>>654353
I would say most do it in groups to be honest. You have more people to carry gear that's essential, you get to share the experience with others, and you can often save costs.

Regardless of being in groups or not you'll definitely meet a lot of people, especially if you're staying in a hostel, but in really any good city in Europe you're going to find young people who want to party. Friends are easy to make when you're young and good looking and adventurous.

Driving your car does not count I don't think. Part of the appeal, especially for an American like me, was not being able to drive everywhere like I can at home. Using trains, regional flights, the tube, rides from new friends, and ferries was all part of the fun.

Peak season for Americans would probably be from April to October, especially June through August, and peak season for Europeans would probably be May to November, especially July to September.

>>654357
So it would't be more or less harder per se if you do it by yourself, just more expensive? I get that now, and thats fine I guess.

Also, I understand that sharing the experience with others is satisfying, I'd like to do that with people I meet along the way however, not my friends at home. (As I don't really have interesting friends at home who'd be down to do backpacking)

What I'm probably trying to get at here is will it be more or less harder to make friends with other backpackers if alone or do all you need to do is just hang out at the hostel ad start a convo?

Thanks for replying btw

>>654359
Pretty much yeah. I mean I think it's more fun with a traveling companion, but I definitely ran into people who went solo who were having a good time. If you're not a sperg you can just hang out at your hostel common room and meet people (an offered beer goes a long way) but you can also meet people while out in the city of course, so no it ought not be hard to make friends. Just go through with an open mind, and try not to look like you're an American dad

>>654362
Ah, okay thanks. I'm thinking of taking a bus to the Canadian rockies, then interior British Columbia, towards Vancouver and then down the West coast (Seattle/Oregon/No.Cali) of the US. Don't know if I should go to LA since I heard its a shithole and backpackers always get robbed.

>>654367
Oh, North America. I can't tell you much about that since I'm an American and went to Europe, but definitely visit the PNW and California (which is where I'm currently at and where I'm from respectively). Beautiful from Vancouver to San Diego.

If you're looking for cities to visit, I'd say a big list would be Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, Eugene, Ashland, Redding, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Jose, Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and skip LA and go straight to Oceanside, and then San Diego. That'll give you a solid tour of the whole west coast, you'll really get a good vibe of the PNW, Northern California and Southern California without having to deal with LA, which honestly is an overrated city as far as /out/ is concerned, and isn't worth it if you're backpacking.

>>654379
Cool, thanks, I'm a western Canadian myself who has never been backpacking so I thought I'd do Western North America since I'm quite familiar with it and then Europe or Oceania once I'm familiar with the whole backpacking thing.

>>654394
That's a solid plan man. One thing to note is that quite a few of these places are pretty big college towns, so if you go during their summer breaks, it'll be kinda dead. Specifically Eugene, Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo. So definitely roll through (hell I'll be there all summer so it won't be totally dead) but just keep that in mind.

>>654397
So what did you primarily take? Bus or train?

>>654404
Again I was in Europe, in America (specifically CA) I'd highly recommend trains over long distance buses, but in Europe I'd say they're both really good options depending on what you want. When I took buses it was intracountry travel, to places that normally don't have popular train routes, and when I took trains it was intercountry along popular routes. For example: London to Leicester was a really cheap bus ticket, but Amsterdam to Paris and Paris to Florence were both trains. So I suppose I primarily took trains, but buses are an astoundingly effective option over there.

Get /trv/

>>654405
Hmm, okay ill take not of that. Did you fuck any Euro sluts?

>>654410
I went with my girlfriend at the time, so no, but if I were to have there would've been plenty of opportunities. In Amsterdam we had a 6 person room at our hostel and I was the only guy with her and 4 beautiful brits on holiday.

>>654407
agreed, you'll get better results on /trv/ and they have guides and shit

>>654353
>Do most people do it alone
I did it in South America with a friend. It's generally better to have at least one other person to watch your back. I never felt unsafe, but it was nice to have someone to tag along with.

