Hi
Im giving serious thought to just up and going travelling(backpacking) for a year but im not too sure about a few things. Id like to go to most places apart from Africa and the Middle East. Im from the UK, if that makes any difference.

How much money should i look to have before i set off? Looking at staying in hostels and whatnot, am i looking at £20k($31k) or £1k($1.5k)?

I dont really want to plan too much where im going, just go wherever feels right. Is it possible to just turn up at ports and jump on a plane or boat? Or will this cause me endless problems?

I really want to do this, but am a little nervous about going alone. Is it easy enough to meet other travellers on the way?

Insurance? Needed or not?

And finally is there a website that explains about any Visas/Laws/Anything that i should be aware of for countrys?

Thanks

Any

Hi Any,

It's difficult to put a price on a round-the-world trip, but I would suggest you have at least £5,000 - £10,000 in the bank before you start. Some people might argue this is too much, and others will argue it's too little, but a lot depends on which countries you visit and how much you're prepared to "rough it".

If you buy a RTW air ticket - which I recommend, because it's by far your cheapest practical travel option - you'll need to decide which countries or cities you visit in advance. Contact the specialists such as Trailfinders and Travelbag who advertise in the travel sections of British Sunday newspapers. But there is nothing to stop you doing spontaneous side trips from the various cities you visit.

Don't hesitate to travel alone - you will, inevitably, meet lots of other travellers en route, some of whom will be travelling in the same general direction as you - so you'll have the chance of company as and when you want it. But the great advantage of solo travel is that you can go and do exactly what YOU want to do at any time without compromise.

I didn't bother with insurance when I went RTW, but I'm older and wiser now and nowadays I'd probably consider it. What do others think?

Have a great trip!

Pete

if you haven't traveled much before that you might pass on the RTW ticket.

I've been traveling quite a bit each year for the last 25+ years. I find that I 'hit a wall' when traveling. After 6-8 weeks I loose the excitement, am not as quick to jump on a local bus to ride 2-3 hours to see some temple that someone mentioned as 'nice'. I know then that it's time to come home and let the travel bug rebuild.

In the last few years I've seen more and more younger travelers who are spending their time hanging around the guest house all day, bored out of their gourds. Speaking with some of them, they've committed themselves to spending a year on the road, they've seen all they can process for a while.

Buy a ticket to some good start point such as Thailand, Bali.... Interesting, exotic, reasonably easy for first time travelers. Practice your travel skills so that you can do it without the training wheels attached.

You'll find your style, you'll have a much better idea of where you want to go, what it costs *you* to travel.

bob
www.pbase.com\bobtrips
Photos from Cambodia, Myanmar, Nepal and Thailand

Thanks, two different sets of advice :-)

I was thinking £6-7k in the bank and £2k on some credit cards(for any emergencys). which sounds ok. Roughing it doesnt bother me at all, so i think ill be ok.
I dont really like the idea of a ticket as there are so many places id like to go, id never be able to decide. If youve seen "The Diceman" then id like something like that(i know it wouldnt be the same), i just like the idea of random travel.

Ill have to give it some more thought but its looking more likely that ill go.
Thanks for the help.

Any

Hi Any

A little inspiration.. if you need any!! I have decided to give up the day-to-day cr*p and have booked my ticket RTW. I have £10k in the bank and butterflies in my stomach!

I leave on the 12th night with a itinerary looking like this :

London – Calgary – Vancouver – Honolulu – Fiji – Auckland – Perth (over land to Darwin) Darwin – Singapore (overland to Bangkok) Bangkok – Bombay – London

I bought all the above for the cost of £1300… (Trailfinders are fab!!).

I’m looking for a experience of a life time.. I too am going it alone, however I have read that it is fairly easy to travel alone (I hope this is true!).

Go for it..

Fx

your so rite fx,go for it thats what i say,i to have booked my ticket an also im going away on my own,iv got 7k saved and sorted all the stuff out that i need to go with(visa's for longer stays).
my RTW starts from LONDON-NEW YORK-BOSTON-SAN FRANCISCO-LA-WELLINGTON-AURKLAND-SYDNEY-LONDON,and im buzzing my head off.fly on the 15th dec and come back 18th may next year.
lots of ppl say you need this much to take and some will say what you have will see your way around but at the end of the day its down to your self how you plan your trip,where you go and what you do plus where you stay.
iv got 7k to go with and 2k put to oneside for any think that might happen along the way.
your best bet any is to look into it for abit,find out where you want to go and take it from there.
good luck and happy travels.
ps i hope new york is ready for me,bcos im gonna have a balllllll;-)

Hello! i've saved up about 5 or 6K and spending around 8-10 months travelling. Just been speaking to 2 other guys from UK, they saved up 20K but they hope not to work while there away. I do, hopefully in Oz if i can get the visa. Yes u can go somewhere, then book the flights when ur there, some people say it saves you loads some dont, others dnt know. I brought a ticket via STA travel and have found that i wanted to change my travel plans and that it was easy enough to do so, HOWEVER! my ticket was only allowing 4 airways to travel with, so i was/am limited to where/when i can go, and i recommend if anyone buys a RTW ticket, check who or how many airways u can travel with.. but thats not massively important.

travelling alone? its doesn't matter, as people on here have said u'll probably find it easlier to travel alone, as i am now. and you will meet others probably doing the same as you on ur travels.

Insurance? definity recommend it, but check out deals via companies first, got mine with STA travel, luckily haven't had to use it (touch wood) and it was cheap ..if u get some disaese while travelling and need medical attention you know youre covered! hopefully u wnt get one, but u never know.. also mayb after travellin for a while, say on ur second RTW u might ..haha, u will then have more experience..etc

finally, visas/laws etc, just look in travel books, go on the internet etc..

well i hope ive helped a lil.. n' hope you have a good trip!!!

CR