Travel the world-Lone Traveller

Redsox Rover

I am sure that this has come up alot on the forum in the past and apologies if it has however i have gone back a couple of months and have been unable to find a recent post which is relevant to my situation.

A bit of a background. I am currently 29 but by the time i propose to leave for my travels i will be 30. My ex Fiancée has recently left me without a word and cancelled the whole wedding without my knowledge. I found out from vendors. However before this happened i have had this urge to ravel the world and it was something i had suggested to my ex previously about our honeymoon. She had said she wasnt interested as we have both travelled previously and she wanted to settle down after the wedding and buy a house, start a family. All the usual. I want all that too but obviously now with my sistuation having changed so drastically i have the opportunity to follow my dream.

I travelled in 2007 to SE Asia and toured Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. From there i went to Australia with the intention of working in Sydney for 6 months and then travelling around Australia, head to New Zealand, Fiji, Hawaii and LA. I lasted 4 months in Sydney and had to come home due to personal issues. To be honest i hated working in Sydney and it wasnt helped that the person i travelled with was at times difficult (Selfish). Probably more my fault than his. So i came home and have regretted it since.

I fell in love with Thailand and Malaysia and have always wanted to return. I missed out on the North of Thailand on my trip in 2007 and have always wanted to go back there. I also have a desire to visit Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and possibly China but that could be a seperate trip.

I also have designs on going back to Australia and hiring a camper van to go up the east coast in, then head to New Zealan to tour both islands, visit Fiji, then as a departue from my original trip i want to visit Cuba before it becomes very westernised as i have heard that if you want to see the real Cuba you should get there in the next 5 years. From Cuba i want to go to Argentina, brazil and Peru. Possibly do the Inca Trail.

In all i am thinking of going for 6 months with a budget of €12K-15K depending on how vigilant i can be with the saving. After saving for a wedding i think i should be well able to hit the upper scale of my budget.

I am looking for advice on travellling alone. I would be an outgoing person and generally i get along with people however in large groups i can be shy for a while. I wouldnt be the best at approaching people. Also with the relationship i had i have lost alot of self confidence and i am determined to rebuild that.

Is there anyone on here who has undertaken a trip like this by yourself? Is 6 months too short a time to fit all of that in? Is my budget realisitc? I should mention my budget does not include flights, insurance and other neccesities for the trip. I have a seperate budget for them. Can anyone share with me any experiences they had doing a trip like this? Any tips on where to stay in SE Asia, in particular Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos? Would you recommend doing a guided tour to visit these countries? I did 1 in Thailand and loved it and am still good friends with the tour guide we had.

I am really just looking for any advice anyone can give and for people to share their stories. I have travelled alone for work previously but thats a bit different. I have this romantic vison in my head of travelling alone for 6 months and really discovering what i am capable of.

Thanks in advance for all your replies and i look forward to reading them

Redsox Rover

Have just seen there is an Independant Travel section. If any of the MODS feel this post would be more appropriate there then i would be fine with it being moved.

Thanks,

no problems doing a trip like this on your own as you will meet other people.
meeting other people is easier I found in non-first world countries e.g. S-E asia , Sth-America etc than say Oz as everyone tends to be on the same-ish backpacker / travel route in the non-first world places so are more open. if you're stuck to meet someone do a tour activity like, for example, take the Halong bay trip near Hanoi, do a 2-day trekking trip and you'll doubtless meet people going the same way as you or give you new ideas. but just doing some research on where to stay that has a review / reputation as a social place will mean that you'll meet people. there will be lots of people around your age although oz and nz will be younger.
I would not do a long organised trip - much better to do it at your own pace. these organised trips are expensive and really designed for people who are time-constrained.
I'd say add south-america there too - I've been to most of s-e asia, china, oz, nz an s-e america and sth america has so much to offer. it's safe and you don't need Spanish. your budget sounds fine although Oz is v. expensive these days. I wouldn't spend too much time there as you can live like a king in s-e asia and sth-america (except parts of brazil and chile) instead of being a 3rd-class backpacker citizen in Oz / Nz staying in crappy dorm hostels.

