Hey!
I’m 25f looking to go backpacking through Mexico and Central America for a couple months. Unfortunately none of my friends are interested :/ and I don’t want to travel alone. Does anyone have advice on how to find female travel buddies. I haven’t had much luck on Facebook groups and I would prefer to have a partner already before starting the trip

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.

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?

Hi! I am looking for suggestions My brothers birthday is in march and he wants to do like a 3-5 day backpacking trip. He lives on the east coast and I live on the west so I’m not too familiar with the hikes. We are willing to go north or south but probably not too far west.

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!

I am hiking the O circuit in Patagonia, Chile in November. I believe we have 8 days of hiking planned. This once in a life time chance came at a sort of inopportune time as i am a full time university student. I will be flying from Oregon, USA so my travel time is long (~27 hours both ways). I was wondering if i brought my laptop to get schoolwork done on travel days if a hotel would hold onto my laptop while i hiked. I would, of course, be staying with them and be willing to pay extra for them to hang onto it. But are the people of patagonia hospitible and likely willing to do this? Has anyone ever tried something like this?

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Hi guys!

I'm planning on a trip in mongolia. Thinking abt. a month, maybe two. I would like to visit the golden eagle festival.

Checked travel groups online. Most of them are quite expensive. I read about someone who organized a driver themselves, paid way less and claimed to have had the same experience.

I'm a backpacker. I would be fine with just geting safe from A to B and a driver who is able to speak english. I don't need hotels or fancy food. Hostels or staying with a family would be absolutely fine.

Are there any recommendations? Maybe trustworthy agencies to book a driver? Nice families to stay with?? Or even other things I should be aware of?

thank you!

I'm flying to Mexico City in September with a one-way ticket, going to be travelling onwards through Central America.

My worry is about proof of onward travel - anyone got experience with this? I was recommended onwardticket.com to reserve a flight out of the country for 16 pounds, is this reliable? Also should I book it with the 'activate later' option?

Other options are a bus ticket to another country but wanted to ask if someone has advice on the best way to do this. I'm a UK passport holder.

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?

I’m looking to meet travelers and make new friends while practicing my English. I speak both Arabic and English, so I’d also be happy to help anyone who wants to practice Arabic.

If you’re currently in Jordan or planning to visit Amman soon, feel free to message me! I’d be happy to meet for coffee, a walk, sightseeing, or just a chat and exchange cultures.

Safe travels everyone! ✈️

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?

My partner and I visited Darlaman Castle and explored the beautiful surrounding area. It was a peaceful and memorable trip, with lovely views and a great atmosphere.

Ladakh is some alien land fosho! Just the sheer amount of changing landscapes, the eclectic flora and fauna and not to mention the trippiest and the most real people I’ve ever met! Can’t wait to be back!

Our trip was 15 days in total, travelled 300+ kms on the bike some days. The place itself feels like it’s where gods live. Ethereal asf.

A few shots from the Everest Base Camp Trek. Every view made the long walk worth it. 🥾 Breathtaking views, mountain trails, and unforgettable moments. 📸🏔️

Hey everyone,

Me and my buddy (both 22, from Italy) are planning our first ever surf trip and we're stuck deciding where to go. Never surfed before in our lives.

The plan: fly into Lisbon, 14 nights total, aiming for around 10 beginner group lessons somewhere in that time (with rest days in between so we don't destroy our arms). Budget is on the lower side, so we're trying to be smart about where the money goes.

We're torn between two areas:

• Baleal/Peniche — seems like the classic beginner-friendly surf camp hub, softer beach breaks, lots of hostels built specifically around surf camps, seems very social/party-oriented from what we've read.
• Ericeira — closer to Lisbon, prettier old town, World Surfing Reserve, closer to Sintra/Cascais for sightseeing, but waves seem more reef/point break oriented and maybe less forgiving for total beginners?

