The UGLY Truth About Backpacking

A lot of people picture backpacking as glamorous, super exciting and one non-stop adventure but the truth is that backpacking isn’t just pure fun. Backpacking is challenging…VERY challenging. Mario and I have no income. We travel using our savings and it isn’t a lot. We have to fly budget airlines, buy groceries, share a twin bed, ride buses, and much more in order to do all the traveling we want to do. I’m not complaining, just stating facts. We enjoy traveling so much and have learned so many things about ourselves, each other, marriage, language, and traveling in general. So far, we have rode in 14 planes, 78 buses, 15 taxis (ugh, expensive), 6 subways, 4 boats, hitch hiked 13 times, and rented a car for 6 days total. That’s a lot of moving around. That’s a lot of money, too. Here are the major things people don't tell you about backpacking.

Work & Time- Backpacking involves a lot of research, work, and time. We aren’t always out having fun. We also sit in our place we are staying in for hours to either work on a video, write a blog, buy plane tickets, figure out the top things to do in the next country, edit thousands of pictures, find accommodation for the next week, send pictures and videos, post on social media, etc. It’s exhausting and can get boring at times. There are some nights where Mario and I have to edit 200 pictures, but we’re just too exhausted to do it and just want to sleep. All of the research takes hours of staring at a computer screen googling things or talking to other people about a certain country. 

Backpacks- Mario carries a 40 liter backpack and a 15 liter day pack. I carry a 40 liter backpack and a 20 liter day pack. And between the both of us, we have to carry our camera bag and our groceries (if we have any). Total we have about 75 pounds to carry. When you’re at the place you’re staying, it’s not bad. But, when you have to carry your stuff to the next place you’re staying or from bus to bus, then it can be exhausting. For example, the other day we rode 6 buses and it took us 7 hours to get where we needed to go. That means we had to take our backpacks on and off and on and off again and again. Mario is Mr. tough guy and can carry his backpacks and even mine. But, I’m little and it can get real heavy for my shoulders. 

The Comforts of Home- I told Mario the other day that I missed normal life. The hot showers with good pressure, toilet paper, comfortable beds, good wifi, a car, everything in English, and so much more is what we miss. We miss the simple things that made us comfortable where we lived. We miss our family (the biggest thing), friends, church, and even our own grocery store that has food that is normal for us.

Money, Money, Money- No one ever is content with the amount of money they have. I feel like we humans always want more of this and more of that. Traveling on a budget is hard. Without income, the amount of money you have never goes up. It’s hard to live like that. Thankfully, Mario and I trust that the Lord will provide…and he has! We have to be careful with what we eat and drink, where we stay, what flights we go on, the currency rate in every country, etc. Sometimes we buy groceries and eat the same sandwich every day for lunch just because we have a budget we have to stick to. It’s hard, but worth it. 

Not so Pretty Places- Not every place you visit, you will love. There have been some cities that are just blagh or dirty or totally not what we expected. Everything and every place you visit will not “wow” you. Also, when you travel on a budget, you don’t always get to stay in downtown Rome or right next to the Eiffel Tower. Usually with a budget, you have to stay outside the city and not near any cool attractions or beautiful sites. But, you deal with it and you may end up eating cereal since there aren’t any restaurants around.

Things will go wrong- Mario and I have messed up a lot since we’ve started traveling. The first day we traveled, we missed our first flight to our FIRST destination. It wasn’t our fault, but still! We’ve lost/left behind several things, missed countless buses, lost money, and so much more. Those kind of things really stink. When you research hard and take time to make sure everything goes as planned, it just stinks when it doesn’t. But, since day one of traveling we have had to have a plan B, C, and D for everything. 

Marriage- Mario and I have a wonderful marriage. I love every single part about marriage and wouldn’t trade it for the world. It’s hard to travel as a couple. It really is. I’m not talking about a one week vacation to the Bahamas where you sit on the beach and drink smoothies all day. I’m talking about backpacking and traveling for months together. We are each other’s only friends. We’re together 24/7 and have been for the past (almost) three months. We usually stay in Airbnb’s or someone’s house which means we are in the same room usually the whole time. I am a social person and very extroverted. I love spending time with Mario just because I love him and he’s my best friend. Mario is an introvert for the most part and needs to re-energize by being by himself (He does love being with me too!). I re-energize by being with people…like him! Being together all the time is wonderful, but can be challenging. 

Attitudes- You have to be so flexible when you travel. You have to have good attitudes when things go wrong. If you lose money or miss a bus, it stinks. But, you have to tell yourself (or your spouse) “Bummer…nothing I can do about it now. What’s the next step or solution?”. You have to move on. It’s not worth fighting about or ruining your day. 

Language- There have been so many times where all I have wanted to do is just speak English with someone that spoke English. We have been with people that only speak Greek, Portuguese, Maltese, Arabic, and Hebrew. Lately it has been Arabic and Hebrew. Man, those languages are hard and I don’t understand any of it. When I’m at the grocery store, it’s all in Hebrew or Arabic and we’ve bought some interesting things because we didn’t know what it really was and just had to guess. When we’ve tried to ask someone where a bus is, we just get looked at in a funny way because…NEWS FLASH they don’t speak English and we are “tourists”. Sometimes it gets frustrating when you try to talk to one person after another and you don’t get any answers. But, we understand because it isn’t their first language. It’s just so hard to get used to sometimes. 

There ya have it. The UGLY truth about backpacking. There are so many wonderful things we love about backpacking, but these are the things that people don’t tell you. We hope you’ve enjoyed this and stay tuned for more videos, pictures, and blogs.

With love,

Mario & Ally

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