RTW destinations

stellios

Want to see the world. Where should i fly to and what destinations should i hit. Where should i avoid eg i was told to stay away from bankok?
Want to see south america, asia, OZ, NZ. How long should i stay in each and how much money should i have for a years traveling? A lot to ask i know but the only traveling i have done is a few weekends in a hotel!
Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks

mikemac

Love this site, you can spend a few hours reading
http://www.travelblog.org/

There was an Irish couple and they had a great time
http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Wanderly-Wagon/

No, don't follow them regardless but it might give some ideas

stellios

feelingstressed wrote: »

Love this site, you can spend a few hours reading
http://www.travelblog.org/

There was an Irish couple and they had a great time
http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Wanderly-Wagon/

No, don't follow them regardless but it might give some ideas

thanks!

dory

First off get the list of places that one can go to on a RTW ticket, you can't just go anywhere. Unless you want to book your own flights, which may be pricey.

For me a year travelling would come in around €15,000, but I avoid English speaking countries and don't drink much.

NoQuarter

Stellios we need to know what a manageable amount of money for you to get is. For a years travelling youll have to bring a massive amount of money. When are you planning on going and how much money can you have by then and then we can tell you where to go better.

stellios

NoQuarter wrote: »

Stellios we need to know what a manageable amount of money for you to get is. For a years travelling youll have to bring a massive amount of money. When are you planning on going and how much money can you have by then and then we can tell you where to go better.

Hopefully this time next year and i will have 15,000e at most

stellios

stellios wrote: »

Hopefully this time next year and i will have 15,000e at most

Any more on this!

breadmonkey

stellios wrote: »

Any more on this!

It depends entirely on where you go and for how long. I think you would get better feedback if you do some more of your own research first and then come back.

stellios

breadmonkey wrote: »

It depends entirely on where you go and for how long. I think you would get better feedback if you do some more of your own research first and then come back.

thats kind of why im asking here, not really sure where to go or for how long. i just know i want to do S america, SEA, oz, nz. would be roughly a year. just wondering what other people have done, what they would recommend?

Sin1981

Stellios I'm interested in this too, as I hope to do a RTW next year also, and to the same regions you're interested in going to.
From the research I've done, the consensus seems to be that costs are roughly
~1K per month in South America (although maybe a little more as the Euro is weak)
more like 1.5-2K per month in Oz/NZ (cos apparently they're pretty expensive)
and ~1K per month in SEA.

So, if you have 15k, then you need to split your time out accordingling. I think the other thing is, when you ask people how long you need to spend in a particular country, it's hard to get a good idea because everyone's idea of "covering" a country is different. Some people are happy with doing the highlights, whereas as others like to tick every tourist spot off their list.

I'm thinking of having ~15K for my trip, and I'm thinking as follows:
3-4K for Flights (very expensive I know, but I'm planning on getting as much out of the ticket as possible, and maybe an internal flight or two in South America)
Then, 4 months Colombia-Chile (probably costing close to 5K in total)
3 weeks in NZ 1.5K (hopefully not much more)
3 weeks in OZ (hopefully no more than 1.5K)
2.5 months in SEA (~2.5K)
Total = probably 8-9 months on the road with total costs =~14K only if I spend 3.5 K on the ticket. Could easily spend 500 euro on insurance, jabs, and last minute shopping..

batista

Guys,

Just wondering is it single travel your thinking of doing or travelling with friends or partner? Its something im also interested in doing but am a couple of years off of doing it. Also do you plan on working on the way around the world or just purely travel?

stellios

batista wrote: »

Guys,

Just wondering is it single travel your thinking of doing or travelling with friends or partner? Its something im also interested in doing but am a couple of years off of doing it. Also do you plan on working on the way around the world or just purely travel?

Travel with partner. Ideally purley travel, but realistically will prob have to do a bit of work seing as it costs 15-20 grand!

v.e.r.b.a.l

The only thing I could personally recommend would be spending more time in South America and less in Australia. Everyone's different (you could want to go out partying every night or want to get up early to go trekking or want to do more diving or more skiing etc)

This is what I personally did, and how we managed time, but you should go to the library, read a few Lonely Planets and get an idea of the things you want to see and do. That's what I did!

