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.

[Bedreviter]

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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.


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Most of Eastern Europe will be part of the Schengen-agreement by 2009, out of the East-European countries in the EU only Bulgaria and Romania will be outside of Schengen. So no visa needed for most of the Eastern countries either.

[john voight]

TM, I'm just saying you will see plenty, and when you return home you will be satisfied. I am not saying you will see all there is to see. My bro just spent 3 months this summer in Europe, and told me that a year or 2 would be more suitable if he really wanted to understand the region.

[WhoIam]

I guess you can skip the US since it would be easy to visit at a later point in your life. Taking a trip to Cambodia would be significantly harder when you have a family, real job, etc.

[TheMetetron]

Glad to see you guys want to spend some time in each place. I'd recommend getting a dozen countries that you personally find really interesting and exploring them for 1-2 months a piece (or less in certain ones if there isn't much). I'm assuming you don't want to set up base in a city then see the rest of the country while returning back to your home? More like an on the move thing right? If I'm wrong, let me know.

I'd definitely recommend Argentina (obviously). A month would get you a decent overview with any more time you can sacrifice spent in Buenos Aires (a month might only give you a few days in the capital). For a second South American destination, Brasil is an obvious choice, but it is fairly dangerous so I'm not sure I'd do it without being very savvy and knowing what I was doing. Peru & Bolivia for some perspective on the true poverty in S.A. would be awesome and you could get a decent overview of both in a month. Both have good natural sites and of course Machu Pichu.

I'm not knowledgeable enough about central America or Asia to recommend anything, but I imagine a month in Thailand seeing the beaches would be time well spent. I'd also seriously consider India.

Spain & Italy are also huge on my recommended list and both of those would be really fun to travel around the entire country for a month. If I had to pick a third European country (since Schengen visas are for 3 months) I'd go visit France and make sure to see the different parts. Definitely my top 3 European countries.

For Africa, as has been said it is pretty hard. You have to decide what your Africa goals are as the continent has a few separate identities depending on what part you want to visit. Haven't been yet (planning to go next year) so I can't give any first-hand advice.

If you do decide to do Argentina, I can give you a good list of places to go for the time you are here.

[T50_Omaha8]

About Africa, I forgot to mention that Ghana is supposedly one of the easiest and best countries to visit, particularly if you don't speak French. It's also large and diverse enough that you could easily spend a month.

[MoP_86]

I haven't put much thought into whether we would set up base in a country and then return to it periodically or if we would just sort of wander around... what would the price differences be in these two options... i imagine paying for logging on a nightly basis would be more expensive than paying for a month?

Safety if one of the number one issues on this trip, you can't enjoy yourself if you're constantly looking over your shoulder... so if you recommend a spot, give a little info on its political and social conditions as far as safety goes.

Africa is pretty big on my list, but mostly because I want to see the wild life.... and the pyramids of course.

[smartalecc5]

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Live in canada... pretty much only been to northern US and Las Vegas..... budget is ~25k but we plan on working during the trip... what type of jobs can we get when we'll only be in one spot for around a month?

Goal of the trip is to gain some perspective on the world and have a great time doing so....

Me and my buddy pretty much always wanna kill eachother... we already spend pretty much everyday together so this wont be too much of a change.... that being said Im sure we'll get into some massive arguments while were on this trip... but thats part of life.

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You could play poker for $.

[scatt_man]

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Live in canada... pretty much only been to northern US and Las Vegas..... budget is ~25k but we plan on working during the trip... what type of jobs can we get when we'll only be in one spot for around a month?

Goal of the trip is to gain some perspective on the world and have a great time doing so....

Me and my buddy pretty much always wanna kill eachother... we already spend pretty much everyday together so this wont be too much of a change.... that being said Im sure we'll get into some massive arguments while were on this trip... but thats part of life.

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You could play poker for $.

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We sorta want to work just to get a better perspective of the community ...

But ya if we can't find jobs then i think we also discussed the option of just playing poker for spending money.

As far as the Africa thing goes, that is probably my number one spot as well. Espically the pyramids.

[T50_Omaha8]

[ QUOTE ]
Safety if one of the number one issues on this trip, you can't enjoy yourself if you're constantly looking over your shoulder... so if you recommend a spot, give a little info on its political and social conditions as far as safety goes.

[/ QUOTE ] I imagine almost any place in Africa would require relaxing this requirement slightly. I've been to Morocco, which "felt" fairly unsafe (less safe than Mexico, for instance), but is one of the safest places on the continent (except for recent terrorism).

It sounds like Tanzania and Egypt would have most of what you're looking for.

The countries I've recommended--Senegal, Ghana, Tanzania, Kenya, and Cameroon--are all relatively safe and stable. That's a big part of the reason I recommended them. You can't stray far, though: each and every one of them borders at least one dangerous, unstable country. Spending some time in the capital city of an African country would probably not be the greatest thing in the world anyways. Africa is full of diversity and one-of-a-kind places. Research until you find one that sounds awesome, figure out the logistics, then go for it.