r/longtermtravel

Edit - *South America to North America trip

Here is my current rough itinerary:

Brazil - 21 days
Bolivia - 8 days
Peru - 14 days
Ecuador - 7 days
Colombia - 14 days
Panama - 5 days
Costa Rica - 7 days
Nicaragua - 7 days
El Salvador + Honduras - 7 days
Guatemala - 7 days
Belize - 5 days
Mexico - 21 days
Finish in USA

My main thing is am I moving around too much for someone who will also be working most of the time. I am very flexible in terms of when I need to work, how long I need to work and can take days off as I need to.

Would also love to hear opinions from people who have travelled South America extensively as to whether I’m overstaying or vice versa in some of the stops.

Hi everyone, I’m planning on going solo travelling for a year once I finish college in the UK. I’m currently 17 but will be 18 when I set off. I already have money saved up however this question is for people who have done a similar thing. Did you sell your car for extra funds before you left to travel? If you did/didn’t, then why? I feel as though the extra money could come in handy to put in an emergency pot however it would be an inconvenience when I return and don’t have a vehicle. Any advice or previous experiences are very very welcome. TIA!

Hi fellow redditors and travellers!

I (M29) have just returned very abruptly from a long solo trip. It was never the plan to be home now, but here we are...
So for context: In june 2025 I left the Netherlands to go travel southeast Asia. I quit my job and had no return ticket booked. It was the best decision I've ever made. It's been beautiful, really hard at times and I think I've learned a lot about myself along the way. Some things related to making connections and trusting people is still very hard for me, but meeting a lot of wonderful souls on the road has been very good to me.
So, I was happily doing a working holiday in NZ, and requested my next working holiday visa for Australia. Those visas are well known to be processed very quickly.
Oh boy, was that a wrong assumption....
By the time my visa for NZ was done the new visa still hadn't been granted (this was after ~2 months).
I decided to buy myself some time by going to China. After two weeks I had to call it and book a ticket back home. making my total travel in China about 3,5 weeks
The day after, the new visa came. Now I'm back in my hometown, wishing I was in Australia.
By now the travel budget doesn't cover my entry money for AUS anymore.
Right now it's such a struggle to adapt to my old life. The freedom I've felt and used so deeply over the last 1,5 years is very suddenly gone.

Does anybody have experience with living back home after living abroad? Any good advice?
Also feel free to hmu if you want any advice on Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia or New Zealand.

I'm a 27-year-old digital nomad from Canada, currently traveling around Southeast Asia.

As I'm getting closer to my 30s, I've noticed that falling asleep has become a lot harder than it used to be.

Between working remotely with clients in North American and European time zones, constantly traveling, and catching late-night flights, my sleep schedule is pretty much all over the place.

I remember one night when I had to catch a 3 AM international flight. After finishing packing, I knew I needed to get at least a few hours of sleep.

So I put on my eye mask and tried to sleep. But I just couldn't.

I kept going back and forth between scrolling on my phone and lying there with my eye mask on, staring into the darkness, hoping I'd eventually fall asleep.

By the time I got to the airport, I was dizzy, had a headache, and felt nauseous.

And it's not just about feeling terrible the next day. I know this is affecting my health, my eyes, my productivity, and even my ability to recover from workouts.

What worries me most is that I feel like it's only going to get worse as I get older.

Anyone else struggling with this, especially those working remotely or traveling frequently? How do you deal with it?

Spending 6 weeks in San Salvador in the near future will be working full time but looking for suggestions on things to see/do from anyone who has spent time there. Also appreciate things/ places to avoid.
Thanks in advance

I am approaching the end of my solo travel but this isn't the end I don't believe things have to come to an end and I refuse to go back home, but I am feeling a bit lost. I have been traveling for over 5 months and feel I am approaching a pivotal moment in life and in my trip. I refuse to go "home" to the US because I believe there is nothing there for me. My money is running low but I don't think it is something I need to worry about. I know I'll get by but I am in Indonesia and am torn of this feeling of being lost. I set out with the plan of finding a new life, a better one and I feel I have found it. I guess I am looking for people who have been in this same situation who can give me some insight. I want to volunteer to save some money but I have to choose where I will go next and what comes after.

After traveling alone for a while, getting photos of yourself can become surprisingly annoying. You either rely on selfies, carry a tripod, or ask someone nearby and hand them your phone.

I’m helping with an app called TPOP that’s trying a different approach.

The idea is community photography. As more people around you use TPOP, you’ll be able to request a photo and someone nearby can take it for you.

For now, there’s a QR option that lets someone take your photo without you having to hand over your phone.

I’m curious what long-term travelers think about the idea. Would you actually use something like this on the road? And what would make you trust or not trust it?