We spent 10 weeks in South East Asia. We had a couple of days in Singapore, 3 weeks in Thailand, 2 weeks in Laos, 3 weeks in Vietnam, a week and a half in Cambodia.

Personally I reckon we spent too much time in Thailand, but a lot of people disagree with me on that, so you might want to listen to others on that. 3 weeks was a manageable amount for Vietnam. It's a pretty set route, but another half week would have been nice if we weren't running out of time! I'd love to have had more time in Laos, but we were at the end of our trip and still had to fit in Vietnam and Cambodia. Same goes for Cambodia. Only saw a little bit of it and it seemed like a really authentic part of SE Asia. 3 days is loads for comfortable sight-seeing in Singapore.

Before that we spent about 12 weeks in Australia. For me, this was way too much time. It completely devoured our budget and looking back on it, we could have been doing much cooler stuff in South America or Asia. Don't get me wrong, it's a lovely country, but personally I feel that was too much time. Then again, we were watching money for Asia, so the last 3 weeks were a lot of sitting around drinking cheap goon, too poor to go out and do anything. We couldn't leave early, cos we were waiting to meet friends in Sydney for New Years (in case you're wondering). There's lots of cool things to see and do, but a lot of very samey Americanised beaches along the coast that could be skipped. Don't miss Magnetic Island, the Whitsundays and Hervey Bay though!

Spent a week relaxing on Fiji which is a nice break from all the hectic travelling!

New Zealand is an amazing country. We did it in a campervan in 5 weeks. I'd say that's a comfortable amount of time. We were stuck in Auckland for a good week of it waiting for my licence to be posted out (damn pickpockets!). I highly recommend getting a camper or at least a car and driving both islands.

We spent roughly 18 weeks in South America. Most amazing place I've ever been. I'd love to have had more time in each place, but we did manage to see pretty much everything we wanted to comfortably in this amount of time. But in South America there's always more! Some backpacker will tell you about this amazing place where you can go dog-sleding or where you can see huge whales from the beach. Next thing you know you're off on an unscheduled 23 hour bus ride... This is a breakdown on what we did, but have a read of the things you'll want to see and I really recommend giving yourself more time than you think you'll need!

• We did 2 weeks in Ecuador (not enough time!)
• A full 4 weeks in Peru (enough time to see everything we wanted)
• We did our full 30 day visa in Bolivia (saw everything we wanted, but be prepared for extra time spent with altitude sickness, food poisoning etc)
• We did 2 weeks in Brazil, but all we could fit in was Foz De Iguacu, Rio and Florianopólis. Needed more time
• Almost a week in Uruguay was enough, but we were there in winter so there was no point in going to Punta Del Este
• A full 4 weeks in Argentina. Saw so much, but it's such a massive place with so much to see, do (and eat!) that more is needed
• Spent just over a week in Chile, but only saw San Pedro De Atacama in the North and Santiago.

We also spent 3 weeks in Mexico, 2 in Cuba and 1 in Jamaica.

Hope that adds up to 52!!

Like I say, just use it as a guide. Each person will want to spend diff amounts of time in different parts. A lot of it you'll decide as you go. But if you're really stuck and need some numbers to put your mind at rest, there you go!

stellios

v.e.r.b.a.l wrote: »

The only thing I could personally recommend would be spending more time in South America and less in Australia. Everyone's different (you could want to go out partying every night or want to get up early to go trekking or want to do more diving or more skiing etc)

This is what I personally did, and how we managed time, but you should go to the library, read a few Lonely Planets and get an idea of the things you want to see and do. That's what I did!

We spent 10 weeks in South East Asia. We had a couple of days in Singapore, 3 weeks in Thailand, 2 weeks in Laos, 3 weeks in Vietnam, a week and a half in Cambodia.

