Round the World Trip

rgiller

It's my first time in this forum so apologies if you guys have seen a million threads like this one. Basically my girlfriend and I are planning on taking a short round the world trip in September next year. It won't be exhaustive in terms of stop offs, but we've both been working for >5 years and would like to take a 3-6 month break away to do this. We have a loose itinerary of Ireland -> Asia (Thailand and China?) -> Australia & NZ -> South America -> Canada -> Ireland.

I know that's quite vague and that is a lot of continents to visit in such a short space of time but we want to do it without having to work on our trip and I reckon 3-6 months is as far as the budget will go. Has anyone here taken a similar trip, and if so could you give any advice on destinations?

Also, what companies would be best to deal with for such a trip? Is it best to pre purchase all your flights with one company (USIT) or to book as you go?

Thanks,

Rob

dr.bollocko

I would try Laos and Cambodia or Vietnam ahead of Chine TBH mate. Closer to Thailand too, saving you cash. You can get round the world tickets from some places for fairly great prices as far as I remember.

Terpsichore

No need to apologise, you're doing great!

Absolutely!!! Take 6 months if you can!!!

I did a round the world over only 6 weeks and it was absolutely amazing. Dublin - Frankfurt - Beijing - Tokyo - Honolulu - San Francisco - New York - London - Dublin.

I work for an airline, so it was kind of easy for me.

I would highly recommend to take a round the world ticket before departure. I actually think that you can't get going on one ways only, due to visas requirements. One ways tickets are also much more expensive. I think that you can get a round the world ticket for less than €1,500.00 these days, which is extremely good value. Watch for flexibility in time and route when purchasing.

Shop around and contact airlines directly as well as travel agents. I think Trailfinders would be the best to help you plan and give you info about visas and travel documents.

Planning a round the world trip is not easy, but so wonderful! Please don't call the poor airlines or travel agents late in the afternoon as it need a fresh mind! There are so many criteria coming into account.

In my eyes, China is a must. Thailand also. Japan too. NZ: of course! OZ: a bit over rated I'm affraid by young Irish surfers

What can I say: ENJOY!!! and BON VOYAGE, you lucky you!

Neamhshuntasach

All of what you are doing is a bit ambitious. 3-6 months is definitly too little time to see all you want to see unless you are happy enough with settling on one or two countries in each continent and spending a few weeks in them. Or if you don't mind being in one place one day and another place the next you could always do that. But you will be constantly on the move and stuck on buses. And the quicker you travel the more money you spend from my experience. I have been everywhere you want to go except for Australia and New Zealand.

If you do the 6 months you could always do something along the following

6 weeks in Thailand with side trips to Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos. You could pick one or all if you were up for a flying visit. China is huge and i'd only really bother with that if i could give it a proper amount of time.

6 weeks between Oz and NZ. Sitck to the gold coast in Oz and then fly over to NZ. From there you can fly to Santiago or Buenos Aires.

2 months in South America. If you fly into Chile you could head north towards Bolivia, then into Peru and do the Inca Trail and then into Ecuador and get a flight to Canada.

1 month in Canada. That may be too much time in Canada depending on what you want to do there. Driving from west to east is a good option.

While 6 months is manageable it isn't the most ideal. You will feel that you are only in a place and then have to move on and you'll easily tire of buses and airports. Especially in warm climates. Unless you don't mind limiting yourself to seeing only a few places in each country. Either way i'm sure you'll have a great time and you'll find your pace once you're on the road

Glowing

I'd second China too - spent the best 2 months there, highly recommended, the highlight of my trip!

rgiller

The way I see the split of time spent in each place going would be along these lines:

Asia: 2-3 weeks, to see Thailand and go to one major city (Hong Kong, Tokyo, or somewhere similar). I guess Asia is more of a stepping stone on the way to Oz than a fully exploratory trip. It will be easier to get back to Asia on a shorter trip later on, than to get back to the southern hemisphere.

Australia: 4-6 weeks, to see the East coast, Queensland and some of the islands. We probably won't have much time to get into the interior. This is where the bulk of the trip will be spent and we'll hopefully get to do a good few tours while there.

New Zealand: 2 weeks, to hopefully see some of the countryside and drive around a little bit.

South America: 1 week in a tourist destination, maybe Costa Rica.

Canada: 1 week in Vancouver / Whistler area. I've been there before in the summer and thought it was great. Would be nice to see the place in winter too.

That's about 10-12 weeks altogether, not seeing everywhere but seeing a lot and having a decent amount of time in Australia. I think that's the best we can do in a three month trip, without commuting the whole time we're away...