Round the world trip

[XmasBelle]

After C19 and being cooped up for months, I really fancy a Round the World Trip. Has anyone done one? If so where di you go and how much did it cost?

Scandinavia-Iceland-Greenland-Canada-USA-South America-Australia-New Zealand--Pacific Islands-China-South Africa-North Africa-Europe and back home.

I've done it, but in 1990 so prices are now irrelevant.
I much prefer going to a distant place & staying for a reasonable period of time, then going somewhere else next holiday.

How much money do you think it would be now? How long too? 6 months?

Scandinavia through to the USA cost me 15k.

We did:
Hong Kong
Bangkok
Bali
Australia - Melbourne, Sydney, Ayers rock, Perth, monkey Mia, Melbourne
Hawaii
LA
New York

Had an amazing time! No idea on price though

@Jelly0naplate

We did: Hong Kong Bangkok Bali Australia - Melbourne, Sydney, Ayers rock, Perth, monkey Mia, Melbourne Hawaii LA New York

Had an amazing time! No idea on price though

I think you mean Uluru

I did it around 15 years ago...used STA for an inexpensive, backpacking 8 stop round trip. Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Bali, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and Fiji. It was quite rushed in four months, but definitely gave me a taster of the countries, and where I would like to return with the kids.

I did, but 20 years ago, so prices not relevant. I think I paid about £3k for my round the world ticket, and I allowed myself £1k a month for spending money & accommodation.

South America: Venezuela, Peru, Bolivia
US
New Zealand
Australia - Melbourne then up the East Coast as far as Cape Tribulation
South-East Asia: Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos

It was awesome. If going to South America you really need to be able to speak Spanish to get about. The only place I wasn't that fussed on was the States.

It was honestly the best thing I have ever done. I learned a lot about myself and my strengths.

There are many options but the main rule is to keep going in one direction as any backtracking or side trips will be extra or tricky. Consider where you really want to go and what you want to do then fill in the gaps like stepping stones. Build in overland sections maybe. Some airlines offer better flexibility and connections via code share.

Trailfinders used to be very good at this kind of RTW trip.

I did Singapore , Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia in my gap year back in 89 so long ago as to be irrelevant in terms of ££ but it was a wonderful experience. You go for it! The only (hopefully) helpful advice I can offer is just don’t pack too much in - I once did 13 (European) countries in 2 months and it’s not a great way to travel. After a while and seeing so many major sites, you stop being able to appreciate the beauty of what’s in front of you as you experience a kind of overload. It’s a bit like going to the Louvre or Prado where after an hour, you just give major artworks a cursory nod before moving onto the next!

Ooh done it twice now
Both booked through STA though I’m sure you could do it through another provider or yourself. First time I did Oz-Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore,Vietnam-Bali-New Zealand 6months. Didn’t feel rushed though I could have stayed plenty longer. Second time I did Kenya overland down to South Africa with a month volunteering then working in Perth 3 months then travel in Borneo, Southeast Asia and China. 1 year. I remember I spent £6k on the year away though this was 13 years ago so would prob be more now. Do it do it!

Yeah STA was the best company! Some countries are more expensive than others. I had a month in Vietnam and it cost me £500. That was a private room, eating out 3 times a day, drinking every night, excursions. Australia and the like you're looking at dorms and cooking your own food, alcohol from bottle shops. Best time of my life.

7 months -10K each including rtw ticket - Star Alliance via Trailfinders.

Cape Town - drove garden route and detours, flew out of J'Burg to Vietnam. Stayed extra time in S Africa as we loved it so much and it was very cheap then.
Travelled by sleeper train with detours in Vietnam then on to Singapore for a week then Australia for three weeks (did a couple of internal flights) on to New Zealand - another highlight where we extended our stay - hired a car. From there to Raratonga (South Pacific) then on to LA. Travelled overland to San Francisco then flew to New York for a week then London.

On another trip we did South America and India which was also memorable.

Some of the rtw tickets include cheap internal flights so look out for those. If I was travelling now I'd budget around £20k and do everything you want with that.

first one 16 years ago so the cost will only upset you. Six months: a few days West Coast America, 3 weeks Hawaii, 2 weeks Fiji, two months New Zealand which turned into four months, 3 weeks Australia (Sydney/Adelaide/Cairns), a week Singapore.

top tips:

• insurance; if you are over 35 you can't get backpacker cover (!), needs single trip
• go in the same direction; RTW tickets seem to work that way
• have flexible tickets to allow date change
• do NOT go to too many places. You can get overloaded and hit 'just another mountain/view/city', I met many like that. Stop and breathe.
• don't take too much luggage. Did this on one rucksack despite the varying climates. If you can't carry the lot at once you have too much.
• six months is enough unless you do long, long stops. Again -overload.

