Hi from Belgium!

My name Is Cliff. I’m currently living in Belgium and I’m 26. In my early twenties I had the opportunity to travel a lot. Some of the places I’ve visited are China, Russia, Vietnam, South Africa, Many countries in Europe, the US… These were always road trips, hiking vacations etc. However, two years ago I started working a job and soon after started my own little business, moved out of my parents’ house… Which basically meant I haven’t been able to go for a real travel since then.

However, I have saved up some money and business is going pretty good so I feel like I’ll be able to make some of the journeys I’ve been dreaming of for so long. I’m starting to plan trips to Japan, Taiwan, Canada, Argentina… But I mainly want to go for hiking tours in the US and Canada. I’ve decided to join this forum to get inspiration from other people’s journeys, find new travel destination and maybe even find people to travel with. Most people I travelled with a few years ago have settled now and aren’t too interested anymore in undertaking longer travels.

I think I can also inform people about the places where I’ve been and travel gear has always been my pet peeve, so I’ll certainly be able to provide worthy information on that.
Hope to see you all around and I’m happy to answer questions you might have 

Welcome:

Our first question is: would you mind filling out your profile? That way, we can know a little better what you mean by "travel."

This forum is about travel on foot for several days or even a week, in wilderness or backcountry areas, carrying everything you need (including food and water) in a pack on your back - and usually without any outside support, like a hostel to check into if it rains, or a market or cafe to eat as you walk.

"Hiking tours" can include a lot of different travel styles, so the first thing we need to know is what your style is.

Yes, there's big confusion about the term "backpacking." For this site (and generally in North America), it means wilderness trekking, carrying your food, lodging and other gear on your back on hiking trails, generally far from civilization. Outside North America, "backpacking" generally means budget travel living out of a backpack instead of a suitcase and staying in hostels. There's a big difference!

Of course, many of us have also done the budget travel thing, but that's not the focus here.