Around the World trip (6-12months)

[T50_Omaha8]

Central America:

I'm planning on going here in a few months myself, taking a trip from San Jose to Guatemala City by bus (http://www.ticabus.com/). San Jose has some awesome volcanoes and beaches nearby. For Nicaragua, I want to see Conception in Lake Nicaragua and Grenada. In Guatemala, Lake Atitlan and Antigua look cool.

If I were going to South America I would check out Ecuador and Peru, Santiago, Rio, and Buenos Aires. Going to see the Patagonian Andes (particularly Cerro Torre) would be a huge priority, and I would take any practical measure to do this trek: http://www.condorjourneys-adventures...ina_icecap.asp.

In Eastern Europe you suddenly have to worry about visas, which can be very difficult to acquire, particularly for Russia (or Belarus if you're so inclined). Romania would probably be my #1 Eastern European destination.

Western Europe is pretty obvious.

Africa is in a League of its own, and travel there is so radically different from anywhere else in the world that it'll be tough to just cruise in and start traveling. Unless you're really dedicated and are willing to put some major effort into researching your trip in Africa, you'll be best off sticking to Morocco, Egypt, and South Africa. If you want to get off the major tourist circuit and see real, sub-Saharan Africa, cities like Dakar, Nairobi, Dar es Salaam, or Douala would probably be the best starting points. Of course you can do Tanzanian safaris if you want. I'm planning on doing a big overland trip in Africa, and the amount of effort I've had to put into figuring out logistics and practicalities has been tremendous.

Others can advise better on Asia, but I've been to Hong Kong and I would highly recommend it, just due to its global uniqueness and importance.

New Zealand is amazing, but you'll need to rent a car.