How to Plan a Backpacking Trip: A Step-by-Step Guide
Learn how to plan a backpacking trip from scratch. Choose a destination, build a route, set a budget, and pack the right gear.
Independent travel guide
Explore the world, one trip at a time
Practical destination guides, packing lists, travel tips, and safety advice for curious explorers.
Explortaion helps travelers plan better trips. From beginner-friendly hikes and budget itineraries to gear checklists and solo-travel safety, every guide is researched independently and kept up to date.
Independent publication. We are not a travel agency and do not sell tickets or tours. Book directly with official providers and verified platforms.
Explortaion
Travel & exploration guides
- Destination guides
- Travel tips
- Gear advice
- Trip planning
- Safety resources
- Explorer stories
- 60
- travel guides
- 6
- topics covered
- 0
- booking fees
- 2026
- current edition
Start here
The guides readers open first when they are ready to plan, pack, or explore.
Best Hiking Destinations for Beginners
Discover beginner-friendly hiking destinations around the world with well-marked trails, reliable infrastructure, and stunning scenery.
Lightweight Camping Gear Checklist for Backpackers
A practical lightweight camping gear checklist for backpackers. Shelter, sleep system, cooking kit, clothing, and pack organization.
Solo Travel Safety Tips: How to Explore Alone Confidently
Practical solo travel safety tips for first-time and experienced solo travelers. Stay aware, keep copies, and trust your instincts.
The Ultimate 3-Day Hiking Packing List (Beginner Edition)
A complete 3-day hiking packing list for beginners. Shelter, sleep system, clothing layers, footwear, cooking, navigation, and safety gear explained.
How to Purify Water in the Wild: 5 Methods Tested
Compare five wilderness water purification methods: pump filters, squeeze filters, gravity filters, chemical treatment, boiling, and UV pens. Learn what each removes.
7 Navigation Skills Every Explorer Needs (No Phone Needed)
Learn seven essential navigation skills that work without a phone: reading topographic maps, using a compass, terrain association, pace counting, and natural navigation.
The Best Hiking Boots for Rough Terrain in 2026
How to choose the best hiking boots for rough terrain. Leather vs synthetic uppers, midsoles, outsoles, ankle support, waterproofing, and break-in tips.
First Time Camping? 10 Mistakes to Avoid
Avoid the ten most common first-time camping mistakes: weather planning, sleeping pads, tent placement, layers, food, gear testing, and safety planning.
Latest guides
Freshly written travel and adventure guides for your next trip.
The Best Tents for Wild Camping in 2026: 8 Shelters Tested in Real Weather
Compare the best wild camping tents of 2026 on weight, weather resistance and pack size. Real picks for solo trekkers, pairs and shoulder-season trips.
Beyond Machu Picchu: 8 Inca Sites Almost Nobody Visits
Choquequirao, Wari terraces and fortress complexes that see a fraction of Machu Picchu's visitors. Where they are and what the hike involves.
Europe's Deepest Canyon Is Not Where You Think: The Tara River Gorge
The Tara River Canyon cuts deeper than most famous European gorges. How it formed, how it compares to the world's big canyons and how to see it.
Cave Diving: Why It Kills Divers Who Did Everything Right
Cave diving has a fatality profile unlike any other adventure sport. Silt-outs, line breaks, gas planning and the training that separates survivors from statistics.
How to Build a Survival Shelter in the Wild: 6 Designs That Actually Keep You Dry
Six wilderness shelter designs — lean-to, debris hut, tarp configurations and snow shelters — with the situation each one is actually built for.
New Zealand's Great Walks: The Four Almost Nobody Books
Most hikers book the Routeburn and Milford. These four Great Walks get a fraction of the traffic with the same alpine and coastal scenery.
The Lakes That Vanish Every Year and Come Back: Seasonal Lakes Explained
Karst sinkholes, glacial outbursts and evaporating basins create lakes that drain and refill on a schedule. Where to see them and why it happens.
What Happens to Your Body Above 8,000 Meters: The Death Zone, Explained
Above 8,000 meters the body cannot acclimatize. What happens to blood, brain and muscles hour by hour, and why climbers still go.
The Best Headlamps for Night Hiking and Camping in 2026
Lumens, beam pattern, battery life and red-light modes explained. Picks for the best hiking headlamps at every budget, with what actually matters.
The Hidden Hot Springs of Iceland Beyond the Blue Lagoon
Natural hot springs and small local pools across Iceland that stay uncrowded. Where they are, how hot they run and the etiquette that keeps them open.
