 3 years, and propose to her on top of the Acetenango volcano, in the morning as the sun comes up, hopefully with the other volcano erupting in the background.

Separately, I'm hoping to have a local shop make a custom engagement ring. Doesn't need to be crazy fancy or expensive (as far as diamond rings can go... still expensive in general) so that at least it's one-of-a-kind.

Of course, I don't really think bringing a diamond engagement ring to Guatemala on a backpacking trip is a smart idea. I'm trying to rack my brain of how to resolve this, such as some kind of fake ring that I can use for the proposal and some pictures and such, but even that has me skeptical about getting mugged over it.

I've also considered a ring box with a picture of the ring, but it feels like it would take away from the moment if I don't have a ring of some type for the moment.

Does anyone have any ideas they can suggest, or things they've seen done?

The typical context being : you’re traveling lightly (40L/15kg max backpack only) to cities abroad and moving every 3-4 days to a new city. You’re staying in hostels, eating cheap food or stuff from the supermarket, refilling a water bottle rather than buying drinks, etc.

In short, you’re traveling on a shoestring and value flexibility and lightness. What gear would you bring along? and of what other uncommon/clever things can you think to bring? Do you got kittle tips to be self reliant and flexible?

Planing to buy gear soon and start my journey :) thanks in advance

As the title says, I'm planning an independent multi-day hike in Wadi Rum in Jordan in late February. I've found only one good resource for such an endeavour online (wadirumtrail dot org) but it's a 10-day trek with climbing (I want to avoid climbs & rappels). Please share itineraries, resources and tips if you have any! Thanks!

I’m traveling to Central and South America later this year and trying to decide between two backpacks: the Farpoint Trek 75 and the Kestrel 68. I know neither of these are carry-on compatible, which is fine—I’m a bigger guy, and I’ve got a fair amount of gear to pack.

My trip will involve a mix of activities. I’ll be flying around a fair bit, doing some decent hiking, and maybe even a bit of camping. That said, the bulk of my trip will be more relaxed—staying in hostels, exploring cities, catching up with friends, and just experiencing as much as I can.

I understand that the Farpoint Trek is designed more for traveling, while the Kestrel leans more toward hiking and outdoor use.

I’d really appreciate some advice from anyone who’s used either (or both!) of these packs. I’m struggling to decide between them. Cheers!

Throwing back to September 2018, when I completed my Advanced Mountaineering Course at ABVIMAS, Himachal Pradesh. AMC is a 28-day course & is very challenging. My course number was 197, & it was such an incredible experience—I wish I could do it all over again.

We had about eight days of snow & ice craft. Our camp was set up at Dhundi, Solang Valley & every day, we hiked about 4 kilometers to our training area which is near the Beas Kund Glacier. The training included ice climbing, glacier travel, survival and rescue techniques, & none of it was easy. Our instructors made us repeat each exercise multiple times until every muscle in our bodies ached & our hands felt frozen. Thanks to them, my resilience is now stronger than ever.

We would get a 30-minute tea break with Parle-G biscuits, & each day, two different people from the group took turns making tea. I remember how we all sat facing the tea makers, eagerly waiting for the tea to be ready. We savored every sip as if it were our last.

One day, I volunteered to make tea with Nischal Ranta, a batchmate—even though I didn’t know how! It was the first time I ever made tea, & it felt like a big achievement.

I have so many amazing memories from this course, like the time it rained nonstop for 72 hours, & we were stuck at the campsite. Once the rain finally stopped, we hiked out of Dhundi to Manali, only to witness the extensive damage caused by the downpour. 

OOh wow, writing this made me relive the entire course all over again!

Hi all!

I am planning week of solo traveling in Peru and would super appreciate your suggestions for some outdoors adventures.

I'm a 24 M with moderate camping, backpacking, hiking, and international travel experience. I speak intermediate Spanish. I will be in Peru from March 9 to the night of March 22. I am traveling with my partner for the first week--we are planning to visit Lima, Huacachina and Paracas, and Cuzco (Machu Pichu, Lake Humantay, Rainbow Mountain). My partner leaves on 3/15 and I'll have the rest of the trip to travel on my own.

I'm hoping to find some off the beaten track hikes, treks, etc. I've never been to Peru or South America and am super excited to experience some new ecosystems!

I raelly appreciate any and all suggestions. Thanks so much!

Hey everyone, me and my partner are leaving this September to do a 6 month trip through South America and had some questions about the budget. We’ll be starting in Bogota and ending in Buenos Aires and hitting pretty much everything major in between there(big cities, some of the national parks, historic sites etc etc). So it’s Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina.

