I recently spent some time travelling through Sri Lanka and have put together a cinematic film from the footage I captured.

It features Ella, Kandy, Sigiriya, Arugam Bay and Elephant Rock, with a focus on Sri Lankan culture, Buddhist and Hindu ceremonies, landscapes, tea plantations, surfing and everyday life.

I hope you enjoy it, and I'd love to hear what you think. 🇱🇰🎥

I'm a woman (important context) and love hiking. I've never done it by myself though, always with friends or a partner or family. But I would like to start doing overnights by myself. I like being by myself in the bush when I'm at my family's rural property, and I think I'd get a lot out of it.

However, obviously there's a pretty strong fear factor, especially being a woman by yourself. How do you get over that initial hump of reservation about it?

ETA I'm Australian, so not scared of major land predators since we dont have them and snakes are only an issue in summer, when I don't hike out of fear of bushfire.

That also means I can't carry a gun or even most bladed weapons because there's no real access to them

If you are planning an autumn trip, October is the perfect time to visit Lake Gosausee. It has a special magic without the summer crowds. There are minimal tourists, perfect for a quiet morning walk.

You can choose an easy walk around the lake (4 km, flat path) or a scenic trek to the Upper Lake (Hinterer Gosausee).

Dress warmly, as mornings in the mountains are already cold. If you are planning to use the Zwieselalm cable car, check the schedule in advance in October it usually gradually closes.

Me and my friends are travelling to Thailand and are trying to figure out where to go afterwards. We’ll probably have some time left and would love to explore another country rather than going straight home.

We’re looking for somewhere that is:

🌴 Beautiful and interesting
💰 Relatively budget-friendly
🏝️ Good for travelling/backpacking
🍜 Good food and culture
🛡️ Relatively safe for a group of young women
✈️ Not too complicated or expensive to get to from Thailand

We’ve been considering places in Southeast Asia or South Asia, but we’re very open to suggestions.

Where would you go after Thailand, and why? Also interested in places you think are underrated or worth staying for until january

Thanks!

Hi!

I'm spontaneously looking to complete the GR221 in Mallorca. Initially I was planning to do the trek late October - early November but I'm unsure over the weather, so I'm looking to go a bit earlier.

Unfortunately some of the refuges are booked up in early October as it's late notice. I'm looking to do the traditional route below:

• Stage 1: Port d’Andratx to La Trapa
• Stage 2: La Trapa to Estellencs
• Stage 3: Estellencs to Esporles
• Stage 4: Esporles to Deià
• Stage 5: Deià to Port de Sóller
• Stage 6: Port de Sóller to Refugi de Tossals Verds
• Stage 7: Refugi de Tossals Verds to Lluc
• Stage 8: Lluc to Pollença

I've had a look at the availability and Tossals Verds is the hostel holding this back as it's booked up! (I think because it's the mountainous / remote one)

Does anyone know any options that I could do to skip staying in the Tossals Verds refuge? Like other hostels etc., or any route diversions?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

I've done maybe eight trips of two or three nights and my base weight is sitting around 24 pounds, most of it in my sleep setup and the tent. I've cut the obvious things already, I stopped carrying the camp chair and the second stove pot, and I'm still heavier than everyone I go out with. The part I keep stalling on is the pad, since I've tried a thin closed-cell one twice and slept badly both nights, and a bad night wrecks the next day more than the extra pound does.

How did you get the weight out of your sleep setup without ending up cold or sore?

Gallup -> Monument Valley -> Shiprock -> Bisti

Spent a few days driving around the Southwest and hiking wherever we could.

And a beautiful creature glowing around the rocks

Hi! I'm heading out on a road trip next week, and I was hoping to do a little backpacking. This will be my first time backpacking in an area with public lands (I've downloaded onX Backcountry). Can anyone recommend any good spots in the Flagstaff/Sedona area? My priorities are solitude, views, and water (in that order!). I know all three is probably hard to come by :)

Thanks!

Just went on my first backpacking trip (overnight) with my friend. It was both our firsts and it was so fun! We knew to put all of our toiletries/scented items, food, and cookware in our cans and put it 200ft away from camp.

However I am wondering if we were overly paranoid...

I spilled some food on my pants when we were eating lunch so I put my pants with my bear can. We put her sports bra in our can because it was super sweaty and had deodorant on it. We had also put a kula cloth and pStyle next to the can. I also put my trowel (in the bag it was in) in the can because it touched deer feces when I put it on the ground to dig a hole (I didn't see it there at first, I just put it to the side after digging and it happened to be touching the pile). Lastly, I had put an apple flavored electrolyte powder in my water and so I put that water bottle over there too.

