Around the World trip (6-12months)

[MoP_86]

Hey Travel crew,

When me and my buddy graduate in 2009 we're planning to travel the world for between 6-12 months. So I ask you, travel crew, if you were in our position what would be the absolute destinations that would be on your list? We want to visit every continent except for the poles of course. (unless it comes highly recommended [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img])

[TheMetetron]

Visit Antarctica. It is obviously highly recommended.

You aren't really going to see the world in 6-12 months if that is your plan. I'd do Europe for like 3-4 months of that spending at least a month in every country you want to visit. Then take 3 months and go visit 2-3 asian countries. Go down to Africa for a month, Autralia for a month, then head over to South America for 2-3 months.

If I were you, I'd really just take at least 2 months on each country and really get to know it well but you may think that won't let you see enough, though to be honest it is much better that way.

Your first major decision is if you want to cherry-pick a few places to get to know really well or see a rushed survey of the world. Both are valid, but make sure you understand the difference. After you decided that and flesh out anything you really would like to see, we can help more.

[john voight]

I'd do a cruise for like maybe 30 days. IMO it could be cheaper than flights + hotels. I'm not sure.

IMO I would go for balance. Meaning I wouldnt just seek the biggest/coolest cities.

I would go on some exclusive safari in Africa through the savannas, etc...

Spend a week on some island off of Africa, India or Asia, etc...

IMO 6mo - 1 year is def doable. I mean its not like he is trying to see every square mile of the world.

Asia
Europe
Africa
South/Central America
North America
Miscellaneous (Pacific Islands, Middle East, etc...)

1 month in each would be plenty IMO if you stay in designated countries (choose a few, not all).
2 Months in each, and IMO you would be more than happy.

Maybe im just not a hardcore traveler.
Visit some

[TheMetetron]

[ QUOTE ]
2 Months in each, and IMO you would be more than happy.


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Wow, sorry to disagree with you hugely, but I think each of the continents would take me at least a year and even then I would only have an really good overview of each country in it. 2 months for an entire continent would never make me more than satisfied.

I mean I guess he just needs to decide what exactly the goal of this trip is and then it becomes easier to say.

[Roy]

[ QUOTE ]
You aren't really going to see the world in 6-12 months if that is your plan.

[/ QUOTE ]

Totally disagree. 6-12 months is plenty of time to see the world, and 1 month per country is far too long on average. If you want to learn, understand and live different cultures then sure, a year isn't long enough. But to get a brief look at a lot of different places, see the sights, etc, you don't need to spend too long in each area.

edited to include TheMetetron's edit:
[ QUOTE ]
Your first major decision is if you want to cherry-pick a few places to get to know really well or see a rushed survey of the world. Both are valid, but make sure you understand the difference. After you decided that and flesh out anything you really would like to see, we can help more.

[/ QUOTE ]

I completely agree with this.

I would do something along the lines of: 1 month in Australia + NZ, 1-2 month in Asia, 1-2 months in South America, 1 month in Africa, 4-6 months in Europe.

In Australia I would say spend 3-4 days in Sydney, a week in Melbourne, a few days on the Gold Coast and then head to New Zealand. Hire a car and drive around the south Island, it is by FAR the more beautiful of the two. Spend some time chilling in Queenstown - a very fun/relaxed/laid back place.

I can't recommend much for Asia. I have been to India several times and would say that it's not an easy place to visit - I think it's best left for when you can go with someone who has been before and can speak the language. That, or hire a guide. There are some amazing things to see and the everyday way of life will be eye-opening so it's definitely worth it.

Europe is where you'll want to spend most of your time. It is absolutely fascinating here. There are too many places to see to list them all but the fact that you can be in a country, take a short train ride or 1 hour flight and be in an entirely different world, new culture, people, language, etc. is what makes it so incredible. I think you can spend between 3-4 days to a couple of weeks in each place, maybe longer if you really really like somewhere.

A couple of things I will recommend if you really want to see the world is to not follow the beaten track. This quote from Paulo Coelho's book 'The Zahir' really hits this point home hard:

[ QUOTE ]
"Look at them," I said, because I needed to talk about something, afraid that he might get bored and go home. "They only see what the spotlights show them. When they go home, they'll say they know Paris. Tomorrow, they'll go and see the Mona Lisa and claim they've visited the Louvre. But they don't know Paris and have never really been to the Louvre. All they did was go on a boat and look at a painting, one painting, instead of looking at a whole city and trying to find out what's happening in it, visiting the bars, going down streets that don't appear in any of the tourist guides, and getting lost in order to find themselves again. It's the difference between watching a porn movie and making love."

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What kind of budget are you guys on? Do you plan on staying in hotels or hostels? Are you going to work during this time?

[TheMetetron]

Roy,

A year of sightseeing is going to get annoying very quickly. This is why I was assuming the plan isn't to just do non-stop sight to sight for a year. I know a month of non-stop travel around Europe made me want to off myself and I felt as though I had missed so much. Of course, the trip was to just get an overview, but trying that for a year would make me crazy.

Also, the last line of your post is very important. What is the budget for this?

[Roy]

TM,

Each to their own of course. I have spent the last 4 months traveling around the USA + Europe and think that there is a nice middle ground between "non-stop sight seeing for a year" and spending a month or two in each country getting to know the place really well. Hopefully the OP will provide us with some more information as to what he wants exactly and then we can give him more of a structured itinerary outline.

[WhoIam]

Where do you live now and where do you have you been? Depending on your budget, you and your buddy might be ready to kill each other after a few months of living in close quarters and doing everything together. As TheMetetron said, budget is really important for planning how you're going to do this and what you'll be doing.

[MoP_86]

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.

[scatt_man]

[ QUOTE ]
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.

[/ QUOTE ]

I am the buddy going on the trip with mop.

As he said we want to get an overview of different places and i think i would prefer to stay in places for about a month then move on.


If it was non-stop that would definitely get intense and i think too rushed and stressful