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I'll be dirtbagging it there pretty soon, taking the boat from Belize. Obviously I plan on hitting the bay islands but for budget reasons don't plan on staying there too long. I'd love to hear about experiences hitching, or the feasibility of stealth camping (done it plenty in Belize, only got...

The guide will find you. I think I paid €250 for 5 days including food, but I’m terrible at haggling. They’ll want more for two people of course. But seriously, barter hard. If you’re trying to save, you don’t have to stay in a hotel in Chinguetti, just camp in the eucalyptus trees at the edge...

Hey, just saw this comment. That statement is meant to counteract an annoying trend amongst dudes on social media to smear a country’s reputation through the dirt just to add more spice to their story. For example talking about crossing the “dangerous minefield” at the Mauri border as if there...

I’ve hitched through nearly every country west of the iron curtain. Anecdotally, Ireland and Germany are the easiest. Spain deserves its reputation as being the worst country in Europe for hitchhiking; the best you can do is stay on a tourist route and pray some Germans come along. But overall...

You sure you want to choose February to visit Scotland and Sweden? Brrr!

Ever wonder how to poach pheasants, cook a hedgehog or speak Romani? This remarkable book is a priceless insight into life on the road in 1903, a golden age of vagabonding in England. If you've read Jack London's 'People of the Abyss' you'll enjoy this perspective from an insider of that world...

Interesting account of walking/hitchhiking across Morocco in the 1930s. Ingram may have been the first person to make this journey as a civilian, as just a few years before the region was still immersed in conflict between French 'pacification' forces and the local tribes, and prior to that only...

Jack London, author of White Fang and The Call of the Wild gets it into his head to immerse himself in the underbelly of London at the turn of the century. With a coin sewed into the lining of his coat, he embarks on one of the original journeys of investigative nonfiction. His reaction as an...

I think this is a concept well worth developing. I frequently find myself staring frustratedly at Worldcat when it says the book I so desperately need is sitting unappreciated in a library 3 states away. I’m still grateful to the redditor at UCLA who scanned an entire book for me in exchange for...

If you want to avoid Russia, I believe it's possible to travel from Armenia to Kyrgyzstan by boat. Not sure if it's hitchable though. If you're Swedish you can probably get a visa for Iran with no problem. Pakistan opened up to tourists in 2019 but maybe that's changed now. The major problem I...

I'm in need of a place to squat or camp in Estes Park for the summer season; just wondering if anyone has experience with this area. Basically I'll be living there 3 nights of the week, spending the other half of the week in Denver. Looks like there's a million places to pitch a tent on the sly...

Thanks, but better just raise a glass of tea; booze is illegal there. And arduous travel has a funny way of changing one’s priorities, that’s the only way I can explain turning around when I did. If you speak Spanish you’d be able to use it in the Western Sahara, as it’s a former Spanish colony.

I haven’t been there, but I’ve made two attempts and I got damn close in 2019. A friend of mine who passed away years ago used to show me the Richat Structure on google earth and we’d talk about how we were gonna go there some day. So in 2019 I hatched a plan to go there myself and drink a...

Tl;dr how to make a spooky cabin more cozy while treading lightly? I’ve recently acquired de-facto possession of an old cabin on a riverbank. I don’t want to give away the location but it’s actually a semi-famous building with a really interesting history. Inside i found Brochures from 2019...

I did this for a week as a kind of experiment. It's fairly easy in the UK where it's not too cold and there are unlimited places to squat. All I had was a light jacket and what I could fit in the pockets: a space blanket, water bottle, phone, plastic poncho and notebook. Spent the week sleeping...

I've been reading through Orwell's letters and this one about his first night (of many) sleeping in a field I found pretty charming. He was 17 at the time and a student at Eton, the most prestigious school in England. It foreshadows the rough life he was to lead in later years living...

Monitoring this thread. My workplace closed down today and home is the last place I want to be. I want to bug out to the desert, either NM or UT. Which would be easier to hitch to, I wonder?

Plunge your clothes into a fast-moving stream and weigh them down real good with rocks, then leave overnight. Might collect a little algae or caddisfly larvae but it gets the stank out.

> you should dress very conservative by default. I'm sure that was true in the '90s, but the generational gap today is vast. Tshirts and jeans are the norm now, even in the conservative south, but especially in the northern cities nobody cares how tourists dress (even if you're a woman). And...

I love Tangier. Great mix of northern Moroccan liberalism with a crusty Moorish medinapunk aesthetic. It's a lot like a Bowles novel, but without the crushing sense of doom which is nice. You remind me of a story I heard on the Moth Radio Hour where the storyteller goes to Tangier to visit a...

All you need is a short, sharp knife, a 5-gallon bucket, a wooden pallet and a bottle of tanning solution (available at your local taxidermist, or from Uncle Bezos) and a strong stomach. Use rubber gloves and good hygiene; you don’t know what the little dude’s got. If you’ve never skinned...

I won't write too much about this as someone posted my old blog post about my first visit to Mauritania here a while back, and I don't like to chew my fat twice. I just want to share some photos, as well as to subvert all convention by saying I've done this trip twice and both times it was...

