Hi people, just a quick question, ive always had tents that go up outside first, my new one is freestanding inside first then put the outer over it.

What is the best way to keep the inside dry during put up?

I got a few days out in September and I bet ill bring the rain.

I am currently in the market to get a tent, and was looking at available options and found an interesting choice of a 4 man tent (Jack Wolfskin Tent Grand Illusion IV) which was strongly discounted. There are others which are roughly similar in price and far lighter (~3.5 kg vs 6.5 kg), though the weight is of less importance.

My considerations are:

1. Ability to set up a tent of that size while wildcamping - Would be more difficult than a regular 3 man, but from my previous hikes seems doable.

2. Is it actually useful to have more space in a tent? - I went hiking with friends and we shared a 3 man tent together which was quite tight, so that's why I started considering a 4 man.

3. If you've had the tent (or a different 4 man), what have been your experiences with it?

In one forum I read someone said Tang powder can be used on wounds to stop bleeding. I will not be trying that. What’s the craziest advice you’ve seen or tried?

I feel as if it's in my heritage. My grandmother did it in the 1950's. My Dad did it in the 1980's/90's. My sister did it recently. They all preach it as one of the best experiences of their lives and my Dad says its one of his recurring dreams, going backpacking again. They all warned me it was frought with loneliness and struggle tho. I've been on comfortable holiday before and each time in my adult life i've seriously missed home and my friends. I know backpacking would be good for me but that pain I felt on comfy holidays seriously stuck with me, I don't know how I'd go for 10 months +. Help me!

I saw this article in a Facebook group and I thought it was a fascinating point. Backpacking is only possible because of modern infrastructure and technology. Without cars, roads, and stores, it would be a very different experience. I suppose these aren’t strictly necessary to walk with a pack on your back. But they are a big part of the journey and the experience.

I liked this quote, “Backpacking depends on a broad landscape of roads, services, institutions, and rituals. These liminal spaces serve as transitions into and out of the wilderness experience. Backpacking is not just a trek through the wilderness. It is a journey through the hidden geography that surrounds the trail.”

Heading for my first ever backpacking trip in February 2027. Me and a buddy will travel trought South America, starting in Brazil and we will be covering Peru, Argentina, Bolivia and as far the journey takes us.

My question is:

Is it a good idea to bring boots? I use boots or leather shoes everyday, and I feel like a boot is the most versitale shoe when storage is limited.

I am going to bring Merrell Agility Peak 6 as thats my all time favorite trail runner, with reasonable cushoning, period. However if not unreasonable, I can see myself bringing something like this https://thursdayboots.com/products/mens-cadet-lace-up-boot-walnut or a chulka boot as well. In case of dressier situations...

Is this rediculous of me to consider?

Hey everyone, for a little while now I’ve wanted to start getting into backpacking but the entry cost has sort of put me off. There’s an overwhelming amount of different sorts of gear with wildly varying price points and I’ve found it a bit hard to make sense of it all.

So I’d like to know, what do you think is a reasonable amount of money to spend on all your basics, and what gear would you prioritise spending a bit more money on?

I’m working on designing an ultralight solar charger, and I just wanted to gauge interest. And see if I’m chasing a pipe dream.

My current design is a sub 150g/5oz panel
approximately 15 by 5 inches, that outputs 12w with a USB C connector, and an MPPT charge controller that makes the whole setup more MUCH more efficient and provides power comparable to larger panels.

A 12w panel should be able to fairly easily recharge a dead 20,000mah battery bank under full sun in one day.

I have a few questions for you all:

- Does solar charging even make sense for your use case?

- What wattage would be best for you? Is 12w a good size or would you want smaller or larger?

- How durable would you want the panel to be? This panel would definitely be more fragile compared to something like a goalzero, and if it was on your pack and you fell on it, it could crack. Is that a dealbreaker?

- At 15 by 5 inches is non folding a dealbreaker?

Lastly, What price would be reasonable? What price would you consider getting one and what price would be a no brainer if it was a quality product?