Not trying to turn this into an ad. I’m genuinely interested in whether this solves a real problem for people who spend a lot of time traveling.

I travel with my laptop often so I usually have the laptop charger, phone cable, power bank, and a couple other cables in my carry on. Somehow they always end up tangled together by the end of the trip.

I've tried cable pouches but the small ones won't fit my laptop charger. The bigger ones fit everything but then they take up way too much space in the bag.

What are you all using to keep chargers and cables organized without giving up half the bag?

Hi, Im 23 years old and I'm looking for an advice about trip idea i have. I did some backpacking in my life and i feel pretty confident in diffrent countries and managing some problems. Nevertheless i have a very strong need to go on a great trip with backapck, tent and stuff. Not taking part in some framed trip such as camino de santiago (which was really great but it was very...safe - shops at every 5 km, sleeping in buildings, a lot of people infrastructure etc.) and i need something more raw and indyvidual. So here's the idea. 

 

Backpacking from Poland to the south of Europe throug Slovakia, Hungary, Bosnia, Greece to Turkey. During that time i was thinking about 2 workaways in Croatia and lets say Greece to give myself some better conditions and possibility to regenerate and eat a little more. Then from Turkey flight to China, from there again backaping through Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia. I also woould like to get 2 workaways in that areas. Lets say every for 2-3 weeks. And then I assume that i might start to get out of money (I planned 5000 E for part Poland - Asia). So i thought that maybe i could make a fly to Australia for couple of months on working visa for student/young people and work my ass in there and gather some money. Obviously i would love to see Australia also. 

 

After that i was thinking about couple of workaways in Africa - Kenia/Tanzania/Uganda. You know, giving some help, meeting people and seeing Africa !! The plan after Australia is still a little foggy in case of what exactly countries I'd like to visit. After that another jump - Holland and working my ass (again) to gather money for South America. Then jumping there - seeing chile/peru etc. Backpacking through these countries. And then US. After Im out of money again and i did it to the top of US (NY) then i could maybe jump to Island for work and sightseeing. Then jumping again to sweden where id go through wgole Sarek National Park witch would be the final destination of the whole trip. After that i could go back to Poland... 

 

I assume that it would be 3 years of trip. I know its pretty crazy and unrealistic, but im just curious about opinions, maybe somebody did something similar, maybe i should split it to couple of trips. What drives me, is pretty hart time living my life as a white collar. It's very hard for me to live in that way I feel like my soul is slowly dying and i need to do something before I (i hope not) get some bank loans or somtheing.

Obviously i gave you a pretty broad idea of something that has a lot of variables and improtand aspects. Couple of things to take into account: 

- I would mostly walk through forest, villages, less industrial areas. I guess that in most countries i could even find paths designated for backpackers. 

- I would sleep in the tent or if there would be a chance for it, in some nice people's guest rooms. 

- I give myself 2 years to get ready for that - i'd take some navigating lessons and buy myself equipment, get enought money for it and close the topics   such as job etc.  

 

So reddit, tell me what you think :-)  

 

I was grabbing coffee at a trailhead parking lot last weekend, looking around at all the massive RVs and pristine camper rigs. Almost every single person stepping out was retired.

I ended up chatting with this guy in his late 60s who had this incredible, fully-custom setup. He looked at my cramped car, laughed, and said, "I wanted to do what you're doing when I was 25. Just couldn't justify taking the time off work."

That hit me way harder than it should have.

I feel like we’re brainwashed into treating life like a layaway plan. Put in your 40 years, trade your prime energy for a desk, and maybe - if your joints hold up - you get to see the world when you're 67. But nobody guarantees you get that far, or that your body will cooperate when you do.

I live in Seattle, my rent is absurd, and I am nowhere near rich. My "travel setup" is a cheap sleeping pad shoved into the back of a hatchback, eating cold beans at a rest stop, and hoping my check engine light is lying to me. It's not glamorous. It's definitely not Instagram van-life.

But I'm doing it while my back doesn't hurt when I sleep on the ground.

You don't need a $50k rig or a six-month sabbatical to go. Sometimes you just need to accept that you're going to be a little uncomfortable, take a Friday off, and go get lost for three days.

The money comes back. The time just vanishes.

I'm planning a solo trip through Latin America next spring. The plan right now is 4 weeks in Cusco, 6 weeks in Costa Rica, then my last 4 weeks in Antigua, Guatemala. I'd like to take some Spanish classes or do some volunteering along the way, partly to have something to do during the day and partly to meet people since I'm traveling alone. FYI, my Spanish is pretty basic.

Anything you'd do differently, or wish someone had told you before going? I'm open to any tips on these places.