Backpacking in USA is not really a thing

When people think of backpacking they generally will imagine a trip all around Europe, South or Central America, or most likely South-East Asia. USA or Canada is rarely an objective for backpackers and why is that? Well there are some very good reasons and I will touch base on them here.

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When i talk about backpacking, I don't really care if you actually have a backpack. As I have indicated in many different articles, a backpack is probably the worst kind of luggage you could use in certain environments and nowhere would this be more evident than in USA. There are footpaths to everything, everywhere - there is literally no reason at all to ever use a backpack in USA when getting from place to place. Why don't people backpack USA? Here are a few of the reasons

The country is huge and public transport isn't used

This is referring to city-to-city travel. Buses and trains are very rarely used for traveling from one city to the next. Everyone takes their own car or they will fly. I have tried to use Amtrak (the USA passenger train service) only to discover that it is generally more expensive than flying and it has so many obstacles in getting from one destination to the next. Although a lot more scenic, a 2 hour flight can easily take multiple days on a train and likely even cost more.

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Bus travel can be cheap, but it isn't always the case. It also takes bizarre routes in order to get from one destination to the next such as going several hours north of your final destination in order to pick up and drop off a few people in a city like Buffalo, NY on your way to NYC.

Obviously backpackers are not interested in needing to fly everywhere and then be subjected to expensive taxis upon arriving at an airport, so the economics of general travel in the USA doesn't make sense. I suppose you could rent your own car and go wherever you want, but this isn't really backpacking now, is it?

Hostels are few and far between

The hostel culture never really caught on in the states. There are a few such places in very large cities such as in Brooklyn in New York City and Chicago but for the most part, this portion of the accommodation industry doesn't really exist in the United States. Even a cheap and ratty motel on the side of the road can easily cost $50 a night and this is wildly above the budget of anyone I would consider a backpacker.

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_{there are some, such as this one in San Diego, but not very many}

There is also a tinge of this sector of tourism being discouraged by excessive regulations that exist in American as far as accommodation is concerned and some people would argue that this is intentionally done by governments to create a more advantageous market for large hotel chains that have lobbying groups within state, local, and federal government. There are laws against shared accommodation in some states, and therefore there is no chance of a Hostel opening.

Camping might be illegal

As an American, I am no stranger to regulation and rules: We have a lot of them here. Some people might think they can save a bundle by just entering a park (even a National Park) and just pitching a tent and spending the night there, not bothering anyone. If you do this, there is a very good chance you will be woken up by police or park officials and told that you have to move on. I do not know why this is, but it simply is that way in a lot of the country and sometimes this is especially true in National Parks where they will actually charge you in order to pitch a tent.

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_{while this would be lovely, this is where you are MOST likely to be told you can't camp here}

It is also very unlikely that you will actually arrive at a National Park unless you have your own car. There are very few of these location that have access via public transport? Why is this? Well it probably has to do with the fact that most Americans own their own cars and are capable of getting there without this service.

Very difficult to get a visa to USA

This is probably one of the main reasons, other than the immmense expense, that the USA isn't now, nor is it likely ever very likely to be, a destination for backpacking. Very few countries are granted easy and simple (and cheap) visas to USA. If you come from a country that is not one of the "G8" countries, you are going to face a lot of red tape and requirements to entry. Even then, the answer is likely going to be no unless you are wealthy. I don't know a lot of rich backpackers, so this is probably the main limiting factor for backpacking in USA.

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It's a shame really because the United States has a ton of places that would be absolutely perfect for backpacking but this market never really developed and I really don't see it ever happening. USA seems to be more interested in people coming in for a few weeks, going to Disneyland and staying at a $300 a night hotel, then popping over the the Grand Canyon for a few days and then f**king off back to their home country.

Some people manage to pull it off but with all the difficulties facing this sort of travel in USA, backpacking just is not really a thing here.