Travel : Backpacking for Non-Backpackers

It’s been a while since I wrote a travel post, but since I’m planning an upcoming fall vacation, I thought I might as well share my thoughts here with all my lovely Raincity Librarian readers (hi mum!).

One if my greatest passions, outside of books, is travel. I absolutely love to travel. I come by it honestly – my parents were serious globetrotters who started planning their next trip on the way home from the current one. I’ve been very, very fortunate in that I’ve been able to visit a number of fascinating places, and I can’t wait to explore and experience more countries and cultures.

Now, I am probably not your typical “backpacker”. I’m in my thirties and not in all that great physical shape. I’m a big fan of creature comforts, and have never stayed in a dorm-style hostel. I don’t really like camping, I demand hot and cold running water, and I refuse to only bring a single pair of shoes on a trip (I need outfit options!).

In other words, if I can become a backpacker, anyone can.

Backpacking is the best way to get around Japan. Whether you’re trudging along an un-shoveled sidewalk through a surprise blizzard in Northern Japan, climbing up and down what feels like several thousand stairs to find your platform at the train station because you read the characters on the sign incorrectly (curse you, kanji!!), or trying to cram yourself onto a crowded Tokyo metro subway train on a weekday morning in rush hour because you didn’t quite think that plan through in advance (all true stories), having a backpack absolutely beats trying to lug a massive suitcase behind you. Japan is unfortunately not a particularly accessible country, and wherever you are going, you will likely encounter stairs. Lots and lots and lots of stairs. So, having all your worldly possessions on your back, with your hands free to hold a map or a handrail, is definitely a winning situation.

We’ve become so enamored with the backpacking life that we’ve usedours twice more in Japan and once in New Zealand, and we don’t plan in going back to suitcases any time soon.

Still, making the adjustment from suitcase to backpack isn’t necessarily an easy one, especially if you’re joining the backpacking party later in life, and aren’t particularly into the hiking/camping culture. Here are a few thoughts that might hopefully help you embrace your inner backpacker.

RESEARCH, RESEARCH, RESEARCH

We had absolutely no idea what we were doing when we started looking for our backpacks, so we did a lot of reading. A particularly great resource, especially if you’re a little bit older and enjoy a certain standard of traveling, is Rick Steves, the grand master of European travel. Steves is a backpack fanatic. In fact, if you want to take one of his European tours, you are only allowed to bring a backpack – all the better for maneuvering narrow, uneven European streets and busy metro systems. We found his website particularly helpful because it’s aimed at travelers like us, who want to be practical and efficient without sacrificing comfort or convenience.

TRY IT ON AND TRY IT OUT

Backpacks are often measured in liters, based on their holding capacity. This, if you’re unfamiliar with backpacks, means pretty much nothing. The only way to really know how big a backpack is, or how it will feel on your back, is to try it on. We ended up buying our backpacks online because it was cheaper, but we made sure to visit several local stores to try on different sizes and styles, and get a feel for what we were getting ourselves into.

ALSO – if you can, take some time to practice carrying your fully-packed backpack around for a while before you head out on your trip. We didn’t, and let me tell you, the first time I put my new backpack on I just about fell over backwards, and for the first few days of my trip just about every part of me ached! If you’re new to the backpacking world, the more time you can give yourself to get used to carrying around your pack, the happier a camper you will be.

THINK SMALL

Backpacks can get big. Like, really, really big. And unless you’re both very tall and very strong, carrying one of those massive backpacks is unlikely to be particularly comfortable. The reality is, unless you’re traveling into the deepest, darkest Amazon, you probably don’t need the absolute biggest backpack you can possibly carry. If you’re traveling for six weeks like we did, you really don’t need to lug around six weeks’ worth of clothes. Whether it’s in a laundromat or a sink, you can usually wash your clothes along the way, so try to pack as minimally as you can. Sure, you probably could fit your entire wardrobe into one of those massive backpacks, the ones the kids use on their gap year adventures through Europe, but if you’re anything like me, you’d probably put one of those on your shoulders and promptly fall backwards from the weight of the thing. So do yourself (and your back and your shoulders) a favour, and think small.  If you need help, our friend Rick Steves has a great post all about packing smart and traveling light!

PRO TIP – Train station lockers can be a godsend for travelers, but massive lockers can be very tricky to secure – each station typically only has a couple, and they’re often snapped up by travelers with big suitcases. Traveling with a smaller backpack makes it much, much easier to find a locker, and if you’re lucky enough to land one of the rare and precious giant lockers you can sometimes fit in two backpacks, saving yourself a few hundred yen! It’s the little successes that make life so rewarding.

CONSIDER YOUR PREFERENCES

We settled on the Osprey 40 litre Farpoint backpack for one significant reason – the way it opens. Unlike your typical gigantic top-loading hiking backpack, this one opens more like a suitcase, with a zipper that opens the backpack almost all the way around. This allows you to get items in and out of your pack without having to take out everything on top or rummage blindly through your belongings, which can get pretty frustrating. And don’t let the “perfect for a weekend getaway” tagline throw you off – we carried this around for six weeks, and had more than enough space for everything we needed, and then some! It’s also carry-on size for most airlines, which meant we didn’t have to pfaff around with checking in our luggage – an extra bonus!

If you prefer the top-loading backpack, by all means, you do you! If you tend to stay in places for a while before moving on to the next, and typically unpack all of your belongings in your hotel room or apartment, then a top-loading backpack might be just fine. Also, these types of backpacks tend to be the largest, which might be perfect for your destination. The most important thing is to keep in mind the way you travel, the way you pack, and what makes you feel most comfortable. What works for one person may not work for you, and that’s OK! There’s no one correct way to travel.

All of this is to say – consider backpacking when planning for your next trip. If you don’t want to lug around a backpack, don’t! That’s OK! You can manage perfectly well with a giant suitcase (or twelve), if that’s your cup of tea. Take everything I’ve said with a boulder of salt, but if you’re interested in making the switch to traveling light, hopefully I’ve been able to shed a little light on the situation.

Happy travels!