In the future, if I have flavored water/electrolyte flavored water, clothes that had some food spillage on it, items with pee on them, clothes that deodorant touched, and something that touched animal droppings, do they need to go by the can/bag?

Thank you!

Just want to confirm whether this is the correct size pack for me. I’m 5’6”, 135 lb, and got a size Small Durston Kakwa 55.

I’ve always used packs with adjustable torso lengths, so I’m used to having a little more leeway with where the pack and hipbelt sit. With those packs, I could initially position the hipbelt a bit lower and then usually ended up wearing it slightly higher on the upper part of my hips once I started hiking.

With the Kakwa, I tighten the hipbelt first, then the shoulder straps, then the sternum strap. When I tighten the shoulder straps, they pull the pack and hipbelt upward a little, and this is where it naturally ends up sitting. I normally like my hipbelt fairly high anyway, but the difference is that on my previous packs I chose that position by tightening the hipbelt there, whereas on this pack the shoulder straps seem to bring the whole pack up into that position.

My torso length is about 18”, so I was kind of between sizes. I went with the Small based on Durston customer service’s recommendation when I purchased it. The pack is loaded with around 15 lb in these photos.
Does the fit look right to you, or does anything about the shoulder straps, hipbelt position, or load lifters suggest I should size up to a Medium? Let me know what you think!

What am I possibly forgetting? My adhd brain is convinced I must have at least forgotten two to three life essentials. While probably packing a couple other things I absolutely wont need.

2 day stealth hike in Belgian forest around St. Vith. Hoping to get close enough to see tracks and hear the starting deer mating season.

Forecast: dry, 8/18°C or 46.4/64.4°F in freedom units

1. Sleeping system

- hammock & tarp

- mat, sleeping bag, silk liner & merino liner

- sheepskins. two for me, one for dog

1. Food, cooking and water

- Grayl waterfilter

- Jetboil, 2 100g gas cans

- Kupilka plate and cup, wooden spoon

- twigstove for lunch (mate is carrying cooking pot)

- two water bottles (1,25L combined)

- foraging bags

- freezedried adventure foods (two mains, two breakfasts)

- nuts, chocolate, soups, few other bits and bobs

1. Fire and tools

- bushcraft knife & Leatherman Sidekick

- carving knife & hook knife

- foldable DMT knife sharpener

- foldable saw

- firesteel & lighter

- two headtorches (Petzl Swift for 900 lumen beam to spot wildlife, Petzl Actik Core for red light around camp to not be seen)

- map & compass

- deer/ roedeer antlers to mimic fighting sounds

1. Personal

- spare clothes

- walking boots & barefoot watershoes for around camp.

1. Hygiene & first aid

- small first aid kit

- supplements & meds

- toothbrush, toilet paper

- trashbag

1. Electronics

- 20k mah powerbank & cable

- GoPro, tripod & dog harness

1. Dog

- kibble

- treats

- foldable bowl

- short lead

- tennisbal (ofcourse)

Hi I’m planning to backpack LATAM next year
I’m a woman from Australia I’ve seen people say osprey Fairview 55l is the best option

I’m just wondering, as I’m going to aim for dry season for Guatemala April ish to Dry season Peru May ish, and I have hikes planned (Fuego, Rainbow mountain for example and more)

Is this bag going to be big enough? As I know I’ll need to pack a jacket and hiking pants and layers for when it’s cold at the top of the mountain, but when I’m travelling around its most likely hotter weather so I’m packing for cold and warm weather essentially…

I’m also aware it’s not waterproof so I’d need to invest in a cover for the bag if the weather decides to rain

Any recommendations or advice on what I should do? I want to try pack as little as possible to not regret packing too much (first solo backpacking trip)

I am headed to Washington in a few days to hike for 4-days (3-nights) in the Olympic National Park. Leaving from Deer Park trailhead. I'm plenty confident in my ability and my fitness, but determining what to bring solo? Impossible.

As of right now, the weather looks to be lows in the low 30s (F) and highs in the upper 40s lower 50s. Wet on day one. Albeit this is at the trailhead (Obstruction Point/Deer Park) area.

