If you’re someone who has done any kind of travel recently, or headed somewhere you found online or heard about from a friend, you probably understand what I mean when I say something has become “Instagram famous” or “TikTok famous.”
Recently I traveled around the beautiful and adventurous country of Guatemala. While I was there, I was lucky enough to summit Volcano Acatenango and also hike up to Volcano Fuego. I was beyond excited for this experience. And regardless of the aspects I’m about to talk about in this article, the views, the experience, and the nature are absolutely incredible. Nothing can take away from the insane scenery you get on top of these volcanoes, the challenge of the summit, and the surreal experience of sleeping on top of a dormant volcano and hiking up an active one.
But with amazing views, unforgettable experiences, and the opportunity for crazy photos and videos often comes an unfortunate reality that I’ve noticed more and more the longer I travel.
This hike is one of the clearest examples of what happens when something becomes Instagram famous.
And I really mean this in the most respectful way possible. But while on top of this mountain, I encountered hundreds of people who honestly had no business being on that volcano. What I mean by that is when something becomes extremely popular online and people constantly post photos and videos about it, suddenly everyone and their mother wants to do it. It doesn’t matter whether they’re actually capable of completing it safely, whether they’re prepared, or whether they even genuinely want to do it. They go because they want the Instagram photo just as much as everyone else.
And the problem with that is people end up doing activities or going to places that don’t suit who they are, their physical abilities, or even their interests. They’re literally doing it only for the photo.
So here was my experience hiking this infamous volcano in Guatemala.
For context, I’m someone who is in very good physical shape. I’m an active hiker and runner, a certified yoga teacher, and someone who is constantly adventuring and doing physically challenging experiences around the world. This hike is not easy. But it’s also not impossible, and honestly it’s not as challenging as social media makes it seem.
And that leads directly to my point.
People are attempting this hike who are simply not in physical condition to be doing something this strenuous at this altitude.
Even if you only hike to base camp, you’re going uphill for multiple hours and gaining thousands of feet of elevation. That alone adds a whole new level of physical demand. On top of that, you have the option to add another 4–5 hour round trip hike to Volcano Fuego, where it is actively erupting, and then another early morning hike for the Acatenango sunrise summit.
I did all three.
Yes, you’re running on very little sleep, but physically it felt very doable. It’s a hard hike, but it’s manageable. Before arriving I had seen so many dramatic videos online that I honestly expected to feel like I was on my deathbed climbing this thing. As someone who hikes regularly but doesn’t always hike at this altitude, I was pleasantly surprised with myself and how manageable it actually felt.
But that was definitely not the case for a lot of people.
After talking to others and watching people struggle on the hike up to base camp, I realized that many of the people who signed up for this hike had very little physical experience doing anything like it. Maybe they occasionally go to the gym or go for a walk, but there were people up there who honestly looked like they had never hiked before or never done sustained physical activity for hours at a time.
On top of that, the attire people were wearing was absolutely wild.
People were hiking in jeans. Others were wearing cute outfits you’d wear to brunch. Many had regular sneakers with no traction. It looked like some people had packed for a photoshoot instead of a volcano hike.
For a hike like this you really should have proper gear. Hiking boots, hiking poles, comfortable clothes you can move in. The amount of people I saw wearing outfits that looked like something I’d wear to a bar or a Pilates class in New York City was honestly shocking.
And it’s not just about looking silly.
Not having proper gear actually puts people in danger. When you’re on steep, loose volcanic terrain, you need traction and stability. I saw so many people slipping, sliding, and falling because they were completely unprepared. And when that happens, it doesn’t just affect them. It slows down the entire group and puts more pressure on the guides.
This is where the physical capabilities of others became extremely frustrating.
Our group had around 40 people in it. I would say maybe 10 of us were physically prepared for this hike. The other 30 clearly struggled from the very beginning.
The hike to base camp should realistically take around four hours for a reasonably fit group. Instead, it took us nearly six and a half hours because we were constantly stopping and waiting for people to catch up.
And when I say waiting, I mean waiting 20 to 30 minutes at a time.
That made the hike harder in its own way. My heart rate would drop, my body would cool down, and every time we started again it felt awkward and uncomfortable. Instead of maintaining a steady hiking rhythm, we were stopping constantly.
Eventually we reached base camp, and I assumed that many of the people who had struggled would skip the additional hike to Fuego.
I was wrong.
Because we had arrived so late, we didn’t start the Fuego hike until around 5 PM. That meant we had already missed the chance to reach the summit for sunset, which is one of the highlights many groups get to experience if they reach base camp earlier.
But once again, many of the same people who struggled all day decided to join the Fuego hike.
People who had been at the very back of the group the entire time. People without proper gear. People who didn’t bring enough water. And once again, we were forced to move at the pace of the slowest hikers.
What should have taken about four hours ended up taking nearly six.
We were constantly stopping and waiting. At one point it felt like we were stopping every five minutes. Eventually it was around 10:30 PM and a few of us asked the guides if we could just hike back to base camp because we were starving and hadn’t even been able to eat dinner yet.
We had spent hours waiting on the trail instead of actually hiking.
Ironically, that’s one of the reasons I didn’t even find the hike that difficult. I was stopping so often that I barely felt like I was hiking continuously.
If it had just been my partner and me, we probably could have gone up and down Fuego in about three and a half hours, eaten dinner at a normal time, and gotten a full night of sleep.
The next morning there is a sunrise summit hike to the top of Acatenango. It’s actually the easiest of the hikes.
Only about eight people in our entire group did it.
That’s when it really hit me. So many people had pushed themselves all the way to base camp just for the photos and to say they did the hike, but they weren’t prepared to actually complete the experience.
And honestly, I found that a bit embarrassing.
Not because everyone needs to be an ultra marathon runner or professional hiker. That’s not the point at all. But if you’re signing up for something like this, you should at least be capable of sustained hiking and prepared for what you’re getting into.
Another thing that surprised me was how many people hired porters to carry their backpacks.
If you cannot carry your own water, snacks, and layers up a mountain, you probably shouldn’t be doing that hike. Especially when the backpack itself is not even that heavy.
Seeing people hire porters and still be the last ones to reach base camp felt a bit ridiculous.
Now if you’re reading this article because you’re considering doing this hike yourself, I don’t want this to discourage you.
If you’re someone who stays active most of the year, walks or runs regularly, goes to the gym, or even spends time on the stairmaster, you will probably be completely fine.
Social media makes this hike look far more impossible than it actually is.
And honestly I think that’s because many of the viral videos are from people who were never physically prepared to do it in the first place. So their experience makes it seem much harder than it truly is.
But if you’re reading this and thinking maybe it’s not for you, that’s okay too.
Not everything has to be for everyone. There are plenty of things in the world that I once thought I wanted to do but later realized weren’t actually meant for me. And that’s perfectly fine.
You don’t need to climb a volcano just to get the Instagram photo.
This hike is one of the coolest things I’ve ever done. But the reality is that places becoming Instagram famous brings a lot of people who don’t analyze their capabilities or prepare for the experience they’re signing up for.
So if you’ve been somewhere and noticed something similar happening, talk about it. Share the reality of these experiences so people understand what they’re actually getting into.
There are so many incredible things to see and do in this world. But part of traveling responsibly is understanding yourself, your capabilities, and the fact that not everything is meant for everyone.
And that’s completely okay.
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