Hello mr_bob,

You may get some good advice in regard to your dilemma from the good people who frequent this website. They are unfailingly helpful, in my experience.

However, despite several clues strewn about, you seem not to have discovered that the main thrust of this forum is to discuss what most Europeans (and Irish, too, I presume) would call trekking - that is, wandering off on walking tracks that lead into remote wilderness.

If that was the sort of discussion you were seeking, then please excuse my misimpression. There is much fine trekking to be had in both Asia (especially if you include New Zealand) and in South America.

If you had in mind something more alomg the lines of staying in hostels and sightseeing, then sit tight. Your answers may come in a bit more slowly, but among our several thousand trekking enthusiasts we undoubtedly have some members who know a thing or two about your kind of backpacking and can share it.

Good luck.