Travel the world for 1 year

matthewmurdock

Hi,

There is a very strong possibility that I will take a career break to travel the world for a year and was looking for some advice.

Beginning some time during the Summer.

Essentially, I would be looking to spend half of the time in Australia, 6 months or so, working for the majority of that time. I would hopefully save a decent amount while working and use this to fund the remaining 6 months where I would hope to visit New Zealand, Fiji and South East Asia.

I would also like to visit South America and Central America.

I'm unsure if I should book one of those trailfinders type things but it seems a little restrictive. In my mind I would come home for Christmas and do the 2nd half of the trip.

Just looking for some information from anyone who has done this type of thing before. Thanks.

Chopper83

Hi Matthew

Sounds like a good plan, I did something similar through STA travel, worked in Sydney for 6 months and used the tax returns to fund the second half of my trip to NZ and South America.

Would you think about doing South East Asia first? It's cheaper than Australia and means you won't spend all your travel money before you get to travel if that makes sense.

I'd query whether if you did come home for Christmas would you leave again to finish the second half of your trip off. In theory sounds good but dunno just would be wary of it!

NZ a month is ample time to travel around both islands

Fiji a week was plenty for me

Any questions give me a shout

matthewmurdock

Chopper83 wrote: »

Hi Matthew

Sounds like a good plan, I did something similar through STA travel, worked in Sydney for 6 months and used the tax returns to fund the second half of my trip to NZ and South America.

Would you think about doing South East Asia first? It's cheaper than Australia and means you won't spend all your travel money before you get to travel if that makes sense.

I'd query whether if you did come home for Christmas would you leave again to finish the second half of your trip off. In theory sounds good but dunno just would be wary of it!

NZ a month is ample time to travel around both islands

Fiji a week was plenty for me

Any questions give me a shout

Thanks for the response. I'd like to come back at Christmas but it isn't a necessity.

Do you mind me asking how you went about it - like if you were on an around the world ticket did you book the flights in advance?

In terms of working in Australia, did you end up with enough to fund the second half? Because working in Aus for 6 and using the funds to fund the rest is exactly what I hope to do.

I could do South East Asia first, I take that suggestion on board definitely. Though there are a good few countries I'd like to visit there, and not all of them are cheap (Japan would be a must on any trip like this)

cdeb

I'm sure there'll be varying advice from various people, but one thing I wouldn't change from 5 months travelling in 2012 is to go by land wherever possible. You see so much more that way.

Don't be afraid to go off the tourist trail either. One of my highlights was the train from Ulan Ude to Ulaan Baator for example. Beautiful scenery, somewhere completely different, and plenty of people around to chat away to.