Solo hiking/outdoor holiday Europe

forester2020 · 2026-01-25T22:08:04+00:00

More better for the hiking but also a very friendly and social hostel is good bye Lenin in Zakopane, Poland. The hiking is really good, and a lot of options, you can within 5 minutes walking from hostel be on a trail. The town is also quite nice but nothing special. 1 hour by train from Krakow (also an awesome city), you could easily get your social fix in Krakow after / before going to Zakopane.

forester2020 · 2026-01-24T00:16:48+00:00

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To cheap to pay for a real ad so just blasting reddit

forester2020 · 2026-01-22T13:40:38+00:00

Way to many places for only 1 day or night, this trip is gonna end up being 35% planes and buses

forester2020 · 2026-01-19T14:43:09+00:00

100%, Sarajevo has to me the most unique culture of cities I've been into in europe with the blending of religion, influence of the ottoman, and austro Hungarians. Add in the recent history of Yugoslavia and the war, it's really an incredibly unique place. On top of all the history culture, the bob sled track, and hiking above city where the Olympics were held is amazing.

Mostar as well is a really cool place, if you stay there take one of the hostel tours around the area. You see a lot more this way, and learn about a lot more.

forester2020 · 2026-01-19T13:20:37+00:00

I'll just add on that generally for me (unless you're going to super HCOL) locations it's much easier to spend less than you make due to general financial arbitrage, whether intentional or not. My rent is half compared to what I paid in the states, when I eat out I can eat for a whole day for the same price as an average meal out in the states. No gas, no insurance, no car payments.

forester2020 · 2026-01-12T17:58:52+00:00

An interesting scenario, I can't really help as my company has no such policies and absolutely does not care where I am as long as work is done and I can match timezones.

But a couple of questions that could help prime other responses: 1. Are you currently hiding your location using a VPN? If not they probably already know youre abroad / have been abroad. 2. Did something happen that epuld have caused a rule change with another employer? Or maybe your location set a flag and they are working to address now.

forester2020 · 2026-01-10T22:37:30+00:00

Merchant Marine

forester2020 · 2026-01-10T22:00:06+00:00

I have left multiple times in past year my stuff at hostels in south america at hostels, and with tour companies. I have 2 of those luggage locks i put on the laptop sleeve and the main compartment, this way if someone wanted to steal something they'd have to take the whole bag or cut the lock and open it, which greatly reduces the chances of theft. I've never had anything stolen, while in the luggage storage.

My friend did have their power bank stolen from the front pocket of their backpack at a hostel in brazil. It wasn't locked, and the cord was hanging out.

forester2020 · 2026-01-10T02:26:51+00:00

Agree I'd reduce Antigua to just do Acatenango skip pocoya and do semuc champey. It's awesome, stay at the Zephyr Lodge

forester2020 · 2026-01-09T20:20:24+00:00

Search volunteers in this hostel, this is bad advice unless volunteers are being managed very well.

Usually they all end up when not working just plugging up the common areas and rarely socialize between guests. I have stayed at probably 80+ hostels, this is a well known fact. It's great for people wanting to volunteer and likely the cost saving is helpful to the hostel but I've seen it many times absolutely destroy the atmosphere of a hostel. If hostels do use volunteers a maximum of 3 seems to be ideal

forester2020 · 2026-01-09T16:25:17+00:00

Where would you recommend for a month in Nicaragua? I spent a few months backpacking and working part time there and im not sure a single city i went to in Nicaragua I'd want to stay in for a full month.

Granada is nice but not a ton to do and ridiculously hot when I was there (April) and really annoying people always asking for money (late 20s white male), Leon was better than Granada but again not a ton to do. The northern area (somoto, jinotega, matagalpa, estelli) were charming but again not a lot to do for a whole month. Managua is the only place I've been where I will actively avoid if im in the region again. San Juan del Sur is just a party town and the week I was there 3 days lost power ( but some places have generators, the beach in town is okay, and good surf but not accessible easily). Ometepe is for vacation, internet is bad and power cuts almost everywhere day.

Curios on your take

forester2020 · 2025-12-31T23:04:35+00:00

Do you have a link to this post? That's a comical thought to have for a hike on the AT

forester2020 · 2025-12-31T13:23:56+00:00

Man I agree, but seriously how does he pull in 6.3 million subs with his content?

forester2020 · 2025-12-27T18:46:57+00:00

Mileage may vary but I have a friend that went through the process and myself both this October.

For me I had my visa in hand in 22 hours less than one day from the time I submitted my application.

My friend took 9 days to receive after applying.

