If You Love the Outdoors, You Should Try Backpacking. Here's Why.

You don't have to like it when you're done or ever do it again if you so choose, but you should try it at least once.

The thought of backpacking in the outdoors can be scary for some people. The idea of carrying everything you need from water to toilet paper on your back for an extended period of time can be challenging for some to overcome. Especially knowing you have to carry that weight for miles at a time. But if you enjoy the outdoors, here are 5 reasons you should try it at least once.


Backpacking lets you ditch the crowds both on the trails and in the campgrounds. Backpacking trails are by their very nature longer than typical day trip trails. This means that the amount of people that travel them at any given time is much lower than shorter and consequently more popular trails. You also get to forego the crowded campgrounds where you are sometimes camped shoulder to shoulder with other tents or trailers and surrounded by the constant sound of generators, kids running around, or general camp life.


Because backpacking trails are so long and often remote, the trails and areas surrounding them are not developed. This allows you see more of the natural raw state of nature and be able to enjoy all of its beauty with far fewer man-made additions or influences. Many of these displays of nature's grace in its features and colors also are not seen by as many people, which can make seeing them yourself more significant and inspiring.


When you are immersed in nature and carrying everything you need for days at a time on your back it is one of the truest outdoor adventures you can experience. Staying in a hotel, a cabin, a trailer, or a tent in a campground with your vehicle nearby is one thing. These venues all offer some level of modern comfort; whether they be running water, flush toilets, or surplus supply storage. When backpacking, these extra comforts and amenities are not available. You are simply limited to what you carry on your back and how much weight you want to burden yourself with. This makes things simpler and allows you to be more one with nature.


Backpacking is, simply put, a lot of fun. There is something both exciting and terrifying about backpacking. Knowing that you are going to go on an adventure to be one with nature, fully engulfed in it, miles away from any signs of civilization can be a magnificent and awe-inspiring experience. Simultaneously it can be a sublime one of terror, difficulty, and strain - but these are all challenges that can be overcome. Issues on a backpacking trip are a given, but overcoming them can be fun and a part of the exploit. Backpacking trips often lead to great stories of not just your outstanding adventure into the depths of nature, but also the trials and tribulations you experienced while there.


If you truly love the outdoors and opting outside then backpacking is something you simply have to try at least once in your life. You don't have to like it when you're done or ever do it again if you so choose, but you should try it at least once so you can say you have done it. Backpacking is an opportunity for those who enjoy nature to try something new and expand their horizons - both figuratively and literally. Every backpacking trip is truly a unique experience that only you can say you have had. Whether you are on a trail that is a popular backpacking destination, or one in the depths of the wilderness treading cross county, each trip is unique to you, your circumstances, and your experience. This is one of the great things that a lot of people love about backpacking - or at least about having tried it in their outdoor lifetimes.


It is because of these reasons and more that I encourage anyone who has a passion for the outdoors to try backpacking at least once. What have you got to lose? Give it a shot. Go opt outside and explore. Grab your gear and go!


Mayson AlgeyerExplorer

I am an avid outdoorsman and photographer with an enormous passion for the outdoors and sharing moments worth capturing from my adventures. These are the stories behind my adventures to share with you.