BootsnAll Travel Community

The RTW thing seems uber extreme. Packing for a 8 or 12 month trip can be daunting. Staying on the road for MONTHS. Sleeping in strange beds for months. Bathing God knows where. I mean really, dont you guys just get WORN OUT.
Does prefer NOT to do the RTW thing??? But instead, take a month here, a month there. I.E. May in ________, December in ________.

I can't say really. My "only" travel experience is when i went with my parents for 6 years overseas (age 5 - 11). We went to england and explored the country a lot, then settled down so i could start school and my parents started working. Then, in between working and schooling, we'd go on trips for 2 weeks to 2 months, before finally traveling around Europe and America for 6 months before we came back home.

Overall I'd say I much preferred the continuous travel. Not having any ties...just going and going and exploring and experiencing everything. It was a tragically short time though...

Each type of travel has its advantages - and adepts. I just came back from five weeks in Panama, the shortest backpacking trip I've ever taken. And it was fine. Because of the short time span, I had to organize more than I usually would. On a longer trip, I tend to decide day by day what I'll be doing. A longer trip provides me with more freedom and spontaneity.

So in my opinion, the important thing is to get on the road. Whether a week or a year, it's the journey that counts.

Jobs and houses make it hard for many to take a month or 6 weeks a few times or even just once a year.

Yeah, I think in my "ideal" world, I'd spend a month or two on the road, and then come back "home" for several months before heading out again.

But, like MC Deli says, jobs and housing makes it hard for people to do that. While not impossible, it would be difficult to have to return from a trip, find an apartment or a place to crash for several months, and a temp job that allows you to make enough money to save for your next trip, only to have to do that all over again when you return from your next short trip. Not that I've done it (yet) but I imagine it's much easier to be gone for six months or a year, so that when you return, you're not constantly picking up and changing jobs and locations every couple of months.

Now, if I wanted to crash with my parents, and maybe knew someone at a restaurant nearby who would let me come and go as a waitress whenever I felt like it, I might be able to swing it. But I'm not in that situation - otherwise, I'd love to be able to take extended trips throughout the year. It would give me something to look forward to all year long, without having to wait to save up the money for a more extended trip.

Well, I haven't done the RTW yet, my longest trip was 6 months through Africa. And I have to say, that even though I really want to go for a RTW trip, I think a 2 month trip is about perfect. Though I'll take as little as a week, if I must!

When I was in Africa I really hit burnout at 2 months. I was in Zaire and I tripped when getting on the Zaire riverboat. There I was limping around the boat, eating the hideous fishbone and greasebowl lunches, being nipped at by marauding ducks on board. It was a cool place, but I was so burnt out that I spent hours sneaking into the air-conditioned first class lounge watching Julio Iglesias videos. Thankfully after leaving the boat and a couple more weeks of travel, I got my second wind and it was great again.

I think when I do my RTW (which now looks about 5 years out), I will plan to roam for 7 weeks, then sit tight for at least 3 weeks -- and then repeat that over and over for the rest of the trip.

In the meanwhile, I'm planning my summer trip to Israel/Jordan for 2-1/2 weeks and then a jaunt to Denver for a science fiction convention on the day after I return. I'm sure that will be a wonderful trip, even though it's not RTW. I figure as long as I get a couple foreign weeks a year, I'm set for another year. I used to disdain that type of travel, but it keeps me in money and I am managing slowly but surely to see much of the world. Hey, even a one week trip to the Amazon like I did in 2006, was a lot of fun and very worthwhile. My motto is that all travel is wonderful! Enjoy!

^^^Yeah, Im always waiting for the "big one", instead of going somewhere for one or two weeks. But that thinking has led to me going NOWHERE. I havent left the country since 03 or 04. Its better to do what you can, and not wait.