Redsox Rover

Hi Glasso,

Thanks a million for your reply. Yeah i was thinking doing a long organised trip would be more detrimental to my experience than enhancing purely because you are constrained by time and itineraries!

It is a daunting task going on my own but it is something i am really looking forward to. Anymore advice is more than welcome and will keep coming back here to update on my plans to date.

I am thinking about adding Borneo to my list now after speaking to the tour guide i had in SE Asia previously.

Thanks again,

It's not daunting going on your own - you'll love it once you get a good start- just make sure that you start in a place that's good for meeting other people and take it from there. For example - don't start in Beijing - very alienating place for a backpacker. In fact, would give China a skip really for this sort of trip.

Challo

Hey OP,

Go for it!! I travelled for a year on my own (South America, SE Asia and India) and it was amazing. I don't think being on your own as a female is that much risky to be honest. As long as you're in tune and copped on, the chances are you'll be fine. I've also travelled to Middle East and China on my own, and I've never had difficulties.

Definitely just travel independently, you might have the odd few days when you're lonely but overall, all my great days were to do with who I was with as much as where I was. If you're not heading to Oz or NZ, then 12-15k is a great budget - I had about 1000 per month and was comfortable always.

I'm back a few years and now in a long-time study, but so glad I went when I did, 6months-a year is such a short time in the grand scheme of things. Sure maybe even a friend or two might join you for parts...

Challo

Sorry I just read your post again. I'm all for people making the most of the time they have and moving at a fast pace, I think parts of South East Asia, NZ, OZ, Fiji, South America and Cuba will be FAR too much for six months!:eek:

Spend some time planning what you really want, look into options for flights and then narrow it down would be my advice.

Lucifer-0

You'll be grand.

Might take a few weeks to settle down and get used to it.
I would give Oz a skip, I'm in Sydney the past 6 months, spent the first 2 weeks in a hostel waiting to get work. It's full of kids (18 year olds). A lot younger than the crowds I met in Asia along the way.
Also it's crazy expensive, a week here = a month in SE Asia, just not worth it.

Redsox Rover

Hi all,

Thanks for your replies so far. Just a little update. Having read all the lone traveller threads on here and various blogs i have decided it is definitely something i want to do.

I have not firmed up my route yet but the priority for this trip will be Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand. I am thinking a month for each of them. That will bring me up to 4 months of my trip. I understand what Lucifer is saying about Australia having lived there myself for a few months however i am going to stop there for 2-3 weeks to visit friends and hopefully make the great barrier reef. Sydney will not be visited this time

From there i will go to Cuba and spend 3 weeks there or however long i need to see the whole country and not just Havana. I will then go to Argentina, Brazil and Peru. Giving approximately 2 months to do all 3. I have extended the trip by a month as i agree what Challo that it is alot to do in 6 months and that extra month will give me a bit of space.

I am not going to book any pre-organised tour before i leave however i may arrange something when i am over there. I will gauge how things are when there.

Given i have extended my trip but taken out New Zealand and Fiji i still fell my budget of €12K-15K is sufficient. I will have money in a seperate account as safety net if i need it. I would hope this money would be used for when i return but if i need to use it whilst away thats ok.

I have priced hostels for all of south east asia and it seems that you can get a bed in a dorm of 6-22 people (depending on city) for anywhere between €2-€12 so my accomodation costs will be minimal. When i last visited Thailand i loved eating from the street vendors. I am fairly flexible when it comes to food so i do not expect this to be a massive expense compared to here.

I would like to thank you all for your replies as it has confirmed to me that this is what i want. Given my situation i do not think a better opportunity will ever arise to do soemthing like this. Havng become recently single, friends all settled down and my job allowing me to take up to 1 year unpaid leave it is like the perfect storm.

I will keep posting in here to let you know of my confirmed plans as the time goes by. I have done a fair bit of research the last couple of weeks and i should have something firm in the next 2 weeks.

cdeb

Redsox Rover wrote: »

I fell in love with Thailand and Malaysia and have always wanted to return. I missed out on the North of Thailand on my trip in 2007 and have always wanted to go back there. I also have a desire to visit Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and possibly China but that could be a seperate trip.

