how much research is required to go on a backpacking trip? Can I just pack up some clothes and a tent and frick off to another country for a few weeks and see what I can do? Any of you done this?
I planned my first hiking trip / vacation in New Mexico recently and want more PrepHole but in another country. Don't get me wrong, I still want to experience the local food and culture, I'm not trying to get stranded in the wild here, but do I need to research and prepare for lodging the entire time or should I just wing it and stealth camp and shit?
It took me quite a bit of time to organize everything for that New Mexico trip, rental cars, lodging, things to do between excursions and hikes. I can only imagine that being 10x more complicated planning for another country and I'd rather just go on a whim if its not a total recipe for disaster.
Let's assume I'm going somewhere where people speak english generally at least somewhat, and whether its legal or not might have suitable camping areas between cities / towns / villages
Where do you want to go specifically? I guess it highly depends. Like, "backpacking in the UK" and "backpacking in Afghanistan" are going to be two vastly different experiences.
Spain and France are two first world places I've always wanted to visit, but I'm also interested in more rural places like Thailand, Nepal, Peru, really anywhere far away and unfamiliar to an American.
no to all of those. Week long trip to new mexico went well but it being so over-planned and including so much driving made it not feel particularly relaxing at all, plus its still in the US so it was rather expensive. I am capable of saving money but am not at all 'wealthy'
Paris was the only city where I slept in a hostel because I absolutely couldn't afford a hotel room.
I highly recommend poorer countries in the eastern part of EU. It's going to be cheaper, and when you come back it's going to sound very cool "All of you losers go to France, I've been to a poor country!". Within EU, even poor countries are very safe, so you can go to creepy-ass places, take a lot of eerie photos of run-down buildings, and show to your friends "loooook I've been to all these very hipster places".
But yes, Spain and France and nice first-time choices, both countries have all the existing infrastructure you might need.
Regarding preparation... I think you should get an idea of:
1. What you want to see
2. How you want to travel
Renting a car might be a huge PITA, and there are stories of Americans getting lots of fines because they don't understand local traffic laws. Instead, I recommend trying out public transport, especially railway. With this in mind, I recommend doing research on how it works in general, don't be like "www.mostexpensivebusesforamericans.eu" but look up what bus/rail companies there are, how they operate, etc. The point is, get yourself used to the system before even using it. I understand that using public transport might feel like a downgrade, but on holiday it's kind of part of the adventure, and in Europe is really not bad, especially in more civilized areas, it's just a bit disorganized and sometimes info isn't available in English. And if there's no public transport, you can always take a cab once in a while.
There are some rail stations that literally stop at the beginning of hiking trails, so you can sleep, take a train, hike, take a train back, sleep.
Once you get the grasp of the transport system, you can do a more "yolo" approach. Unless you're travelling to a popular destination, which you probably don't want anyway, there should always be some room available in some reasonable hotel and a way to GTFO. Don't take too much luggage, you can buy most shit locally. Just mind different outlet voltage (don't burn your laptop charger) and that some places have very restrictive shopping hours (like no shopping on Sunday) and make sure you have internet on your phone.
Try looking up cultural events that happen in different places, you might want to run into some of them.
Oh, Decathlon. It's a shop with sports equipment, which lies perfectly in the "cheap yet good" valley. You can buy a cheap tent there and dump it after your trip.
What I'm trying to say is that you want to gather as much knowledge as you can, and then do yolo approach, because then you will feel confident in your ability not to royally frick up and you won't need five hours to figure out how to get to the other side of the city. I always do yolo but I also have some experience, but again, you can only gain experience by actually doing shit, so yeah. Europe in general is travelling on easy mode, minus the language barrier.
BTW I always cringe when I see someone trying to pay with dollars. Just don't do this.
Decathlon is awesome. I'm an American living in EU and went to one for the first time the other day and gf had to haul me out of the store
How much research is '''required''' to go on a backpacking trip? Pretty much none.
When I was 17 I spent a year backpacking from London to Bangkok and my research before I left essentially went no further than googling "best season to visit X" and trying to line up the countries I was visiting in approximately the right order. I had a bunch of pirated Lonely Planet guides and the like on my laptop and I'd plan things out for whatever country I was visiting next when I had downtime on a train or sitting around a hostel bar or whatever. The only times my trip was more structured was when I had my girlfriend or some mates coming out to join me for a bit.
These days I tend to do more research before my trips but it's definitely not required.
Be aware though, backpacking in Asia and South America (and to some extent in Europe too) has different connotations to backpacking in the US. Someone says they're backpacking in California or Washington and you assume they're going hiking, sleeping a tent, etc. Someone says they're backpacking pretty much anywhere else in the world and the assumption will be that they're travelling by bus/train, staying in hostels/tea houses, etc (at least for a solid portion, if not all, of the trip).
Hiking between refugios in the Alps, going teahouse trekking in Nepal or cycling through Vietnam are still PrepHole but they're a different sort of PrepHole to backcountry backpacking in the US.
>should I just wing it and stealth camp and shit?
That can work in Europe but you're not going to have much luck stealth camping through most of Asia; too densely populated, the population distribution (and distribution of what you'd want to see as a visitor) isn't well-suited to it, and locals won't be very supportive of some "rich Westerner" setting up camp like a hobo rather than contributing to their economy. It's a bad look when the average wage is $500/month and a room in a guesthouse would only cost you $10/night.
An exception would be Mongolia and the 'Stans. Those countries do have some proper wilderness that you could camp in without trouble but you'll need a vehicle.
>do I need to research and prepare for lodging the entire time
Also no. Maybe in particular areas or if you're travelling in peak seasons.
Often enough I'll find myself booking accommodation the night before I arrive in a town or I'll just arrive in a village and start knocking on guesthouse doors. It's a trade-off, you might not be able to get a bed in the top-rated guesthouse but you're not tied to some preexisting timetable so you can adjust your plans freely if you hear of something cool happening in the next village over.
Are you intelligent? Do you have money? Do you know how to get shit organized around you? Have you ever been abroad?
Tell us what were your biggest challenges and pain points of your previous trips.
How about you start with the research straightaway and stop waisting time on researching the research?
You need to have plans for food, water, shelter, and transportation or you will not have these things and will need to improvise. Depending on where you are, needing to improvise your basic needs will put you into danger. All else can be spontaneous.
Oh, and you should know how you're going to poop. Very important.
For me, its with my butt
If we're talking about an outdoors trip, it can take time to put together and refine your kit (including things like first aid, cook system, electronics, etc.). Should also think about travel insurance if going into the wilderness abroad and look into whether any camping permits are required if using national parks or similar
Just do a 1 night one and try it out. You'll learn from the mistakes and what you forgot
>Can I just pack up some clothes and a tent and frick off to another country for a few weeks and see what I can do?
At a minimum you'll have to know the entry requirements for that country.
>Any of you done this?
Not a different country, but I just filled my backpack one day and hitch hiked across Canada and back.
A thread on PrepHole is all you need
that dog is such a little ho