New members, introduce yourselves.

Hello everybody! My name is Ryan! I am planning a 12 month maybe longer trip around the world. I'm selling my house and heading for a stomp around the world(just waiting on the house grrr) It will be my first time leaving North America so I am super excited and freaked right out all at the same time. Planning this trip has made me realize how much propaganda I get fed via the media. Taking a closer look at a country during my planning, I'm suprised by what I am learning.

Because I have worked as a wildlife tech in British Columbia for quite some time now, I have been lucky enough to get to know the province on a very intimate level both on the beaten track and off. So if you are coming here then by all means let me know if you have questions. I have also been to LA, New York, and a few other North American cities. I am bursting with questions about the countries I am going to so from time to time will be posting in the forums. I will try not to plug them right up mind you but I'm really curious to learn about a lot of places. Alas, I hope your travels are going well because mine are just getting started! cheers Reply to this

Please help with questions about NZ, FIJI, South America and Europe!

Hi,

I found this site a couple of weeks ago and have become addicted to it! Although lonely planet is useful hearing peoples real life experiences is much more! I could use some help in cementing my plans though.

Background

I an english 30 yr old female living in Sydney (for 5 yrs). After years of thinking about it and putting other things first I have broken up with my boyfriend, convinced my boss to let me take off 6 months from work and am willing to say good bye to the most of the deposit for my first house to take off around the world for 6 months!

My initial plan had always been to spend that amount of time in South America but I have quite a few friends in Europe who I would love to spend time with too.

Every day my travel plans seem to change (didn't realise how hard deciding where to go would be!) but this is my idea for itinery today:

November 08
2/3 weeks
Fly Sydney to Auckland and spend this time on the North Island.
I want something relatively easy to ease me back into the whole backpacking scene. Will have worked until a few days before I go so thought it would be nice to chill in a beautiful place where people speak English.

1/2 weeks
Fly Auckland to Fiji
Just want to maybe see a couple of islands but spend some time lying in a hammock, reading my book, drinking whatever and meeting new people.

Any suggestions as to island that is beautiful, I can meet people but won't spend too much money (in Fiji terms anyway) would be appreciated

IS ALL OF THE ABOVE A WASTE (of time in SA and money) AS I LIVE SO CLOSE TO IT ANYWAY? I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE GOOD TO CHILL AND GET INTO THE VIBE??

Dec 08
Arrive in South America
This is where I get very confused and reading everyones blogs has been educational but confusing! Do I fly into Chile and spend time there or just fly straight up to Cusco or Lima?
Is it safe to arrive in Lima at midnight (most of the flights seem to get there at this time)?
The more I read about the Galapagos the more I think I want to do it. Is it really worth the money? Do I have to book before I go there?

Should i just go straight to BA?

I like the idea of language school in BA (but slightly worried I may not make it to too many lessons as the temptation to party will be hard to refuse!). Does anyone have tips on best place to go to language school? Should I even bother if I am only there for 2/3 months?

As I will be there at Carnival time should I make the effort to get to Rio for it or is it over-rated, too busy and too expensive?

Any suggested itineries for someone who enjoys a mixture of trekking and boozing? I don't want to be on the go all the time and I guess 2 or 3 months is not a massive amount of time.

After that I will fly to Madrid and then catch a train to Switzerland to stay with a friend who works in Ski resort Verbier. Is it worth me catching the train for the experience or should I just fly? Will hostels in Barcelona, France, italy, Zurich (would probably only stay one night in each - or even just catch an overnight train from Barcelona to Zurich) be open in winter?

From there I go to Stockholm to stay with another friend - again anyone know if overland is a good way to do it? It is my preference I am just not sure exactly how.

Then Fly (or ferry??) to UK to see family and friends for 3 weeks before heading back to Auz via Thailand or Vietnam for a few weeks of chilling in sunshine.
Wow - feels good to get that all down as all of these questions are going round and round!

Ah one more thing - Packing?? If anyone can direct me to a blog which has a good list of what you should take I would appreciate that. I am going to different climates but don't want to take my whole wardrobe. I was thinking of posting some clothes to friend in Madrid or maybe buying some things there?

If anyone has any feedback for me I would love to hear it.

Thanks
Nikki
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Wow Nikki, your trip sounds amazing and although it is VERY difficult deciding where to go, that is also part of the excitement!!!!!! A couple of things I would recommend are:

*Make a list of must see places that you definitely don't want to miss and plan your trip around them......think about festivals, concerts, etc etc
* Do what you want, who cares if NZ is close by???? (Oh and it is a 4 hour flight so not like its a hop across the English channel from London to Paris!!) NZ is a fantastic place and if you stay in the right places you will meet LOADS of people from all over the world, maybe even get to hook up with them later in your trip.
*With regards to your South America trip, I would say don't miss Buenos Aires or Igazu Falls.
* Can't comment on the carnival but it sounds very cool and is still on my list of places to see.
*If you come into Lima in darkness I would suggest you pay for a transfer to the hostel, we stayed at Pay Purix backpackers hostel, really close to the airport, safe and will send a car for $5 each. However it is not in the nicest area so not a place to explore at nighttime.

Anyway, I hope this gives you some ideas, sorry if you have heard them all already! Most of all enjoy planning your trip!

Sarah

Oh the bluelist by Lonely Planet gave me some great ideas!! Reply to this

It's a book published by Lonely Planet every year for the "top places to visit." I find it funny that I needed ideas in the first place now but before my trip it really helped, infact it inspired me to visit Cambodia.............ofcourse I hadn't discovered travelblog at that point!!!!! Reply to this

Hello Mel,

My dream to is visit Morocco and the Western Sahara region. I have probably posted it before, but it was asked where are dream location is. Also, I hope to make it back to Bangkok, Thailand because all of my college friends ended up relocating there and I never joined in the exodus overseas. It's a great town full of amazing nightlife and culture.

Lastly, I hope to make a trip with my father to Vietnam. He hasn't been back since being in the war and he is interested in emotional (and physical) closure. We heard there are expeditions/tours given by U.S. soldiers who were there and can take us to remote locations that served as U.S. military stations.

A lot of excitement, and we hope to travel in the near future due to JetFuel prices becoming staggering.

Thanks for listening,

Ryan M. Rodriguez Reply to this

Hello/Bonjour!

I am a 24 year old Canadian who loves to travel...I'm about to embark on a two week crusade across Europe, and found this site very useful for gathering information...so I joined up!

My name is Justin, je peux parler en francais and English. Reply to this

Football. I intend to promote Canadian ideals by instilling the need/desire for all of Europe to partake in ice hockey as their national sports.

I'm in England now, and so far no luck. If anything they've coverted me to a lifetime of tea-drinking.

And truth be told I'm somewhat of an oddity...I prefer basketball to hockey. Reply to this

Nah, as impressive as they were this year. My favorite team is the Toronto Raptors! Reply to this

Classic stuff Maximum - liberating the brits from footy....alas, a fools crusade i fear.

Right, a brief intro. I am new to blogging and am, in truth, quite surprised to find myself here. But here I am. I've been on the road since '01 and im currently in OZ (for the second time.) QLD actually. thinking of heading to 'the outback' in one way or another as last time i stuck largely to the coast. thoughts/suggestions?

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oh and a response to Nikki. if you are heading to NZ my advice wud be to check out the South Island, though i gess ur right, u can always go back there.... Reply to this