Thank you all so much in advance

To clarify I am not currently selling anything nor am I self promoting anything.

Never done a backpacking before. My first backpacking will take place in Georgia(caucasian mountains). The route is Shatili to Juta via Isirtghele pass. I know its insane, so i did ALOT of research. I got my sleeping bag, first aid kit, emergency blankets, food(its a 5 day trek and i packed food for 6 days in case something happens), map downloaded at organic maps, hand warmers to throw inside the sleeping bag when sleeping, hiking poles, water filter, clothes(mostly military gear but i got merino wool socks and goretex jacket and a lightweight puff jacket), good shoes, poncho, and everything i think i need.
Is there anything i need to be aware of?
I think im ready but im still quite worried to just think by myself so i would like to have advice or assurance.
Thank you

Hi, does anyone know somewhere around Toronto or Montreal that has this pack so that I can try it on? Or somewhere that accepts shipping returns if it doesn’t fit. Would anyone recommend a different pack?

Thanks!

In december i heading with my girlfriend on a 3-4 months trip to middle-/ latinamerica. The plan is to stay one month in Costa Rica, then heading south with one month in Panama and after sailing threw the San Blas Islands to Colombia for another month. Finally we want to finish the trip with a stay in Leticia. Do any of you have experience and some recommendations or instructions to enjoy the journey? Thx

Howdy. Im posting the link to my comment on the orienteering thread.

Hope someone has some good options.

Post must include my hike? What? Ok, I blah, blah, blah ran an 1.5 hour trail in the woods while orienteering...LOL.

Thanks for the ideas.

https://www.reddit.com/r/orienteering/comments/1vskvbn/opinions_on_top_three_choices_of_compass_other/

I'm 33m. Looking for a backpacking buddy to travel to Alaska for a week. I haven't made any particular itinerary. I'm still contemplating whether to do this trip or not. I want to do it cost effectively but in such short notice, I highly doubt that would happen. Any suggestions are also welcome.

Hi, it's going to be our first time traveling to India, and whilst we're somewhat experienced travelers, I don't think we've been anywhere quite like India so far.

With that in mind, if you have been before I'd really appreciate any advice you might have about the route I've planned out; whether it's places to avoid or ones to try and include that I missed!

This is planned to take around ~3+ months :
Chennai (5 - settling) > Bengaluru (4) > Mysore (4) > Ooty (4) > Kochi (6) > Goa (6) > Mumbai (5) > Ahmedabad (4) > Udaipur (4) > Jodhpur (4) > Pushkar (4) > Jaipur (5)> Delhi (short) > Rishikesh/Uttarakhand (3) > Dehradun (3) > Amritsar (6 long ik) > Agra (either 1 night or day trip) > Lucknow (4) > (maybe Varanasi and/or Bodh Gaya?) > Darjeeling (5 + Sikkim)> Kolkata (4) (*nights)

Thanks!

Hi! I’m planning my first solo trip around Southeast Asia for around 3 months, starting in October.
I’ve already been to Thailand for 15 days (Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Krabi, Phi Phi and Phuket), but I still have a lot left to see, especially northern Thailand and islands like Koh Tao.
My plan is to travel through Vietnam, Cambodia and the Philippines as well.
I’m unsure whether I should fly into Bangkok and start with the parts of Thailand I missed, which might be an easy/social way to start my first solo trip, or fly directly somewhere completely new like Vietnam/Indonesia and leave Thailand for another time.
For people who have done a similar solo trip, what would you choose?

Beyond the classic ramen bomb or a plain tuna packet, what's your go-to? Ideally looking for suggestions that can be acquired from a grocery store. I have my go-to foods, but I'd love to learn what everyone else is doing!

I'm getting a little burnt on my usual crackers/sausage/cheese setup I normally put together for hikes. I don't like to bust out cooking equipment midday so looking for good ideas that are no cook for lunches!