Personally I reckon we spent too much time in Thailand, but a lot of people disagree with me on that, so you might want to listen to others on that. 3 weeks was a manageable amount for Vietnam. It's a pretty set route, but another half week would have been nice if we weren't running out of time! I'd love to have had more time in Laos, but we were at the end of our trip and still had to fit in Vietnam and Cambodia. Same goes for Cambodia. Only saw a little bit of it and it seemed like a really authentic part of SE Asia. 3 days is loads for comfortable sight-seeing in Singapore.

Before that we spent about 12 weeks in Australia. For me, this was way too much time. It completely devoured our budget and looking back on it, we could have been doing much cooler stuff in South America or Asia. Don't get me wrong, it's a lovely country, but personally I feel that was too much time. Then again, we were watching money for Asia, so the last 3 weeks were a lot of sitting around drinking cheap goon, too poor to go out and do anything. We couldn't leave early, cos we were waiting to meet friends in Sydney for New Years (in case you're wondering). There's lots of cool things to see and do, but a lot of very samey Americanised beaches along the coast that could be skipped. Don't miss Magnetic Island, the Whitsundays and Hervey Bay though!

Spent a week relaxing on Fiji which is a nice break from all the hectic travelling!

New Zealand is an amazing country. We did it in a campervan in 5 weeks. I'd say that's a comfortable amount of time. We were stuck in Auckland for a good week of it waiting for my licence to be posted out (damn pickpockets!). I highly recommend getting a camper or at least a car and driving both islands.

We spent roughly 18 weeks in South America. Most amazing place I've ever been. I'd love to have had more time in each place, but we did manage to see pretty much everything we wanted to comfortably in this amount of time. But in South America there's always more! Some backpacker will tell you about this amazing place where you can go dog-sleding or where you can see huge whales from the beach. Next thing you know you're off on an unscheduled 23 hour bus ride... This is a breakdown on what we did, but have a read of the things you'll want to see and I really recommend giving yourself more time than you think you'll need!

• We did 2 weeks in Ecuador (not enough time!)
• A full 4 weeks in Peru (enough time to see everything we wanted)
• We did our full 30 day visa in Bolivia (saw everything we wanted, but be prepared for extra time spent with altitude sickness, food poisoning etc)
• We did 2 weeks in Brazil, but all we could fit in was Foz De Iguacu, Rio and Florianopólis. Needed more time
• Almost a week in Uruguay was enough, but we were there in winter so there was no point in going to Punta Del Este
• A full 4 weeks in Argentina. Saw so much, but it's such a massive place with so much to see, do (and eat!) that more is needed
• Spent just over a week in Chile, but only saw San Pedro De Atacama in the North and Santiago.

We also spent 3 weeks in Mexico, 2 in Cuba and 1 in Jamaica.

Hope that adds up to 52!!

Like I say, just use it as a guide. Each person will want to spend diff amounts of time in different parts. A lot of it you'll decide as you go. But if you're really stuck and need some numbers to put your mind at rest, there you go!

Sounds like an amazing trip. Thanks for the detailed account. Roughly how much did it cost you? did you have a rtw ticket? for the time you spent in each place what did you do, sightseeing and the like was it?

v.e.r.b.a.l

Got a RTW ticket with Trailfinders. Highly recommend them for their advice alone. Ours cost more than usual cos we had to manually add on separate flights for Cuba and Jamaica that were outside our RTW ticket. Think it was about €3,000 each. We were quite unlucky to have bought our flights just before the fuel tax came down, so it's prob much cheaper now.

Did as much as we could in each place. Got up early, went sight-seeing, did a lot of trekking, eating and drinking - the usual. In New Zealand did all the adventure stuff. When I was writing down the amount of weeks, it doesn't seem all that much, but when you're actually gone, you're doing so much every day that it seems like a much longer time.

