Topics / Bikepacking
Why is bikepacking so popular right now?
What is bikepacking, exactly?
Bikepacking means travelling by bike and carrying your luggage in small bags fixed directly to the frame — on the handlebars, under the saddle, inside the frame triangle. Instead of heavy side panniers on a rack, everything sits close to the bike. That keeps it light, nimble and rideable on gravel, forest tracks and singletrails too. The term first appeared back in 1973 in a report on a cycling expedition from Alaska to Argentina; it only became popular in the 2010s.
The difference from classic bicycle touring is less a different sport than a different emphasis. Classic touring tends to roll on tarmac, with plenty of luggage and comfort. Bikepacking reduces: carry less, ride more terrain, stay more self-sufficient. It is closer to backpacking than to a package holiday — you carry only what you truly need.
Seen through the model, bikepacking is a small, clearly bounded network: a bike, a few bags, a route, the weather, your body. Few entities, few relations — and that is precisely the point. Everyday life consists of hundreds of connections active at once; here it is a handful. This clarity is no accident, it is the actual content of the trip.
Why is bikepacking booming right now?
There is no single cause. Bikepacking is becoming popular right now because several developments pull in the same direction at once. On one side a daily life that keeps getting denser: constant reachability, screens from morning to night, a stream of messages, tasks and decisions. On the other a growing longing for something simple and tangible that you do with your own body.
Add to that some concrete triggers. Gravel bikes and matching frame bags are available everywhere now, routes and tracks can be shared by app, and ever since the travel restrictions of the early 2020s many people look for adventure on their own doorstep rather than on a plane. Each of these entities — gear, availability, shared routes, a changed way of travelling — is small on its own. Together they form a network in which bikepacking suddenly makes obvious sense.
Popularity, in this sense, is never a single spark but a bundle of relations that become active at the same time. Overstimulation pushes from one side, affordable equipment pulls from the other, and the longing for reduction connects the two. When enough of these connections are active at once, something tips from niche to trend.
Which relations does bikepacking activate — body, nature, reduction?
Bikepacking activates connections that often lie quiet in everyday life. The first is the one to your own body. Pedalling all day, feeling your legs tire, getting hungry and thirsty, sleeping truly exhausted at night — these are bodily signals, clear stimuli that rarely arrive so plainly in an office routine. The relation between you and your body, otherwise rather passive, becomes noticeably active again.
The second is the one to nature and surroundings. Move slowly enough through a landscape and you take in weather, light, gradient and surface directly. You are no longer a spectator behind glass but part of the terrain. This too is a connection an ordinary day rarely activates — and one that settles in almost on its own while riding.
The third is reduction. Everything you need fits in a few bags; every gram has to be considered. That scarcity sounds like going without, but it feels liberating: where little is on offer, countless small decisions fall away. In the model, you deliberately leave many empty and passive relations out of this network. What remains is clear and weighted — ride, eat, sleep, look.
How does bikepacking switch you into a different network?
In everyday life you are caught in a dense network: work, appointments, messages, expectations, a hundred small open loops. Many of these relations are constantly active even when you aren't working on them — they keep sending in the background. That is exactly what produces the feeling of overstimulation: not one big load, but very many connections active at the same time.
Bikepacking is a deliberate switch into a different network. The moment you are on the bike and riding, most of those connections drop away. Not because the problems are solved, but because they simply do not occur in this network. The inbox is not an entity here. What remains is a short, clear list: route, weather, water, food, somewhere to sleep. This reduction is the real recovery effect.
The model does not claim the problems vanish — you only change the perspective, not the world. But the switch alone does something. When the constantly sending everyday relations fall quiet for a few days, the empty relations that drowned under the noise at home often come into view: an idea, a decision, a thought that finally has room. Many return not rested because they did nothing, but because they spent a few days in a simpler network.
What stays after a bikepacking trip?