How Glaciers Carve Valleys: Reading the Landscape They Leave Behind
U-shaped valleys, hanging valleys, moraines and erratics. How to look at a mountain landscape and read the glacier that shaped it.
Your Vehicle Breaks Down in the Desert: A Survival Checklist That Works
Stay with the vehicle, manage water, signal properly. What to carry and what to do hour by hour when a breakdown happens far from help.
What we cover
Six topics, each with practical guides for independent travelers.
Destinations
17 guides
Every country page covers best time to visit, must-see places, visas, daily budget and a recommended route.
Expedition Guides
15 guides
Four things per activity: how to start, what to carry, what can go wrong, and what people get wrong.
Natural Wonders
13 guides
How it formed, when to go, how to get there, and what it costs — for every type of wonder.
Gear Library
14 guides
How to choose, what to buy for each use case, and the expensive mistakes to skip.
Community
1 guide
Reader stories, open questions, and what everyone else is reading.
Every guide we have published
The complete index of all 60 guides, grouped by section. If it is on this site, it is linked here.
Destination Encyclopaedia17
- Beyond Machu Picchu: Hidden Inca Sites
- New Zealand's Quietest Great Walks
- Iceland's Hidden Hot Springs
- Nepal Beyond Everest Base Camp
- Japan's Forgotten Pilgrimage Routes
- Forgotten Islands East of Bali
- America's Last Roadless Areas
- Iceland Ring Road Itinerary
- Japan Off the Beaten Path
- What to Pack for Southeast Asia
- Best Digital Nomad Destinations 2026
- Trekking Essentials for High Altitude
- 7 Hidden Hiking Trails in Utah
- Forgotten Ruins of Cambodia Beyond Angkor Wat
- 10 Secret Villages in the Alps
- 5 Abandoned Towns in the American Southwest
- Inside the World's Most Isolated Tribes
Natural Wonders Encyclopaedia13
- Europe's Deepest Canyon
- Lakes That Disappear Every Year
- How Glaciers Carve Valleys
- Islands Born From Underwater Volcanoes
- Why Mountains Are Flat on Top
- Best Undiscovered Islands in Southeast Asia
- Why Lake Hillier Is Pink & 7 Strange Colors of Nature
- 12 Places on Earth That Look Like Another Planet
- Inside the World's Deepest Blue Hole
- Blood Falls Antarctica Explained
- 8 Deserts That Look Nothing Like a Desert
- 5 Extreme Caves Only Expert Divers Can Enter
- Crossing the Sahara: A Traveler's Account
Expedition Guides by Activity15
- Cave Diving Risks
- Above 8,000 Meters: The Death Zone
- Desert Breakdown Survival Checklist
- Deep Diving Below 40 Meters
- How to Plan a Backpacking Trip
- Best Hiking Destinations for Beginners
- Solo Travel Safety Tips
- How to Travel on a Budget
- Adventure Travel Insurance Guide
- How to Read a Trail Map
- Road Trip Planning Checklist
- Travel Photography Tips for Beginners
- 10 First-Time Camping Mistakes to Avoid
- 10 Most Dangerous Hikes & How to Survive
- Lost in the Amazon Rainforest: Survival Guide
Gear Library14
- Best Tents for Wild Camping 2026
- How to Build a Survival Shelter
- Best Headlamps for Night Hiking
- Winter Hiking Layering System
- Best Portable Water Filters 2026
- How to Start a Fire Without Matches
- Best Travel Camera Bags 2026
- Build a 10 Essentials Survival Kit
- Lightweight Camping Gear Checklist
- Best Travel Camera Gear
- 3-Day Hiking Packing List for Beginners
- 5 Wilderness Water Purification Methods
- 7 Navigation Skills Without a Phone
- Best Hiking Boots for Rough Terrain 2026
Community1
Plan with official sources
Every trip starts with reliable information. These official tourism and travel resources help you verify entry rules, park permits, and safety updates before you book.
- U.S. State Department Travel AdvisoriesCountry safety and entry information
- UK Foreign Office Travel AdviceEntry rules and safety updates
- CDC Travel Health NoticesHealth recommendations by destination
- Iceland Tourism (Visit Iceland)Official destination information
- Japan National Tourism OrganizationOfficial Japan travel guide
Links and requirements change. Always confirm current rules on the official site before you travel.
Disclaimer
Explortaion is an independent informational travel website. We are not a travel agency, tour operator, or government body. We do not sell tickets, insurance, or tours. Always verify current entry requirements, permit rules, and safety conditions with official sources before traveling.