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About Go Backpacking

Go Backpacking is your online guide to adventure travel.

Here you'll find:

  • Stories of adventure travel from around the world
  • Practical, budget-oriented travel advice
  • Original destination and how-to instructional articles
  • Beautiful photography to inspire you between trips
  • Environmentalism, sustainability, and how to travel responsibly

Founder, Editor-in-Chief

David Lee

Dave Lee began Go Backpacking in 1998 to inspire others to travel abroad. He's an active member of the Society of American Travel Writers (SATW), the Adventure Travel Association (ATTA), and the International Food Wine and Travel Writers Association (IFWTWA). He's traveled to 65 countries across six continents and has lived in Colombia and Peru. Today, Dave lives with his girlfriend in Austin, TX.


Drafting a blog post in a bungalow - Koh Samui, Thailand (July 2008)
Drafting a blog post in a bungalow in Koh Samui, Thailand (July 2008)

Dave's ‘Round the World Trip

On November 29, 2007, I left the comforts of my home and a well-paying job in the United States for the wide-open road with nothing but a 20-pound backpack, an ATM card, and an insatiable wanderlust for discovering new cultures and sharing those experiences in writing, photos, and videos.

I traveled around the world, visiting 22 countries over 20 months. I was robbed. I got sick. I met amazing people. I felt lonely. I felt inspired. I felt frustrated. I felt free. It was perfect.

This blog is dedicated to inspiring and motivating others to make their travel dreams come true, whether a one-week vacation or a five-year vagabonding odyssey.

For the complete history, read How I Became a Successful Travel Blogger.

To see select media mentions and interviews, click here.

Where is Dave now?

I completed my trip around the world with a six-month stay in beautiful Medellin, Colombia, where I began a blog about my experiences in the city of the eternal Spring c. Iellin Living.

I returned home to Virginia in July 2009, where I continued blogging and launched Travel Blog Success, an online course and community, to teach others how to build a high-quality travel blog.

For seven years, I continued to split my time between Colombia and seeing more of the world.

In 2016, I sold Medellin Living and moved back to the United States. In late 2017, I sold Travel Blog Success too.

As of 2018, I'm re-focusing my efforts on Go Backpacking, and I've started a new food blog called Feastio.

Advertising / Editorial Policy

This blog accepts various forms of advertising, including banner ads, sponsored content, paid insertions, affiliate links, and other forms of compensation.

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

This blog abides by word-of-mouth marketing standards. We believe in honesty of relationship, opinion, and identity. The compensation received may influence the advertising content, topics, or posts made in this blog. That content, advertising space, or post will be clearly identified as paid or sponsored content.

The owner(s) of this blog is compensated to provide opinion on products, services, websites, and various other topics. Even though the owner(s) of this blog receives compensation for our posts or advertisements, we always give our honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experiences on those topics or products. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the bloggers' own. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider, or party in question.

This blog does not contain any content which might present a conflict of interest.

Last Updated on January 6, 2024 by Dave Lee