6 Dating Struggles Every Backpacker Deals With
By Koty Neelis
Finding a place to be intimate
It can be difficult to find a place to be alone with someone if you’ve found another backpacker sexy enough to get naked with. With that said, whatever you do, find some place else to do it other than a dorm room in a hostel you share with 10 other people.
Either get a private room to share for the night or find a place to sneak off you can be alone. Nothing is worse than watching two people all over each other in the common areas of a hostel or hearing them getting it on while in the same room.
Expiration dating
If you start something with someone while traveling there’s always the acknowledgement that eventually your time together will end. You might have spent the past couple weeks or months in pure bliss with someone. You’ve been to and seen incredible things together and you’ll always remember your time with them.
Unfortunately, unless they coincidentally live in the same area of the world as you or you’re willing to do long distance and work it out, you will eventually have to let them go.
Hygiene might not be up to par
When you’re backpacking you’re constantly on the move. You’re either headed to a new place, checking out a new landmark, or participating in some activity. Especially if you’re in a warm climate like Thailand or India you’re going to sweat way more than usual.
Travelers often only pack a few outfits so what they’re wearing likely isn’t the freshest depending on how recently they were able to do laundry. It’s not a huge deal until you’re in close quarters with someone and either you or they haven’t been able to freshen up all day. This is probably one of the worst things about trying to date or hook up with someone on the road. If you think you might get lucky, at least shower and try to put on some clean clothes before getting frisky.
Seeing them on the same route if things didn’t go well
When you’re backpacking you’re likely on the same route as everyone else and you often run into the same people. This is great if you’ve made new friends and can split the costs of a tour or dorm room.
The problem is if you had a one night stand or generally bad romantic experience with someone and keep seeing them over and over. Not only is it awkward but it can put a bit of a damper on your travel experience.
It can be all or nothing
Travelers often have an all or nothing approach when it comes to romance. Either they only take a passing interest in someone or they form a serious relationship very quickly.
Things can become very intense very fast, which makes sense, since traveling is an intense experience in itself. Everyone approaches sex and love differently but I typically avoid dating on the road and just stick to making close friendships.
Realizing the person isn’t as great as they said they were
On the road you can be whoever you want to be. You can exaggerate or straight up lie about your life back home and it doesn’t really matter because you’ll likely never see this person again or your time with them will be very short. (I don’t recommend this at all but I’ve had a couple guys do this to me).
The problem comes when you’ve created an image of yourself that strays from the truth and through social media, Google, or just being a shitty liar, the person realizes you’re not really who you said you were. It’s a massive let down and totally kills any potential friendship. Just be yourself!