BootsnAll Travel Community

So i'm finally within 6 months of leaving on my year 13 month round the world trip.

Thought i'd post my itinerary here and basic plans and see if there's any advice/input out there.

Here's my basic plan. getting a oneworld rtw ticket that this itin does work with. My stay in England will be visiting family and my only stop in Europe since I have been to Europe multiple times and it's not in the budget for this trip.

Aug/Sept. West coast USA 3-4 weeks (I'm starting out in the center of the States, gonna be driving out to the West coast with a friend in his camper. Covering BC, WA, OR & CA down to San Fran where I'll fly to Japan from.)

Sept. Japan 2-3 weeks

Oct. Korea 2 weeks

Oct. Taiwan 1 week

Oct. Hong Kong 1 week

Nov/Dec. New Zealand 6 weeks (planning to cover both islands with rental car)

Dec-May. Australia 5 Months (working somewhere with working holiday visa for 3-4 months)

May-June. South Africa 4 Weeks (flying into Jo'burg out of Cape Town, Baz Bus down the coast and some kind of Safari.)

End of June. England 1-2 weeks (visiting family, a break from travel)

July. Argentina & Uruguay 2-3 Weeks

July-August. Chile 2 weeks

August. Peru 4 weeks (acclimatization in cuzco & inca trail are 2-3 weeks of this)

Sept. Ecuador 2 weeks



My total budget for the whole trip is $25-27k.

Right now i'm in the process of getting vaccines and will be getting my working holiday visa for Australia soon. I plan on buying the flight ticket in June sometime.

I've done a bunch of backpack research including trying them on with weight in them and i'm planning on buying this pack. http://www.campmor.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Produc...6&productId=39225157



so any comments on this would be great, the only thing i don't want to hear is someone telling me not to take the trip.

My RTW is booked and paid for on August 4. Just wanted to say congrats. I'm proud of you for saving that much. I'll only have 15K by then I reckon but will stay in 'poor' countries to keep costs down.

No useful feedback except that your work in Australia will keep your costs down there.

PS and on the Cuzco leg, get a bus to Titicaca/La Paz if you have time.

Hiya - nice plan - about the Oneworld tickets - Explorer and Global Explorer are only valid for 12 months - and also you should check the continent order - in the Oneworld Explorer rules it refers to TC1-TC2-TC3 but I can't find anywhere that explains what TC1 etc. actually are - maybe your local Oneworld airline (AA) can help?

quote:

Originally posted by Insubordination:
PS and on the Cuzco leg, get a bus to Titicaca/La Paz if you have time.

I was hoping to get to the Titicaca area.

quote:

Originally posted by MC Deli:
Hiya - nice plan - about the Oneworld tickets - Explorer and Global Explorer are only valid for 12 months - and also you should check the continent order - in the Oneworld Explorer rules it refers to TC1-TC2-TC3 but I can't find anywhere that explains what TC1 etc. actually are - maybe your local Oneworld airline (AA) can help?

i wouldn't be taking my first flight until about a month into my trip so the 12 month limit is not an issue.

I have checked the whole trip on the oneworld online validation program and it said it was valid. As far as the continent order I found this on another forum.

TC1: N & S America
TC2: Europe & Africa
TC3: Asia & Oceania

And I believe all that rule means is you cant go backtrack between those sections. My trip is TC1, TC3, TC2 ending in TC1. As far as I can tell it is valid.

Nice one with the continent explainer - I was looking for that everywhere!

So do you have your flight segments for us to scrutinize - I have spent so long recently planning our Oneworld Explorer ticket (HEL-LHR-YVR-DFW-LAX-overland to-SJO-SJU-CCS-LIM-overland to-RIO-SCL-IPC-SCL-AKL-SYD-NOU-SYD-PER-SIN-overland to-BKK-HEL) I am very interested to se others...?

make sure you get the ridiculously cheap and absolutely delicious bubble tea in taiwan...in taipei it is like 30-60 cents for a nice sized one and they are good...unfortunately most of the vendors dont speak english so just take a chance, point, do something...

Japan - you clearly have a nice sized budget even if that includes flights...but be aware i think a reasonable estimate on what you will spend in 2-3 weeks in japan could be in the 2-3000 dollar range or about 10-12 percent of your budget...we just had a lengthly discussion on reasonable japan budgets...personally i spent about 1000 in about a week (6 days) which included a small JR east rail pass accommodation in tokyo, sumo, sushi, metro, and excursions) This is not to discourage just make you aware of the cost of japan...accommodation alone will run you 30+ or more a night easily, if you are looking at hotels definitely closer to the 80-100 range and over three weeks even at 30-35 would take you to 600-1000 range...

In hong kong look at staying in central district, wan chai or causeway bay...the accommodation in general in hong kong is not that great unless its a fancy hotel...i stayed in causeway bay and it is great location...right near subway stops and that system in hong kong is efficient as it gets...1 week is perfect...hit up ladies market, lan kwai fung at night, big buddha and plenty other things and eat some traditional chinese peking duck, maybe even hong kong disney if your bored (tad expensive but funny to experience)

Korea - go to the DMZ...its touristy but i think impactful to see what stemmed a big war...Seoul is a cool place, english is an issue even with all those darn language schools.

taipei - also to go the national museum...you can take a bus, its one of the largest national museums in the world and has some really old and cool stuff...i think its a lot of stuff that Chiang Kai Shek brought with him from china...

also in taipei or seoul go up either taipei 101 or seoul tower...taipei 101 is the tallest building in the world...also go to snake market and maybe eat some snake (not looked well upon but crazy thing to eat), i personally didn't do it.

if you are curious as to what i did in taiwan, japan or hong kong check out my blog and just look for the country or city names everything is labeled...enjoy!

quote:

Originally posted by MC Deli:
Nice one with the continent explainer - I was looking for that everywhere!

So do you have your flight segments for us to scrutinize - I have spent so long recently planning our Oneworld Explorer ticket (HEL-LHR-YVR-DFW-LAX-overland to-SJO-SJU-CCS-LIM-overland to-RIO-SCL-IPC-SCL-AKL-SYD-NOU-SYD-PER-SIN-overland to-BKK-HEL) I am very interested to se others...?

SFO-NRT-ICN-TPE-HKG-AKL-overland to CHC-SYD overland to CNS-JNB (via SYD) overland to CPT-LHR-EZE overland to SCL-LIM-UIO-ORD overland to SFO.

the last leg being overland enables me to get around the starting & ending in the same city since I will be departing from San Francisco and I live in the midwest.

quote:

Originally posted by Eppyboy:


Japan - you clearly have a nice sized budget even if that includes flights...but be aware i think a reasonable estimate on what you will spend in 2-3 weeks in japan could be in the 2-3000 dollar range or about 10-12 percent of your budget...we just had a lengthly discussion on reasonable japan budgets...personally i spent about 1000 in about a week (6 days) which included a small JR east rail pass accommodation in tokyo, sumo, sushi, metro, and excursions) This is not to discourage just make you aware of the cost of japan...accommodation alone will run you 30+ or more a night easily, if you are looking at hotels definitely closer to the 80-100 range and over three weeks even at 30-35 would take you to 600-1000 range...

Thanks for all your destination tips!

Yeah I know Japan is the most expensive place I'm going to, I budgeted around $100 per day, is that not enough? What would that budget not allow me to do for cost reasons?