When you get home the old, dense network is of course back — the emails are waiting, the appointments too. But a relation that has once been active never becomes fully empty again. It turns passive: learned, quiet for now, but reachable at any time. That is exactly what you take away from a trip. The connection to your body, to nature, to simple doing is not gone, only quieter.
In practical terms: you now know that this other state exists, and how the switch into it feels. That knowledge is a passive relation you can reactivate in everyday life — even an hour on the bike after work calls part of it back. You don't have to go to Patagonia every time; the network for it sits closer than it seems under stress.
That is the sober point, with no promise of salvation. Bikepacking solves no problems by itself and is proof of nothing. It is a tool that shows one simple thing very clearly: you can change the perspective, step into a simpler network, and carry what you feel there back with you. Bikepacking is popular because many people badly need exactly that experience right now.
Seen through the model
Picture an ordinary Thursday. Thirty open tabs, two chats beeping, a deadline, and in between the question of what's for dinner. None of it is big on its own, but all of it is active at once. That is overstimulation in the model: not one heavy problem, but very many relations sending in parallel and never quite going quiet.
Now the Friday after. You're on the bike, a handlebar bag, a saddle bag, nothing else. The thirty tabs are not entities of this network — they simply don't occur here. What remains is a short list: the path ahead, the weather, the next tap, a place for the night. Same person, same brain, but a radically simpler network. The connection to your body, mostly passive at the office, becomes clearly active with every climb.
On Sunday you're back, and the emails are waiting unchanged. But something has shifted. You have experienced that this other state exists and how the switch into it works. That relation is no longer empty but passive — reachable. At the next overcrowded Thursday you know: I can change the perspective. Sometimes an hour on the bike is enough for that.
Frequently asked
What is the difference between bikepacking and classic bicycle touring?
In classic bicycle touring you usually carry your luggage in large side panniers on a rack, ride mostly on tarmac and take plenty of comfort along. Bikepacking spreads light luggage across small bags fixed directly to the frame — on the handlebars, under the saddle, in the frame triangle — which makes it rideable off-road too, on gravel and forest tracks. The core is reduction: carry less, stay nimble, travel more self-sufficiently. It is less a different sport than a different emphasis.
Do I need a special bikepacking bike?
No. To start, almost any reliable bike with room for a few bags will do — a sturdy trekking, mountain or gravel bike works well. More important than the perfect kit is that bike and tyres match your planned route: wider tyres for gravel and terrain, narrower ones for lots of tarmac. Dedicated gravel bikes and frame bags make a lot more comfortable, but they aren't a must. Start with what you have and only add what you genuinely missed on your first short trip.
Why does bikepacking feel so restful even though it is physically hard?
Because recovery here doesn't come from doing nothing but from a simpler network. In everyday life very many connections are active at once — emails, appointments, open tasks — and that exhausts you even when you're barely moving physically. On the bike most of those connections fall away; what remains is route, weather, food, a place to sleep. The physical effort replaces mental overstimulation with clear, unambiguous signals. It is exactly this switch, not the rest itself, that feels restful.
Is bikepacking suitable for beginners?
Yes. You don't have to start with a week-long trip through the mountains. A single overnight nearby — an overnighter — is the easiest way in: you learn what you actually need and quickly notice what was too much. Plan conservatively, take enough water and some food, tell someone where you are, and pick a route you trust yourself on. Experience grows with every short trip — and the simple network that makes up the appeal sets in from the very start.
Why has bikepacking become a trend right now?
Because several developments pull in the same direction at once. Daily life is getting denser and more screen-heavy, and in parallel the longing for something simple and physical grows. On top of that, gravel bikes and frame bags are available everywhere now, routes can be shared by app, and ever since the travel restrictions of the early 2020s many people look for adventure on their own doorstep. No single cause explains the trend — only as a network of overstimulation, affordable gear and a longing for reduction does bikepacking tip from niche to mainstream.
Keep thinking
Related terms: Entity, Relation, The three states: empty, active, passive, Network level, The six viewpoints