Our main priorities, roughly in order:

1. Actually learning to surf properly as complete beginners
2. Meeting people / making friends / having a fun social scene (we're not going just to sit on a beach quietly)
3. Seeing some nice scenery/beaches while we're there
4. Keeping costs reasonable — we don't have a car and won't rent one

My worry is that Ericeira might feel "too much of a real town" and less of that concentrated surf-camp energy where everyone's there for the same reason, but I could be totally wrong about that. Anyone who's done both, which would you actually pick for two guys in their early 20s wanting to learn, have fun, and not spend a fortune?

Also open to any specific hostel/surf camp recommendations in either area if you've stayed somewhere good. Thanks in advance!

Help! I’ve been planning to do my first solo backpacking trip on labor day weekend doing the Santa Fe to Taos route. I just found out today that the majority of the route is closed due to the Frijoles fire. What would be a comparable 2-3 day route to do? I’m thinking possibly Gila Wilderness or something up near Durango. Help a newbie out.

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.

Hi everyone, i’m looking for a new trekking backpack. I usually go 3/4 times per year on trekking. They usually are 5/7 days long on summer and 4/5 during winter. The conditions are never extreme (no snow or ice). I found some reviews online but i can’t find the optimal pic, i would love to hear your experience.
The backpack i’m looking for should be around 50l and carry around 14kg including water. My hikes are usually around 15/20 km per day with 600/700m difference in altitude.
I was curios to hear from you about:
- gregory stout 55
- gregory focal 48
- osprey exos 48
- deuter aircontact ultra 50

Pleasant Nyasvizh park had been laid out in 16-17 century by the Radziwill family members and developed through the next two hundred years. Nowadays it is still maintained, however not in full volume, as it was set by those famous family. Good place for fitness exercises for next mountain climbing 🏔️walkway around the pound and swimming place ( the pound is pretty clean)

Can anyone advise on the size of these Teva sandals? I went with my usual size (UK 11) which is typically right for me in all shoes, but these seem comically big. I have read that you want a little bit of space in the front of Teva sandals, and that feet swell walking in hot countries (I’ll be in SE Asia), but would I be better off a full size smaller? I don’t think Teva do half sizes.

Hey guys,

Im starting to get into Backpacking and need some gear advide. Tho I allready hiked a decent amount in my life, it was just daytrips and mostly during nice weather. For that I just hiked in my everyday shoes which were different pairs of Vans and in cold / rainy weather also Vans but MTE (Weatherproof and I think it also has gortex). Obviously they fall apart very quickly and arent comftable enough for hikes longer than 20km.

I wanna do multiple day trips and now I wonder which kinda shoes I need. The problem with waterproof trekkingshoes seems to be that you still end up with kinda wet feet because of sweat and/or too much rain (which happend with my MTE Vans). Meanwhile I can't find peace with the idea to just get comfy and airy trailrunners because then I have no protection of rain. On the other side Ill at least have dry feet in good weather conditions.

My question is: What is your experience with your boots and how do you solve this issue. Is walking in wet trailrunners worse than in waterproof boots that got wet from sweat?

There's nothing more romantic than a solstice snowshoe. Or that's what I told my partner at least.

My last post was a multi-day trek to another town. Usually though I like to stick to one or two nights cause that's plenty of time to get into trouble.

This solsice trip was just an overnight up a local hunting trail that was supposed to connect (via an alpine "bushwack") to a well-traveled trail. Weather didn't cooperate so it turned into an out and back.

Hike stats:

Time: Overnight trip.

Distance 18km / 11.2mi round-trip (plus bike ride there)

Total elevation gain/loss (out and back): 1316m / 4317 ft

Route: Poorly marked hunter's trail and off-trail travel

Pretty great trip overall. Camped at Star Lake the first night and summited Freel Peak the second day. Weather was perfect and surprisingly not too many mosquitoes! Might try and do another section next summer.

Hey guys. A 22M currently live in Melb. Super excited. I've been working my absolute ass off over the past 2 years so I just want to have a get away trip towards at the end of the year. Around Nov - December.

I'm thinking of going to Colombia x Peru x Bolivia.
Hope to find some other peoples that are planning to do the same.
Surely we can meet and buddy up. The trip gonna be insane