>Do lone backpackers usually expect to meet other lone backpackers at hostels in order to make friends/sex/join them if they're travelling the same route as you? (Is that the reason backpackers go alone in the first place)
I met expats at bars, restaurants and cafes, people in the hostels we stayed at seemed to kept to themselves, although we did get a private room to make sure that our stuff was secure, so if you share a room you'll get more interaction with your roomies, at the cost of comfort.

>Does driving your car count as backpacking or do you have to hitchhike/bus/train?
We contemplated renting a vehicle, but it's too much of a hassle unless you know the country well.

>When's peak season?
Depends on the country, and what you want to see, you'll even have different peak seasons for different parts of a country.

For example in Chile, the winter is the preferred season for the Atacama desert, but it's pretty shit in Patagonia where the winters are foggy and rainy.

>>654421
Ohhh I just read your post here >>654367

Backpacking across North America is different if you are from here, going at it alone should be no problem at all.

Just to throw some ideas out there, you can try the North American section of the pan america highway if you are gonna do it, at least to the US-Mexican border. So from Alaska to Mexico.

Plus you can take your car with you.

>>654427
Yeah, I kind of think taking the train/bus in N.A. is a headache whereas in Europe it's part of the experience.

>>654379
> Nobody Walks in LA
Missing Persons, 1981 (?)

>>654445
It's just not a fun city for backpacking. I visited there for a week, and I was staying with family so I wasn't backpacking, and it was fun then, but I can't imagine backpacking there. Just hard to get around unless you have a lot of time and money.

>>654450
> musical reference
> head
> clean miss

Age?

>>654452
Your post was vague and awkwardly constructed and I did notice it was a reference, but I've never seen the musical. 19

>>654455
>You are vague and awkward at 19

Deal with it, you will.

>>654394
Honestly with how the dollar is right now it might be better to travel the trans Canada highway, just for the fact it'd be cheaper than travelling to home of the Burgers.

>>654353
>Do most people do it alone?
I did. A lot of people prefer not to, but I'm comfortable being alone. If you're not comfortable with solitude in a familiar environment, I don't recommend it.
>Do lone backpackers usually expect to meet other lone backpackers at hostels in order to make friends/sex/join them if they're travelling the same route as you? (Is that the reason backpackers go alone in the first place)
One meets interesting people at hostels and couchsurfing hubs, but I've never made a romantic connection. The brief time together isn't conducive in my experience, but then again I have pong-tier game.
>Does driving your car count as backpacking or do you have to hitchhike/bus/train?
The thing about backpacking is that you take only what fits in a backpack - if you have a whole trunkful of space, why not use it? Backpacking gives you a lot of freedom for moving, but at the cost of not having a lot of stuff you might want. If you have a car there are a lot of things you'll probably want to bring that wouldn't fit in a backpack. What you're talking about I'd call a road trip.
>When's peak season?
Typically summer in my experience, but it depends on the area. For example I'm in Atlantic Canada - best time to visit us is actually early autumn. I imagine similar variations would exist elsewhere depending on climate or festivals.

one more thing if you're considering driving - if you post on craigslist/kijiji where you're going, you'll probably meet interesting people who are willing to chip in for gas.

>>654440
Yeah exactly, public transit in North America is a bit of a pain in the ass. Taking your car for a north america trip actually would be a good idea because a lot of stuff are off the beaten path, like hours away from civilization, whereas in many other parts of the backpackable world a lot of stuff, even off the beaten track locations are still reachable, either by travel company, or by hired vehicles for an affordable price.

>>654353

>Do most people do it alone?
I did & lots do.
>Do lone backpackers usually expect to meet other lone backpackers at hostels in order to make friends/sex/join them if they're travelling the same route as you?(Is that the reason backpackers go alone in the first place)
It happens regardless, unless you are deeply introverted and put energy into avoiding people. Backpackers go alone for many reasons but for most its the challenge of being alone and being out of your comfort zone with nobody else to hold you back or have to consider. Youre free to go wherever, whenever.
>Does driving your car count as backpacking or do you have to hitchhike/bus/train?
Semantics. Travel is travel. I met many backpackers living in vans.
>When's peak season?
Planet Earth is never out of season, you may have personal preferences about the kinds of weather etc youre willing to deal with or enjoy though.