Last updated on August 2, 2025 by Shannon
Long-term travel sounds so glamorous. Tell someone that you travel most months out of the year, and no matter what you follow it up with, they’re picturing vibey ancient temples, blindingly-white sunny beaches, turquoise-blue tropical waters, and an endless cocktail party with friends from all over the world.
And those idealized travel images? I’m not going to lie: They’re true. Wading in the pure white sands of the Whitsunday Islands transitions in my memories into a sunset bike ride through Angkor Wat and then the beers shared with the lasting friends I’ve met along my travels.
But those are just snapshots of travel. The life of a backpacker looks a fair bit different in the day-to-day.
Wait, What is a Backpacker?
A backpacker is a traveler who prioritizes low-cost, independent, and flexible travel, often carrying all their belongings in a single backpack.
Typically, backpackers stay in hostels, use public transportation, and seek authentic, off-the-beaten-path experiences. This travel style often allows for extended trips and deeper cultural immersion.
What is is Like Backpacking the World
Let’s run down a typical week for a backpacker—since you’re going for weeks and months at a time, not every day is high adventure and fun.
Sometimes you’ll just need to get stuff done. Or some days you might be suffering from travel fatigue and decide to Netflix from the guesthouse for the entire day.
Monday: Deprivation Day
On any given Monday during your round the world travels, the rest of the world starts their work week. But you’re a backpacker, so you’ve just switched towns in some remote area of the world.
The “restful” 12 hour overnight bus ride to get there has left you twitchy, tired, hungry, and bleary-eyed as you schlep your backpack from the bus-stop to your next guesthouse—thankfully you packed light for your long-term travels.
Food and sleep are tops on your list—and perhaps a nightcap with new backpackers you met on the bus—before you drop onto the thin mattress by 8pm and check out of the world for ten hours straight.
The travel day for a backpacker isn’t glamorous, but it’s a impossible to overcome. Even if you’re backpacking on a higher budget, you’ll have long, wearisome days.
And although these days take a toll, it’s also often when you’re experiencing some of the most interesting facets of life alongside locals, or when you’re bonding with other backpackers over the inconvenience and the sheer number of misadventures on any given day.
Tuesday: Sightseeing Day
Ten hours of sleep puts a pep into your step on Sightseeing Day and you wake at the ungodly hour of 6am. Though most of the other backpackers are still asleep, you get an early start on those nearby temples while the light is ideal for photographs and the oversized tour buses haven’t yet vomited out mobbed masses following a waving flag and clogging up the pathways through the ancient temples.
Your backpacking itinerary takes you through the “must-sees,” UNESCO sites, and anything else your parents would lambast you for missing on your next video chat.
Tourist-centric food stalls keep your hunger at bay on this Sightseeing Day, and you snag some postcards for your niece/nephew/brother/sister/mom/dad/grandma/favorite aunt/aunt’s dog.
Sightseeing Day is where you snag all of those epic photos of iconic sights. Most non-backpackers think that this day represents every day during your budget backpacking trip—they are sadly mistaken. While these are among the most memorable, they only represent a few days of your long-term trip each week.
Wednesday: De-Smellifying Day
The previous day of sweating at the tourist attractions all day long used up the last ounce of “clean” you pretended your clothes had before you set out—now they’re truly stinky.
Laundry day dawns and you strip out of your PJs and scrounge through your bag for the cleanest and least useful of your travel clothes. Donning those purple leggings and workout shirt, you then pinch your nose and tip your packing cubes full of dirty clothes into a bag and cart it off to the nearby laundress.
Not daring to venture far in such a bizarre outfit, you log computer time catching up with friends and family, sending emails and updating your Instagram, and bingeing your favorite Netflix shows.
Thursday: Making Friends Day
The day before at the temple, you bonded with several other backpackers with a keen sense of wanderlust—they didn’t even bat an eyelash at your crazy Laundry Day outfit.
Today, you all venture together on an outing to some nearby cave, beach, or waterfall.