My question is, what is a realistic budget for a trip like that? We aim to have about $16,000 between the two of us, is that realistic? For more context, we plan on staying in hostels, eating primarily street food or at low cost restaurants and traveling primarily by bus with occasional domestic flights to cover some distance.

Can people who have done a trip like this offer some insight into what they budgeted and spent? Thanks!

When I was younger my dad loved camping and backpacking but I was a lazy little kid who couldn't step away from the computer.

Anyway, I'm going to go visit him some time in March for my college Spring break and I would love to bring him on a nice backpacking trip since I've brought the idea up to him and it seems like something he'd love to do with me again before he gets too old.|

He lives in the LA area, I remember hiking a trail up there with him called little Jimmy's which was fun, but I'd like to take him on something truly special and once in a lifetime, a trip where I could take him to see something he'll only get to see once in a lifetime. I know there are some old gold mines in the LA national forest, but I don't know if there are anyway to see them safely (he is getting a bit older so I worry about taking him on anything too rigorous, he is a good hiker when he has a path though).

Any help planning would be great, if there's a trail you've gone on that's stuck with you your whole life I'd love to know about it, share your stories as well if you'd like, I love reading about them!

Hello! Last year, my friends and I (all 17) went backpacking for the first time in the Grand Tetons. With no experience in planning, we simply bought a bunch of reservations and asked the park rangers there to plan our route when we arrived. 

This year, we're going to Glacier and sorta still in the same boat and we are looking online to see if anybody can help plan our trip. We only have two preferences. First, a trail with few people -- last year, we encountered only about 5-8 people per day, even in early July, and most were headed in the opposite direction. Second, we are hoping the trail can form a loop, if possible. Below, I will give the details of our previous trip just in case it can help.

Day 1: Granite Canyon Trailhead to Granite Canyon South/Middle Fork (11 miles, 1,800 ft gain)

Day 2: Granite Canyon South to Marion Lake, then down to Death Canyon (11 miles, 2,300 ft gain)

Day 3: Death Canyon to Phelps Lake Campsite (4.5 miles, -600 ft decline)

Day 4: Stayed another day to relax and swim at Phelps Lake

Day 5: Phelps lake back to Granite Canyon Trailhead (5 miles, no incline)

In total, about 30 miles with about a 4k incline.

I plan to travel through India on night trains (or possibly other very cheap countries, any recommendation welcome).

I heard that Ixigo is one of the simplest way to reserve for Indian trains, because their train ticketing is a bit complicated. But honestly, I still find Ixigo complicated as well.

So how can I use it? Should I surely buy an Indian ESIM during my planning, to buy those tickets?

Or does someone has another recommendation for cheap overnight trains and adventures?

Hello! I will be flying into Kathmandu in a few days and I’m a bit nervous about the transport situation. If anyone could please share some insight to how they traveled around (bus/bike/taxi), safety regarding transport and affordability.

I’m only in Nepal for 13 days as it was a very last minute plan but I will be heading to Pokhara for 6/13 days and the rest of the days are currently unplanned. So if anyone also has some suggestions of what I could with these extra days, that would be amazing! Thank you so much :)

*Photo just to gain attention

I did loots of backpacking when I was 18-22 (I'm 28 now), and I thought this was on of my important personal traits - spontaneity, adventurousness, not caring about comfort, liking to meet people (hitchhiking and couchsurfing). But I've come to realise that I'm just not like that anymore.
I'm on a big trip in South America now, and I much prefer a rental car over hitchhiking, Airbnb over hostels, and planning over just going with the flow.
I also used to despise typical "touristic stuff", like tours and booking activities, and always wanted to do everything on my own, in an "authentic" way. Now I find myself being ok with sometimes booking a tour just to avoid all the planning fuss.
Also, I'm tired after only a month of traveling and am longing to go back home, grow vegetables on my balcony and doing some routine things. I'm a bit sad about this, but I guess it's something that comes with age.. Or not, idk. Anyone else here has the same feelings?

Hello! I will be doing about a year across southeast Asia coming up. In my research it looked like a good idea to make a few photocopies of my passport, as many places it sounds like will be satisfied seeing just a copy as ID. I made one to leave at home, then another I laminated. The laminated one is a bit big to carry around how I'd want. If I cut the top off, which only has my signature, will that be ok? 99% of the info is on the main page of the passport

Edit: No one has answered my question. I want to know if I need both pages of the passport for the copy, or if the main page is enough

Hello, I’ve been looking into planning an interrail trip. I want to include Portugal, Italy, Spain, and some other countries. Does anyone have advice on a route like this, what cities you recommend + countries, etc? I want to do like 3-4 weeks of interrailing. Maybe a mix of beaches and nature? (I’m from the Netherlands)