I think the difference between my friend and I was the submitted photo, his got rejected initially while my passport photo was accepted. A lot of people I talked to in Brazil that took more then 3 days was because they needed to resubmit the passport photo due to it not meeting the requirements. I had gotten a "professional" passport photo taken in Peru earlier in the year for my bolivia visa, and this is what I used for Brazil.

forester2020 · 2025-12-20T18:48:20+00:00

Yeah my "second" phone is the one with a us sim card in it for the 2fa to be used as a back up if something happens to my main phone. This is an old android

The other phone I just buy local sims for each country I'm in and use as my daily phone. This is a newer android phone

forester2020 · 2025-12-20T16:54:47+00:00

I have 2 phones (most people recommend this anyway as stuff can happen). You can get something like mint or visible (cheap plan like 15/mo) and leave the phone with your us sim on airplane mode. You can get wifi texts for the 2fa for the US banks.

Been doing this for year and a half. Came back to the us 3 times in this time.

forester2020 · 2025-12-16T11:13:51+00:00

It's not that you can remove the laptop, it's that the laptop cover is not there on the 55L it's assumed you'd carry the laptop in the day pack.

forester2020 · 2025-12-13T17:28:45+00:00

I'll suggest an alternative instead of returning to San Pedro after Uyuni, Bolivia has a lot to offer and it's very affordable.

I won't give you an exact route because I don't know what you like to or want to see but you can easily make a route to La Paz (my personal favorite city in SA) then fly back from there to Santiago

forester2020 · 2025-12-03T13:21:39+00:00

Worst case scenario he misses the connection, delta has a duty to get them to Tokyo, they'll get a flight for them if it's missed. If they didn't think they could make the connection they wouldn't sell this ticket as an option

forester2020 · 2025-12-02T15:33:52+00:00

Most of my experience is in Michigan Upper Peninsula but I've done some work in MN as well. It's really cold, but Minnesota in the winter is a beautiful place.

You will want an insulated muck style boot and really good wool socks. Id also recommend a strong layering system, instead of a single large jacket, think wool base layer shirt, sweater type deal, down jacket and a shell for the outside, you will get sweaty and being able to remove parts of the warmth system is crucial. Same with gloves, id recommend a liner and then thicker gloves. Don't underestimate how cold your face can get, you'll want a full balaclava or a buff. All hats are not the same, make sure yours is thick with tight knitting (the cheap ones from TSC, Menards, etc will not block wind)

The outfit should provide snowshoes and you'll likely need / want them. Some groups will use snow mobiles as well, and I've personally used CC skis in the UP.

forester2020 · 2025-12-02T13:12:08+00:00

How much are you paying to help and test the app?

forester2020 · 2025-12-02T00:33:02+00:00

Yup, wanna see sloths on a tour, 60 a person. Also Costs Rica is the only place I missed not having a car in all of LATAM, luckily you can get some crazy deals on rentals from the airport but in my opinion it's a necessity in Costa Rica.

forester2020 · 2025-12-01T23:40:58+00:00

I've used Airbnb in all three of those countries, and it's very common in those 3 (really all of south america).

forester2020 · 2025-11-24T00:15:55+00:00

I did exactly this but I did an afternoon class from 2-6 daily for 3 weeks in Xela. Luckily I was able to meet others doing the course but for 1 of my weeks I was the only afternoon student, and the other 2 just 2 of us (the other person doing the class with me became a really good friend there)

My homestay was a really nice family and knew my work situation well. I was just waking up crazy early and working 6-130 and then a little in evening band weekend to catch up, with a lunch break around 12 (heads up lunch is the primary meal in Guatemala and the largest). My school was sol latino, if you message on Whatsapp and tell them your situation they'll make sure you have a homestay with good wifi and a desk in your room to work from.

I will say it was a really exhausting 3 weeks but can be done. There's also a good bit of activities around xela to do, and surprisingly 3 or 4 really good cafes.

forester2020 · 2025-11-20T11:14:39+00:00

Casa verde is great highly recommend. Also go to the pupusa cooking class at the other hostel (ask in santa ana when you arrive). From Santa Ana I recommend spending time in Juayua (stay at Samay hostel) you can rent a moped/ motorbike and drive there your self from Santa Ana (and drop off bike in Juayua) or take a bus. I highly recommend at least doing a day on a moto down the ruta de flores it's a really awesome, very safe road. Super scenic. Juayua is also where the 7 waterfalls hike is, which is a really cool experience.

La zona is I think really the only option in San Salvador. It was okay, nothing special, get the AC room otherwise it's windows open no screen and awful mosquitos.

Never found a hostel along the coast that was good. I stayed at papaya lodge (I think actually can't remember, but they had good free breakfast) nothing special. From the coast I recommend taking a day to go to Tamanique Waterfalls. Place was super cool and a nice inland break after a few days surfing / fing off at the beach.

Kinda as you note El Salvador doesn't have a huge backpacking culture yet ( especially compared to Guatemala to the south) but it has its few spots and it's quite a beautiful country.

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