January 2010 travels

loli83

I am heading to Thailand on the 20th with some friends. The friends I
am going with can only go for a 2 week holiday but I would like to
travel on from Thailand to Austrailia and New Zealand (for approx 3
months altogether), but I have reservations about doing it alone. I am
quite outgoing and find it easy to talk to new people but I am still
finding this prospect daunting.
What I was considering is to not book my flight on to Australia until
last minute, in the hope that I will meet some people to travel with
while in Thailand. Is it madness to do this? i.e. will it cost alot
extra (obviously I will be able to be quite flexible with dates).

Dante09

howdy

Im on the first day of my travels. Im on my own and starting in beijing and working my way down to singapore-3 months in total.(albeit im spending some of that time with tours but only because i want to get a lot of ground covered in a short space of time)
I went out sight-seeing today and within 20 miniuts met a japanese fella whilst looking for directions to a temple, who was also looking for said temple and basically spent all day sight-seeing together. Meeting him again tomorrow. If I could scale down the scepticism surrounding solo travel in a few words, basing it on my first day alone, I'd say "peace of p*ss" and a great laugh.
Will report back here in a few weeks for a more experienced viewpoint.;)

loli83

Well that sounds encouraging, thanks! Can I ask, have you booked alot of your flights etc already? I would prefer to leave it all to last minute so I can be flexible with people I meet, but don't want to get stung paying a fortune for last minute flights!

Dante09

loli83 wrote: »

Well that sounds encouraging, thanks! Can I ask, have you booked alot of your flights etc already? I would prefer to leave it all to last minute so I can be flexible with people I meet, but don't want to get stung paying a fortune for last minute flights!

no ive no internal flights booked yet.
im basically doing a 3 week tour from beijing to hong kong (that started today)--great day btw--just back in hostel now--drinking local beijing beer-1 euro for pint!

then i have 4 weeks on my own--dont know what i'll do yet but i have a few ideas

then ill be doing a 47 day tour from vietnam through singapore (covering every country in SEA-including thai islands)

then ill have 2 weeks on my own to go back to places ive really enjoyed with the tours and spend more time there.

but to answer your question, ill probably be booking a few flights alright---just nothing booked yet but my return home

eve21

hi ya,

to be honest id just book the flight to Oz / New Zealand now. at least that way you have a big cost eliminated.i know that you want to be as flexible as possible but i think that last minute long haul flights might be pricey. dont know for sure tho. why dont you book a return from Oz and purchase the flight to NZ when you get there. plan your own trip, you'll meet plenty of people along the way.

as for traveling alone no need to worry, there are so many people doing the asia , australia, new zealand trip that its really not anything to worry about whatsoever. if you dont meet anyone in asia going to the same place in OZ/NZ you will certainly meet a lot of folks when you arrive. trust me i spent a year in OZ and a year in NZ by myself and now off to South America next wk. ull be fine!

Doc

A year ago I finished up in work and decided I wanted to go traveling I didn’t have anyone to go with but it was something I had always wanted to do so I booked a one way ticket to Bangkok.

I spent about 3 1/2 months traveling around South East Asia ending up in Kuala Lumpur where I got a cheap flight from Air Asia to Melbourne. One year on from when I left now and it was one of the best years of my life. It was the first time I have ever traveled on my own and I was not a very outgoing person although I have become a bit more so now.

I have a job here in Australia at the moment and am trying to save for the next leg of my journey (although I don’t know where that will be to yet!). If you are outgoing and willing to say hello to people then you will meet people and have a wonderful time.

Don’t let fear stop you having possibly the experience of a lifetime.

Good Luck!

Tobler

Hey, I travelled South America, Australia, NZ, Asia a few years ago for a year with a group of friends and had a ball. I never ever thought i would travel alone as im quite shy, but 2 years ago i decided to go back to australia for a hol to visit my sis and went on my own, a friend encouraged me to stop in china on the way over and singapore on the way back and i also travelled in australia on my own for 2 weeks. I was really nervous but ended up having a ball and making loads of friends, most of whom im still in touch with. It was only a holiday and i did tours for some of it to meet people.
I am now living in Canada. Took a career break from work and came over on my own for a year. was very nervous again but was very lucky and have met so many lovely people. im here 2 months and loving it and cant believe i ever thought twice about coming over alone! I think you will be fine and that it will prob end up being the best thing u ever did!
I also think u should prob book the flights in advance. some places let u change flight dates etc for a small fee, so that could work for u?
good luck, i hope you have a ball!!

Tobler

Dante09 wrote: »

then ill be doing a 47 day tour from vietnam through singapore (covering every country in SEA-including thai islands)

Hey, could you tell me what company you've booked this tour with? Ive been looking up tours with Intrepid travel (ive gone with them before) but havent really found one i want to book, this one sounds good though. any info would be appreciated!