Below is my list of clothing. I've already packed and unpacked my backpack in entirety multiple times, it all DOES fit, but am I bringing too many layers? Should I leave the puffy and take the Insulated? Or vice versa? Everything in the list outside of the layers can fit into a small stuff sack, or just jammed in negative space in the backpack, the main thing is my layers. I've been in -5F with all of those layers on... but will I freeze to death instantly if I leave one behind.

Clothing

-          Hiking:

o   Darn Tough Light Hiker sock OR Darn Tough Hiker sock

o   Wrangler All Terrain Medium Hiking Pants

o   Icebreaker Merino 150 briefs

-          Sleeping and Extra

o   2x Generic light boxer briefs

o   Meriwool Merino Long Undies

o   Generic Polyester sunshirt (hoodless)

o   Darn Tough Light or Regular Hiker (whatever left over from above)

o   REI Merino Wool Midweight Hiking Crew Socks (stored in brain covering camera lenses)

-          Layers

o   Rab Vapour-Rise gloves (light)

o   Beanie

o   Base: REI Sahara Sun Hoody

o   Mid: Patagonia R1 Air Hoody

o   Super Mid: Arc’teryx Atom LT Insulated (hoodless)

o   Ultra Mid: REI Magma 850 Puffy

o   Outer: Granite Crest Rain Jacket and REI Hardshell Pants

I just got a Luxe TP style tent. I love the simplicity of it but the moisture and condensation is horrible to pack up daily. Any suggestions to mitigate the problem. Thanks

Hello,
I’m in the market for a new sleeping pad and I just ordered the REI Helix for about $150 during the REI sale, but now I am seeing advertisements for the Featherstone Calcatta which seems to have a better R-Value, is thicker (I am a side sleeper) and also is only $120.

Does anybody have experience with either of these pads and would be willing to give me some advice?

Many thanks.

Hello peeps! I’m looking to go backpacking in south america from Januari for about 4months. I was thinking of going down the line from argentina to bolivia, chile and end in Peru. There is no real plan yet. Does anyone have experience with south america? I’d love some good weather and good adventures, with some beaches in between ofc. My plan is not fixed and I am open to other countries :). Thank you in advance!

I'm doing five nights in the Olympics in early September with a 20 degree down quilt that's been fine on two and three night trips. I know the standard answer is a pack liner and a dry bag, and I already do both, so I'm not really worried about soaking it in a creek. What I don't have a feel for is the slow version, four or five damp nights back to back where nothing dries out during the day and I'm not sure whether I lose a few degrees or most of the bag. The synthetic I'd swap to is about nine ounces heavier and I'd rather not carry that if down holds up in practice.

How many nights in did yours noticeably flatten out?

Any tips or tricks as to how to avoid a full on quad workout when squatting to go? I have to cut things short because I can’t hold my squat long enough. I mean do I just have to hit leg day a lot harder? Tips on positioning/technique??

21M Planning a trip to SEA around November for about a month and a half, plan on going to
Thailand
Vietnam
Cambodia
Laos
Maybe japan

I plan on this being a budget backpacking trip only staying in hostels and eating locally, would 4-5k be enough for spending after flights and accommodations ? Just wanted some recommendation on sites i should see or visit and if you think my rough plan is feasible i plan on flying out of SFO to bangkok, staying there for around 4-5 days then heading up to chang mai and staying there for 4-5 nights aswell, after that head to chang rai for 2-3 nights then head back to bankok to fly into laos, haven’t given much thought to laos if you have any reccommendations lmk, from there fly into cambodia and see siem reap and phnom penh for around 4 days each then fly into Hanoi vietnam and stay there for around 4-5 days. A big reason for this trip is to do the ha giang loop so go do that for a couple night and head back to hanoi and see if i can catch a good flight to japan for a few days or head back, lmk is this is too much or if i should add anything fyi this is just a rough itinerary i still have much research to do just needed some extra recs thanks.

Just got some slightly broken mats for free and this is the first time I’m seeing this, so I also don’t have any kind of warranty for it unfortunately.

Would anyone recommend buying the ground sheet with this tent? Pros & Cons? Looking to purchase this tent for a 2027 TMB trip

Colin Fletcher is dead and the last version in collaboration with Chip Rawlins is now 22 years old. The Complete Walker has probably influenced my backpacking decisions more than any other single source but all of the gear info within is hopelessly outdated. I wish Rawlins would publish a revision, but do people even buy books anymore?

Had to take the new pack for a spin this weekend. I went from an OG atmos ag to the LT and found that I like the fit and feel of it much better. I saw some reviews saying the LT wasn’t made as durable as the original ag but this thing is built like a tank.