I did it first before mobile phones, before digital cameras. Learn to read a simple map, put the phone down and LOOK. Take photographs of scenery not selfies.

and don't leave it too late. Couldn't do that now in my mid-fifties, although that might be due to all the walking in my forties!

I did Toronto, Hawaii, Fiji, Australia, Indonesia, Thailand, home.
It was a long time ago.

You can use the One World Alliance Route Planner to get a rough idea of prices rtw.oneworld.com/rtw/

Usually you have to travel one way.

Jet Lag is worst if you travel East, but flights are often cheaper in that direction.

Book the major long haul flights with a global alliance and then book shorter domestic flights with local companies - use a travel agent in that country as as soon as they see a UK VPN prices go up for the flights.

If you are travelling for an entire year you can pack a box of winter/summer clothes and have someone send it part way through if needed - relatively cheap to do with a student company and you can return the clothes you don't need.

Look at some overland options (trains, buses) along the way - really, really fun way to travel between places and minimises costs (and environmental impact).

Travel insurance - an absolute must - go for the very best you can afford.

Mix up your accomodation levels - nice hotels are nice, but so are more budget end places, and tours with budget end places tend to be a lot cheaper as well.

I've done a few with work - for work reasons - and one for travel and research. My suggestion would be to go for as long as you can even if it means WFH whilst abroad (if that is an option) on some days, and get off the beaten track in places too.

Oooh. How exciting! I'd definitely go through Singapore - amazing place, but only for a day or two. It's quite expensive (in terms of a round the world trip) but actually ended up being a cheap few days for us as we just paid for the bus tour, roamed around for free, ate only street food - AMAZING street food market, and watched people come in and out of the expensive restaurants and hotels!

Watching with interest. I'm really hoping to do an overland trip to Asia, or even Australia in a few years. Just got to wait for my kids to grow up. I was wondering if I could just drive but it seems quite difficult and expensive importing and exporting the car.

I have done a RTW trip before but that was only for a month and on the plane so I don't think it really counts as the sort of adventure you have planned.

We were going to do this next year. Planned and saved for five years.

It was going to be a 12 month trip: UK, Europe, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Philippines, Japan, Hawaii then back to Europe, chasing the sun.

Two adults, two children, caravan for Europe. We budgeted 80k.

Hopefully one day we will get to do it!

How much will it cost snd how long will it take are complete "how long is a piece of string?" questions. It completely depends what you want to do, which countries you're interested in, and what standard of accommodation, travel, food and entertainment/ sight seeing you expect/ want/ need.

The backpacker trips some of us took in the early 1990s involved spending whole mornings negotiating getting into attractions at the local price (a few pence instead of £10 say), sleeping on the flat roof of hostels in Rajasthan because it was half the price of a dorm bed, or in black market "dorms" above Cafés in Vietnam because officially sanctioned legal accommodation was far too expensive at £20+ per night, travelling through India by train on 36+ hour journies in 3rd class women's carriage (this I'd recommended to any woman travelling alone despite the lack of luxuary). I ate once per day in local restaurants to be able to afford to stay away ten months on about 2k - I visited India, Nepal, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapor, Indonesia,and then Australia which was obviously by far the most expensive part of my trip, and I couldn't afford to see everything I wanted to.

Is that what you want to do, or do you want single rooms in budget hotels? International hotels? Swimming pools? Which countries are you interested in - travel in Asia can be a tiny fraction of the price of travel in Europe, scandinavia, America, Australia etc obviously.

@fitzbilly your trip sounds absolutely amazing! Several of those countries are on my list to visit.

@fitzbilly

How old are your kids and do you think you'll still be able to take them 2022?

@Kendodd they would have been 3 & 5 when we should have left in July 2021, so we will certainly be able to take them in future years. I really hope so.

What a wonderful thing to plan!

I went Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, Hawaii, San Francisco and then up the coast to Vancouver. Quite expensive places so I could have gone for three times as long to more traditional backpacker destinations.

I've also done two extended trips around South America, including the Antarctic.

I miss seeing the world.