Friends Day is about having fun and sharing a day doing whatever the collective group of backpackers decides.
By the end of the day, you’re eager to prolong the hanging-out and hunt down a nearby “hotspot” of entertainment—a pub, bar, club, dancing, bowling—for drinks and conversation.
Friday: Foodie Day
You’ve already found all of the great eats near your guesthouse, so today is about exploring a local market and finding regional treats proffered by the smiling locals standing behind the dozens of street-food carts and market stalls.
In the life of a backpacker, not every day is photo worthy. But Eating Day is also a great photography day—your camera is charged and ready for a day of meandering and exploring wherever the meandering streets take you./
Eating Day is often also an extension of your sightseeing day, as you can hit any number of memorable spots en route to tasty food. The idea here, though, is to go more local than the most famous spots, and instead venture a bit more off-the-beaten path.
Maybe you rent a tuk-tuk to a farm or grotto on the outskirts of town, and then find local eats nearby where you can sample the versions of local food that aren’t watered down in flavor and style to cater to foreign palates.
Saturday: Business Day
Those postcards you bought earlier in the week aren’t going to write themselves. Your camera’s memory card is full three times over and photos are still unsorted. Blog posts need to be queued, social media feeds maintained. You’re leaving town the next day and transportation needs to be planned and booked.
Though you’ve been working a couple of hours each day this week, it’s time to buckle down and plough through work. Even though you’re backpacking the world, you’re also working remotely and have to accomplish some real tasks each week to top up your travel fund.
Besides outings for tasty foodie treats, you’re holed up answering emails, WhatsApping, and writing until your fingers cramp.
Sunday: Transportation Day
On your last day in your small town of choice, you spend the morning hitting all of your now favorite local eating spots. In between the mad rush to see a last few neat things, you repack your trusty backpack, check out of the guesthouse, and execute any other leftover tasks from Business Day.
By late afternoon, you’re happily skipping down the street toward the bus station for an overnight bus ride. You’ve packed some fresh fruit, mixed nuts, and other treats for the ride. You also shoved an extra sweater in your day bag in case the bus blasts the AC.
Your iPhone is charged, your book was swapped out for a fresh one on Business Day, and you’re ready for that 12-hour over-nighter, where you’re likely smushed against many other backpackers. .
And there you have it: A grossly simplified look at the life of a long-term backpacker. :)
This seriously should be gospel for everyone! Really helpful when dealing with feeling guilty for having days to just get practical stuff done and decompress so thank you!
This sounds surprisingly more fun than just the glamoury parts that most people write about.
Well that rocks that you feel that way! :) It does have a nice balance
and rhythm to it :)
Sounds like a fun week! ;) My longest trip so far was six weeks of cycling/camping… that was fun (and smelly and exhausting)
Six weeks of cycling and camping is huge! I’ve never even remotely
camped/trekked for that long (my trekking and camping tops out at about two
weeks) – that’s a whole different brand of smelly! ;-)
HaHa! thanks for an inside look at the realities of long term travel. Apparent acceptance of laundry outfit days that involve purple leggings put me over on the still want to do it side.
Then you are my kind of traveler! Do you think you’ll take your girls on a
long term trip at some point?
Love this! It’s so true! The best part about long-term travel is that you can take days to write postcards and blogs and log some time online without feeling guilty about missing valuable time to sightsee.
When I first set out I did feel guilty about “business days”, but now I know
that sheer exhaustion comes from trying to move to fast and never take days
to just sit and take care of business/relax! :)
Can relate a lot to this post :-) Nicely written Shannon
Thanks Rob :)
Love it!!!
Thanks Andi! :)
Well explained, I hate travel days.. purely because the next day is just a blur!
Well explained, I hate travel days.. purely because the next day is just a blur!
Agreed! They are so exhausting – it’s the main reason I travel slowly now,
in the beginning I tried to move really fast but couldn’t handle all of that
movement without some good rest :)