The whole year away seemed like about 10 years for me! Wish it was...

stellios

v.e.r.b.a.l wrote: »

Got a RTW ticket with Trailfinders. Highly recommend them for their advice alone. Ours cost more than usual cos we had to manually add on separate flights for Cuba and Jamaica that were outside our RTW ticket. Think it was about €3,000 each. We were quite unlucky to have bought our flights just before the fuel tax came down, so it's prob much cheaper now.

Did as much as we could in each place. Got up early, went sight-seeing, did a lot of trekking, eating and drinking - the usual. In New Zealand did all the adventure stuff. When I was writing down the amount of weeks, it doesn't seem all that much, but when you're actually gone, you're doing so much every day that it seems like a much longer time.

The whole year away seemed like about 10 years for me! Wish it was...

Sounds like exactly what i am after. What about spending money?

v.e.r.b.a.l

I'm afraid I can't give you specifics about spending money. Can't remember tbh.

In South America, Ecuador, Peru and especially Bolivia are dirt cheap. You'll have to actually try to spend money in Bolivia it's so cheap. Argentina and Chile are more like a cheapish European country, but Buenos Aires can be expensive in parts. Can't remember what costs were like in Uruguay. Brazil (especially Rio) is very expensive. It can be as costly as Ireland. Especially for accommodation!

New Zealand is cheaper than Australia and Oz is cheaper than Ireland. Sorry, that's all I can remember! It's NZ and Australia especially that'll cripple your spending. Marlborough wine and bottles of Mac's Gold are cheap in NZ and if you get a camper you can stock up on cheap supermarket food. Goon (ah goon!) and beer are cheap enough in Australia. You'll be best picking up a big cooler shopping bag to bring around all your food from hostel to hostel. All the backpackers do it in Oz.

Singapore can be done cheaply or very expensively. Eat at hawker markets and try not to overdo it on the Singapore Slings in Raffles! Thailand is really cheap, but in high season places like Ko Phi Phi can cost a lot for accommodation. Laos is unbelievably cheap and food and drink is really cheap in Vietnam, but accommodation is usually around $15 for a room. They're all amazing air conditioned rooms though. There's nothing cheaper!! You'll save on the really cheap street food and bia hoi - fresh beer for about 10c! Cambodia is really cheap too. Your biggest expense will be your túk túk driver around Angkor Wat. Fresh lobster, bbq chicken and steak all on one plate served to you with a cool beer on the beach in Sihanoukville cost $3!!!

v.e.r.b.a.l

Oh, and Fiji can be expensive. We went for Octopus resort on Waya Island. They have "bungalows" there which are a hell of a lot cheaper than anything else and just as nice. Highly recommend that place btw. Absolute paradise

stellios

v.e.r.b.a.l wrote: »

Oh, and Fiji can be expensive. We went for Octopus resort on Waya Island. They have "bungalows" there which are a hell of a lot cheaper than anything else and just as nice. Highly recommend that place btw. Absolute paradise

very useful info there thanks a lot!

I'd skip Singapore.. Nice to look at it but overpriced and sterile. 2/3 weeks each in Thailand, Laos and Cambodia would be enough. Give Vietnam a month and if not, only do north or south. The love/hate reviews you hear come from people trying to cover the massive distance in 2 weeks compared to one or two months.. By far my favourite country and will be moving back there next month.

Try goto the Philippines if you can, El Nido in Palawan is the most stunning scenery I've ever seen and everyone speaks English so it's very easy. That's all the advice I can give since it's all I've seen so far.

mcdavor

The best way to travel for long periods of time on a budget is traveling overland. We just got back from a one-year RTW trip, and did Asia for 8 months and South-America for 4.5 months more. Most of it was overland, with only 4 long distance flights. In the end, we spent 20,000 per person, each for the 13 months (that includes all the transportation).
BTW, best way to save money is to avoid the US, Europe and Oz (sadly).

Pisco Sour

I'd recommend doing the West, North, and Centre of Australia, rather than the East. Far more off the beaten track, less touristy, and more spectacular. It's amazing the amount of people who write off Australia based on just travelling the same beaten track from Sydney to Cairns.