Hi Tracy & Steve
Sounds like an amazing trip and not long to wait now too!
We found that
Roundtheworldflights and
Travelnation were both really helpful and gave the best deals when we were searching for our RTW ticket. We changed our mind so many times and they had to quote and requote and requote but were always really helpful and came back quickly with new prices. We went with RTWflights in the end but both prices were pretty much the same. Our ticket allowed us to change our dates FOC when we were out there too which was perfect for us.
As for visas I would just do it direct with the embassy if I was you. I've never got an India one but you do have to get it in advance.
Bangkok you can get on arrival if you fly in, it will be for 30 days.
Laos you can get on the border, always have photos ready as you will normally need 2 photos per visa. The Laos visa price varies depending on which country you come from, I think ours was around $30US for 30 days
Vietnam visa you will need to get in advance. You can you do this at the Vietnam embassy in Bangkok or a travel agent will do it for you (at a price). You normally get it back the following day. Think this was around $40US
Not sure if you plan to visit Cambodia but this is another one you can get at the border.
If you travel back through Thailand you will only get a 21 day visa if you cross the border overland
Australia, depending on how long you stay and where you are from you can get an ETA (short term visitor visa) online for a stay up to 3 months
NZ again depending on where you are from no visa required.. we are UK and got a 6 month entry FOC
With hostels we hardly ever pre booked. We'd just turn up and search for a hostel when we got there. This way you'll get a better rate and can check out the room before you hand over any cash.
As for anything else I would just advise reading through the site which is the best source of info.. read blogs, read the travel guides and they will answer most of the questions you have. Experiences vary so much on the person, what one person likes another may hate. If you have something particular you want to do then ask away but it's quite hard for people to give a general 'you must do this' on here as everyone is so different.
Just take it as it comes as much as possible. Don't plan too much as things will change the second you step off the plane! We had some things that we really wanted to do so made sure we fitted those in but our whole trip was very much up in the air the whole time and we just went where the wind blew us!
You'll have an amazing time and we'll look forward to reading about your adventures on here.
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