r/backpacking

I live in the us and am getting ready for my first backpacking trip in Yosemite. I was looking up rules to be safe from bears while I camp and understand that a bear canister is necessary where I am camping and all items that carry a smell including all food and toiletries must be in the bear canister, 100 feet away from the tent.

What about any cooking pan/bowl/utensils? What if food spills on the ground while eating or on your clothes? Please share any other tips as well (even though they might seem common, I am new to all this information and scared to miss some of them).

I've noticed this over the years using hostelworld although I've just noticed one more issue that made me laugh in slight frustration.

When asked nationality as a Northern Irish person, I would typically look for Ireland, United Kingdom or British depending on what passport I'm using (people from NI have dual citizenship, so therefore 2 passports).

Anyway, the one and only website that I know of that has 'Northern Irish' on the drop down menu is hostelworld. The first time I booked, i looked for all of the aforementioned, even for Great Britain, which would be technically wrong, but a lot of websites don't know the difference between UK, GB, NI, Ireland, British Isles and so on. It took me about 20 minutes to actually even think to look for Northern Ireland.

So today I go to make a booking for a hostel tomorrow night and did the above. On the next screen, it asked for details such as email and phone number. The dropdown menu for +44 country code wasn't under UK, GB or British Isles, this time I had to search for and click on England to get +44 to pop up.

This leads me onto the payment screen where I had to type in my home address, and in order for it to greenbox, I had to select United Kingdom for my country.

So in one booking, I have 3 nationalities, Northern Irish, British and English. Mental. It should be all uniform instead of keeping us NI lads and ladies guessing our nationality.

And bonus info for the uninitiated - it is a bit complicated.

GB - England, Scotland and Wales. The big island.

UK - Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

British Isles - UK + Republic of Ireland and all the islands.

I'm planning a six month backpacking trip starting in mid October 2026. The current plan is Hong Kong, Tokyo, El Nido in the Philippines, Bali, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.
The trip means a lot to me. I've been saving for it for a long time and I'll have a budget of around €10,000. I'll also be buying new gear and taking six months away from work, so it's a pretty big commitment both financially and emotionally.
Ever since the conflict involving Iran earlier this year and the disruption around the Strait of Hormuz, I've found myself following oil and energy news almost every day. I spend way too much time reading reports, articles and Reddit discussions about oil markets, strategic reserves and global supply risks.
I know the Strait is open again and oil prices have come down significantly. Most mainstream reporting seems much more optimistic now. At the same time, I keep reading discussions saying that strategic reserves are still unusually low, that current prices don't fully reflect the remaining risks and that another supply shock could still happen if tensions increase again.
My biggest fear isn't really paying a bit more for flights. It's that I invest all this time, money and excitement into the trip and then another major oil shock happens while I'm travelling. I'm worried that flights could become much more expensive, routes could be cancelled, fuel shortages could affect tourism or countries might introduce energy saving measures that significantly change the experience.
I honestly don't know anymore whether I'm making a reasonable risk assessment or whether I've fallen into a rabbit hole by consuming too much information. Part of me thinks I'm simply preparing for something that is very unlikely. Another part keeps thinking that maybe people are underestimating the risks.
I'm not looking for reassurance. If you genuinely think I'm worrying too much, tell me why. If you think my concerns are reasonable, I'd also like to hear why.
I'm especially interested in hearing from people who have experience with long term travel, the airline industry, energy markets or anyone who has travelled through Southeast Asia during previous disruptions.
One small request: please don't leave comments like "if you're already worried now, backpacking probably isn't for you." Those kinds of replies aren't really helpful and don't answer the question I'm asking. If you think my reasoning is flawed, I'd genuinely appreciate hearing where you think I'm going wrong instead.

For GPS, battery life (solar maybe). Without breaking the bank.

Any idea guys?

Also, I like something that works in sunlight, AMOLED is such a letdown for me, almost non usable in sun.

The last 3 years I’ve gone travelling between October and March , solo budget backpacking

This year I’m planning to do the same, I usually split it into two 3 month trips, coming back to the UK (Home) for Christmas

I’m looking for recommendations this year??

I tend to stay in hostels
likes-adventure, authentic experiences,hiking, challenges, camping, bike packing

Do we have any suggestions for this year ??

Counties I’ve been to
Tunisia, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Nepal, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, Belgium, Czechia, England, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Scotland, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Wales, Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, United States of America, Australia, New Zealand, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Peru.

I have recently been diagnosed with autism and chronic depression and my doctor recommended backpacking and camping to help.

My issue is I have really bad paralysis of choice and I don't know what is good what is bad and it's actually making my anxiety worse.

Could someone please give me a hand with a list of gear for a man for a 1 night backpacking trip in the UK.

Once I have done it I can look at what I liked and didn't like about my gear and have a frame work to build from.

I am about to attempt a very very long road trip on my motorcycle with a limited budget. I’m wondering what are the cheapest ways I can get calories, without cooking, and still pack light?

Sounded like a question for backpackers

I decided to test my gear on a small overnight camping session on a trail I am very familiar with on July 4th (Black Balsam Knob) on the peak. All my gear worked fine with two exceptions.

1. Despite the temperature for the area being expected to be roughly 70 degrees at its coldest point in the night, I woke up around 2, absolutely freezing, and found my tent interior was incredibly moist on every surface. I used the rain fly in an attempt to avoid any rain and protect against the large gusts of wind. (L.L. Bean 9778 Miro Light Tent)
2. My sleeping pad was nearly useless. I had seen reviews of this sleeping pad in particular; people were discussing how great it was, despite how thin etc. (Thermarest Trail Scout)

Does anyone have suggestions for a "budget" sleeping pad that might actually help me keep warm at night/provide at least 3 inches of cushioning?
The Kit I took - clothing brought

Edit: corrected headlamp weight

I have a Gregory Baltoro 75 that has heavily molded hip belts. When flying with this type of pack how do you protect them and prevent them from getting broken? We used to live in the western USA and we would always drive to our trailheads, but now we have moved east and are taking our first flight with our packs. I know many people put their packs in duffles, but that doesn’t solve the hip belt problem that is more specific to the Gregory packs.

Hey everyone!

My fiancée and I are heading to Southeast Asia for 6 months (Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, and maybe China - maybe other countries too).

I'm a bit of a safety freak, so I want to put trackers everywhere, main backpacks, daypacks... everywhere! We both use iPhones.
I'm torn between buying Apple AirTags Gen 2 and cheaper third-party alternatives (like the Eufy SmartTrack 4-pack), which is something like half the price here.

I know these aren't live GPS trackers and that third-party ones lack UWB (but i do not know if this is really usefull in this scenario?)

Is paying double for Apple actually worth the peace of mind?

Maybe someone here was in simillar dillema and can tell what they decided?

Would love to hear your experiences. Thanks!

(Disclaimer: Ive helped myself to translate this post with translator, I hope its understable as english is not my main lang.)