Steve Wallis - https://www.youtube.com/user/thestevewallis "the Bob Ross of camping"

Good for you for standing up for what was right. Though I doubt you'll get much sympathy from Europeans for whom knives are the devil. The tragedy of perfect places like that is that they are so vulnerable to outside fuckery. The evil in the world doesn't tolerate them for long.

That MF saw more of life than most people; I'mma trust everything he says.

Keeping warm This is where I drop all pretense of expertise; I just want to share some things which I think are important based on my own experience. In circumstances when your body is your only source of warmth, it pays to be conscious of how your body is producing heat and how you can help it...

Who doth ambition shun And loves to live in the sun, Seeking the food he eats, And pleased with what he gets, Come hither, come hither, come hither: Here shall he see No enemy But winter and rough weather. -Shakespeare, "As You Like It" Winter is setting...

I’ve done a lot of thinking about this place, as well as Malabo. Seems tough for vagabond travel, but as long as you’re educated about all the red tape, and have all your vaccines, nothing stopping you from just ducking info the virgin rainforest and fucking around for a couple weeks. From my...

If you’re considering a hammock I can recommend the Hennessey brand, their ‘jungle expedition/explorer’ series is designed to prevent mosquitoes biting your ass through the fabric which is a problem with the cheaper hammocks when it’s too hot to sleep with a sleeping bag. I believe that guy...

Yeah Africa’s the same; there’s such mind-blowing diversity here people have a knack for learning languages (everyone here speaks at least 3) but more than that they recognize that most communicating goes on in the sub-verbal level; that’s key and I think it ties into the 3rd principle outlined...

I’m constantly doing this in my head. Great way to simulate conversation because you’re always faced with unfamiliar constructions. Bonus points if you can make it rhyme. Cheers for this post @roughdraft

I don't have any advice to give but as someone who is the product of 'mobile parenting' I commend you for making the choice to travel. It's not easy, it won't be easy, but you're gonna raise a fantastic kid. My mother chose quality of life for my sister and I over stability. If once in a blue...

I've never been, but the FB group Backpacking Africa is alive with people living the nomad lifestyle in that area.

@makan kotoran Good call; I'm a stonemason so I know to wear a respirator when I'm fucking with silicone.

I enjoyed the read and even the format, but I gotta disagree with your last statement. You're probably bamboozled if you ever wanna enter Canada legally, and I'm willing to bet the Canucks share their immigration database with other countries so when traveling internationally you might be faced...

Tl;dr I rubbed rock dust in my hair a week ago, and after days of doing sweaty manual labor with a hat on, my hair still looks awesome. Drying hair and armpits with dust/baking soda helps body regulate oil and odor production. My forays into humus hygiene have not been scientific. A while back...

That's awesome; do you know what venues?

I've read some amazing stories about dudes here going caveman mode in Latin America and Asia; I hope one of you sees this and can give me an answer. I've never backpacked anywhere tropical in the middle of a rainy season, but that's my plan for this summer. I have several concerns about what...

It's the biggest performing art festival in the world, and since it takes place in a city of only 450k people, it makes a big splash. You get big name shows in all the theaters, but also every pub, cafe, church, and nail salon in the city converts space for alternative performances. The buskers...

I've never seen such a total transformation of a city; it's a surreal and fantastic time to be there. Unfortunately can't make it this year. Hostels book up months in advance, so figure out accommodation if you don't want to be stealth-camping on Arthur's Seat. Or set up a comfy perma-camp in...

Would they be able to tell how much money you have just based on your debit card info? I just assume the card requirement means there's a small fee involved, as there is with most e-visas. As it is, if you show up at the EU border without proof of available funds you're gambling your whole trip...

@Engineer J Lupo Goddamn if that isn't something to aspire to; beautiful stuff.

@Rhubarb Dwyer thanks but I've got one of those already; wearing it right now in fact.

I got my hands on a badass set of leatherworking tools, and I have a big pile of leather to work with (mostly goat and some coon I tanned myself, but also some scraps of sturdy cowhide). I need ideas for stuff to make, preferably something I'll actually use. I'd like some kind of pouch for...

There'll be one in Morocco! https://www.facebook.com/groups/795012843924007/

I'm a big baking soda fan and use it all the time, but my dentist did warn me that it's abrasive enough to wear away your tooth enamel after prolonged use. Worth keeping in mind. Toothpaste isn't exactly expensive anyway. I also use baking soda for deodorant, antacid, waterless hair cleaner...

You're starting off in a good position. You have a strong passport and you can travel to Europe, Asia and Africa overland without spending any money. Where's the #1 place you want to go?

I've had no problems hitchhiking around the island, I'm surprised you've had the opposite experience. I even witnessed a park ranger at the Teide visitor centre trying to convince a frumpy middle-aged English couple to hichhike back to their car. They were whining that they'd never hitchhiked in...

The links posted above look great, but I'll just add an ultra-primitive method I've used to dehydrate: Make a campfire and find a wide, pyramid-shaped rock. Push one end of the rock into the fire, and stick thin meat slices to the side facing away from the fire. This should dry them out fairly...

Thanks brother. I'm from the east coast (like everyone else in Denver) so the idea of being able to roam most anywhere I want is completely new to me. Great to have some specific recommendations. And thanks for the link; that's a great resource. Yeah I've been looking into small game licenses...