Planning a trip around the world

Jarle,

Congratulations on your decision!


Only you can decide how much time you want to spend in each location.
Our suggestion is that you select either Asia or South America and move a bit slower. Your cost will be substantially lower if you stay on one continent.

4 to 5 months will go much faster than you can ever imagine.

After you decide which countries you want to travel to you will need to think about transportation. You might want to purchase an airline ticket ( one way or round trip) depending on how much of the trip you want to pre-plan.

You will need to research which countries require a visa and whether you should get them in advance or if it is easy to get them as you enter the country.

We recommend leaving a lot of your decisions open and free flowing so once you are on the road and hear about something you can alter your plan. But-- you have to be comfortable with that kind of traveling.

I'm sure several others will chime in to assist in answering this question.
Reading blogs on travel blog will give you ideas of what those before you have enjoyed and the good thing is the information is current and up to date. We often find the information in travel guides useful but sometimes out dated. Travel bloggers are more than happy to respond to private messages.

You can go on line and find hostels that you may want to stay in.
In 2007, when we left on our 1st around the world trip we only had our first 3 nights in Singapore booked. That worked well for us and we often used the internet to book our future rooms rather than running around once we hit town looking for accommodations but all travelers do it a bit differently.

Singapore was a great city for us to get our travels started.
Since you've done some traveling before you know in each country you will need to think about what the money is called, the exchange rate, you will need to master their public transportation and experiment with the wonders of their foods. It is grand. The key is to hang out long enough in each location that you can meet and talk with some of the locals....even if they are trying to sell you something.

You will make many friends from around the world.

Next you will need to start thinking about what to pack. You will need to determine what is important to you. We have several forum threads that may be helpful to you. I will attach a couple of them for you to look at. You will need to decide whether you take a computer, what kind of camera, hard drive, medications, clothing-- will you need both warm weather and cold weather? One of your most important items will be your shoes. Take good shoes!










Don't forget to stay in contact with friends and family via travel blog and skype. Your parents will need to know you are safe.
We recommend you do a few test blogs so you become comfortable with the web site before you hit the road. We would love, love, love to hear about Norway and we imagine you are an expert. Please blog about your local area over the next few months. That will get you comfortable with downloading the photos and posting.
Let us know if you have any questions.

Budget your money wisely-- it will cost you at least 20%!m(MISSING)ore than you think most times.

You will need to make copies of your ID, passport, health insurance. Keep these separate from the originals.




Time to decide how much cash to take. We generally take little cash. We use credit cards or take cash from ATMs so we aren't walking around with large sums of money.



We are very excited about your trip and can't wait to hear more. As you continue to plan you will have other questions and we are more than happy to help.

Can't wait to read your blogs.

[Edited: 2013 Apr 03 14:52 - D MJ Binkley:42569 ]

[Edited: 2013 Apr 03 14:52 - D MJ Binkley:42569 ]

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Jarle,
Welcome to Travelblog. Your trip sounds like an amazing adventure.
When planning trips, after the logistics, I start by thinking about what I like to do. Favorite activites (seeing art, outdoor exploration, and historic sites in my case) then lead to interesting places to go. I'll second the suggestion above about reading blogs to get ideas.
Keep in mind that the final list will probably be far longer than the amount of time you'll have (or the available money, for some things). Plan on only seeing a fraction of the sites, in order to spend enough time at each one to fully experience it. You'll enjoy the travel much more that way. Reply to this

In response to: Msg #169993

Hey. I have decided to spend four months in South America and one month in Australia :-) It seems better to focus on a few countries rather than trying to visit as many places as possible, as you and other travelers have suggested.

I also want to learn to speak Spanish :-)

I have been working a lot lately, so I haven't planned that much yet. I've only read a little about visas and vaccination, and I've bought a book about South America.

I'm still a little unsure about where I should start when it comes to the planning. There are so many things to do and so many places to visit. I think I just have to keep reading the book and read blogs, and then make up my mind :-)

Thank you for your help. I appreciate it 😊







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In response to: Msg #170019
For my trip, I made a rough general outline of where and when, and then created a logistics schedule from that. Its enough to handle the big planning items. In particular:
1. Visas: I believe South American visas are easy to get for Europeans, but check this carefully.
2. Vaccinations: These need to be done starting six months in advance. Less than that and they won't be effective by the time you travel
3. Reservations: For the most popular areas and times, these may need to be done a year in advance, although six months is usually sufficient, and many places won't need them at all.
4. Plane tickets: These are a big expense, and the price goes up as the dates get closer. Reply to this

Hi Jaroy maybe you already know nevertheless let me know you that South America is an enormous mass of land and nobody can say when the climate change because in South America climate drastically change between cities. But yes coastal areas are often quite humid, those in higher altitudes can be considerably colder, particularly at night. If you plan to travel in rainy season then it becomes also important to take into consideration what to pack. Reply to this

Wow! that a big plan your are up to...

if you want to go to Asia, Hongkong and Singapore would be a great start. And end your Asian tour with the Philippines. It is an archipelago and you will be able to go to many places on boat or on plane....

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Hi Irina

I visited Atlay and Baykal myself but it was as part of much longer trip than 5 months. When you have 4-5 months like Jarle you have to prioritize, unfortunately. He chose to focus around Asia and SA hence our advice here:-)

Beata
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why dont you start travelling from india, it can show you the different cultures that it has.
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Many thanks for any well-written in addition to precise result. I most certainly will definitely write about Norway before We keep.
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Well, once you have decided the countries you want to visit, you need to look for reservations. After that, you need to look for tour operators so that you can visit main attractions of the country in minimum time.
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