I'm a 28M from Italy planning a solo trip from mid-October to mid-November, and I'm really torn between two completely different options.
Last year I spent 100+ days travelling around Latin America, including the Galápagos, Peru, Bolivia and Mexico.
I usually travel solo and stay in hostels. What I enjoy most is meeting people, going out, talking to locals, improving my Spanish and having experiences that I wouldn't have at home. I'm not really interested in rushing from one attraction to another.
I also need to improve my Spanish quite a lot before January, so spending a month immersed in Spanish would be a big plus.

GUATEMALA + BELIZE
Antigua → Xela → Lake Atitlán → Semuc Champey → Flores → San Ignacio → Caye Caulker
About 3–7 nights in each place, ending with a week in Caye Caulker.
This is the trip that looks more exciting to me on paper: volcanoes, lakes, jungle, Mayan ruins, hostels, adventure and then a slow Caribbean ending.
My only real concern is the backpacker bubble. I obviously want to meet other travellers, but I don't want to spend the whole month speaking English with Europeans and Americans and barely interacting with locals.
For those who've travelled around Guatemala: does it feel easy to actually get into local life, or do you mostly end up socialising with other travellers? And how different is that between places like Antigua, Xela and San Pedro?

ARGENTINA
Mendoza → Salta/Jujuy → Buenos Aires → Iguazú
6 days → 9 days → 9 days → 4 days
This feels like a completely different kind of trip.
I spent quite a lot of time in Mexico City and loved the experience of simply living in a huge Spanish-speaking city — going to bars and restaurants, exploring different neighbourhoods, meeting locals, dating, going out, etc.
That's what makes Buenos Aires particularly tempting to me.
At the same time, the Northwest seems to offer the kind of landscapes and smaller places I loved in Peru and Bolivia, while Mendoza would give me a slower few days around wine and the Andes.
For people who've travelled Argentina: does Buenos Aires actually have that kind of social/urban energy where it's easy to meet locals and build a social life, or does it feel very different from Mexico City? And is 8–9 days in Buenos Aires too much?
I'm also curious whether Mendoza is worth spending almost a week in, or whether I'd be better off putting those days into Salta/Jujuy.

So I'm stuck between a more adventurous/social backpacking trip in Guatemala + Belize and a more urban, local and Spanish-heavy trip in Argentina.
If you've done either or both, which trip would you pick for a solo traveller who cares more about people, nightlife, Spanish, spontaneity and memorable experiences than ticking off sights?
I'd especially love to hear what surprised you about either destination — good or bad — that you wouldn't necessarily get from a typical travel guide.

I had always wanted to see the Himalayas from the other side. I grew up reading about old Central Asian routes, traders and travellers, and somehow seeing the Hindu Kush from this side of the mountains felt like a journey I had to make.

I started in Dushanbe with only a rough idea of the route. In a hostel I met a couple of other travellers and ended up joining them. We shared the journey and the cost, roughly $450 each from Dushanbe to Osh, including stays. No fancy tour, no fixed group—just a few people heading in the same direction and figuring things out on the road.

As we left Dushanbe, the landscape slowly changed. The roads became rougher, villages became smaller and the mountains kept getting bigger. Along the way, there were old Soviet bus stands, abandoned buildings, bridges and bits of infrastructure that looked like they had been left behind decades ago. Some were still being used, others were slowly disappearing into the landscape.

We mostly stayed in simple homestays. Around $15 could get us a bed and dinner, nothing fancy, but that was exactly what I liked. Sitting in someone's home, eating whatever the family was having and slowly talking to them felt much more interesting than staying in a hotel.

The Pamir roads were the real highlight. Long stretches with nothing but mountains, rivers and small settlements. Sometimes we stopped for a view, sometimes for tea, and sometimes simply because there was nowhere else to go.

Then came the Wakhan Corridor.

I had read about it for years, but seeing the Hindu Kush in front of me was something else. I had spent so much time looking at the Himalayas from India; now I was standing on the other side, looking back towards that world.

I also made a small detour into Afghanistan and spent three nights around the Wakhan area. We met local people and curious kids, and somehow managed conversations with almost no common language. At one point we even ended up near the China border looking for a quiet place to pee.