I also have designs on going back to Australia and hiring a camper van to go up the east coast in, then head to New Zealan to tour both islands, visit Fiji, then as a departue from my original trip i want to visit Cuba before it becomes very westernised as i have heard that if you want to see the real Cuba you should get there in the next 5 years. From Cuba i want to go to Argentina, brazil and Peru. Possibly do the Inca Trail.

In all i am thinking of going for 6 months with a budget of €12K-15K depending on how vigilant i can be with the saving.

I did a similar-ish trip last year. Went for five months. Took the train from Holyhead to Singapore, then from Perth to Sydney, few days in Fiji, Auckland to Te Anau in NZ, Tokyo and Nagoya in Japan, and then coast to coast US (three weeks). I think six months is plenty to do your original proposition.

Just be aware that, in that instance, you would have to limit your time to, say, a week in some countries. It'll give you a feel for the places, even if you don't have the time to thoroughly explore them. But that's the trade-off you'll always have to make with travelling.

For example, I spent six days in Cambodia. 6-hour bus in from Sai Gon, two full days in Phnom Penh, 6-hour bus to Siem Reap, two full days there and on to Laos the next day. You could, I'm sure, spend a month there, but I enjoyed every minute, and that's all that matters really! Fiji, for example, is quite a long way away - when will you get the chance to be so near with so much time again? I'd absolutely take a week to fly from Oz before heading on. I was there for four days just and it was well worth the diversion. Beautiful country.

Budget-wise, it's always hard to call. I spent I think E20k in five months. But then I had tour guides in China/Tibet, had more expensive countries on the route than you and moved around a lot more. All that adds cost. You should (stress should!) be grand with your upper limit; I was grand on E30 a day in SE Asia. You'll get some great full-day tours for $20 or $30 for example; add in a fiver accommodation and you've got a full day with not much time for any other spending. Oz is a bastard for cost, and flights will add up quickly, but I'm sure you know that. Keep a daily budget of spending as you go; much better than panicking towards the end that your ATM card will be refused.

Remember to add in visas, medical shots, ****-ups, etc. I was packing in New Zealand the night before a flight to Tokyo; checked that I had my flight booking and saw that my flight was that morning, not the next morning! E700 down the drain. Something will go wrong; allow for it and don't worry about it after that.

People-wise, you'll be grand. Tours are good for meeting people, as noted earlier. An overnight Ha Long Bay trip involves 10 or 15 people on a boat; it's dark beyond 6:30, so everyone just chats away. I got invites from people on board to meet up again in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore (which I took, obviously).

From my experience, I'd add a suggestion to keep to land travel as much as possible. I hear of people flying from Ha Noi to Hue or Da Nang; you miss so much that way. Get the train instead - it's cheaper, and looking out the window is every much a part of travel as being out with street traders or on country hikes. And again, the train or bus is better for meeting people than a flight.

Enjoy it!

Don't skip bolivia

OneColdHand

Best of luck with your trip! It will be amazing. Travelling on your own is great! I've done it a few times. The freedom to do whatever you want is great. You can meet people if you want (you'll find other people will be travelling on their own too, and you gravitate towards each other), and if you want time to yourself you can do that too.

Redsox Rover wrote: »

I have not firmed up my route yet but the priority for this trip will be Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand. I am thinking a month for each of them. That will bring me up to 4 months of my trip. I understand what Lucifer is saying about Australia having lived there myself for a few months however i am going to stop there for 2-3 weeks to visit friends and hopefully make the great barrier reef. Sydney will not be visited this time

Just to comment briefly on this. Having done all these countries, I think 4 months is a great amount of time to give to them. However I think you could spend slightly longer in Vietnam and Thailand (say 5 or 6 weeks each), and slightly less in Cambodia and Laos (say 2 or 3 weeks each).

I know you've been to Thailand, so maybe you don't care about spending so much time there, but there's so much to do there. I had 6 weeks there and didn't even get through everything. Vietnam is a great country. I only had 2.5 weeks there and it was a bit short.