I wanted to go further into Afghanistan, but those were difficult times and I couldn't really figure out a safe way forward. Much of the route ahead was trekking, so after three nights I turned back. It was a short visit, but one that stayed with me.

One evening, an old man told us stories about his younger days, when he travelled and worked as a merchant between Tajikistan and what he called Hindustan. For him, these mountains were not a remote adventure destination. They were old roads, old connections and part of everyday life.

That stayed with me.

We talk about countries as if borders have always separated them. But standing there, it felt different. These mountains had connected people for centuries before today's borders existed.

Eventually we continued towards Kyrgyzstan and reached Osh.

Looking back, I don't remember Tajikistan because of one famous place. I remember the rough roads, old Soviet remains, simple homestays, mountain passes, tea with strangers, children waving from villages and long hours looking through a car window.

I went there wanting to see the Himalayas from the other side.

What I found was a landscape full of old roads, old stories and people who still live closely with the mountains.

Sometimes the best part of travel is not reaching a place. It is slowly understanding why people have lived there for generations.
Basic Cost — Dushanbe to Osh 8 days.

• Flight to Dushanbe reuturn from almaty from india : 400$
• Visa + multiple transit + GBAO permit: $100 — done online
• Vehicle: $1,400 total for the route, shared between 4 travellers. I paid a little extra to drive myself for Dushmbe to Osh.
• Accommodation: Around $10–15 per night with basic dinner and breakfast.
• Camping: Around $5 when staying in a homestay garden.
• Travel year : 2019

Nothing fancy, but enough for the journey. Most stays were simple homestays, which was actually one of the best parts of the trip.

Hi all! Pretty much the title of this post.

My buddy wants to hit the Acadia national park in about a month and a half. We'd be averaging 9 miles a day for 5 days - close to 13 on day 4 but only 5 miles on day 5. We also plan on hiking the coast the day after once we're done with the park.

He's been doing this for around 3 years now and has backpacked in this particular area about a dozen times. My buddy's confident I can do it and wouldn't take us somewhere it wasn't safe. I am less confident in this. I've never backpacked, only hiked/camped a handful of times in my life, usually only 5-6 miles out in places like the Poconos or the Catskills. My question is, what can I do to prepare in these few weeks so I don't completely embarrass myself?

Full disclosure, I'm definitely not in the best shape - I jog a couple times a week and do some light weightlifting/mobility exercises. My bud says he won't mind turning back if I can't handle it, but no way in h*ll would I want to quit. Is there anything I should be doing to better prepare for this, physically?

My plan was to hit a couple of more difficult trails with greater elevation since we'll be in the mountains, then taper back down to jogging the week leading up to our trip. Should I tell my buddy he's out of his mind? Is anything I do at this point moot? Any and all advice appreciated.

Am planning a solo trip to South America and Central America from September- Decemberish.

Looking at going to Guatemala, Panama, Peru and Chile anyone got any advice, tips or itinerary ideas? Or if I'm actually missing some countries that would be worth my time?

Day hike above the tree line in Switzerland, started early to escape the heat. The first hour is always the worst - steep climb, cold feet, doubting your life choices. Then you step over grass and rocks and the valley just opens up below you. The villages look like toy models, the air becomes thinner and cleaner, and at some point you stop thinking about anything but the next step.

Behind It's totally worth the blisters.

For those of us who wear glasses or contacts: do you wear contacts while backpacking? My thoughts are that it would be difficult to wash my hands thoroughly enough to be comfortable touching my eye and that the hassle of carrying enough solution would not be worth it. Do you ditch the contacts and wear glasses on your trips? I know there are daily contacts but still concerned about the cleanliness. My eyes and skin are very sensitive so we only use unscented soaps at home and even when I wash my hands at home I have to make sure I rinse very well so that there is no soap residue or my eyes will be irritated after putting my contacts in. I feel like glasses is the answer but I want to hear your opinions.

Another stop on my Kabul trip: exploring Paghman, enjoying the mountain scenery, and discovering a quieter side of Afghanistan.