BootsnAll Travel Community

Hey guys, I'm just finishing up the first month of my first RTW and I was wondering how long have the other RTW board members been traveling or for those who have finished your trip how long was it?

And I have to ask for those on very long trips, 1+ years are you traveling the whole time or are you spending a good amount of time staying in some places, working, volunteering, etc?

I'm interested in to hear what the various RTW experiences of those on the board have been and what the best mix of traveling/seeing things versus spending time really getting to know places along the way has been for everyone.

http://www.ryansrtw.com/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rrbhs99/sets/

I haven't gone yet, but when i do it'll be nearly 20 months in total, so long as i can get those funds together...

11 months starting in 21 days time. Will include max. 6 weeks of working down under.

10 days is the 1 year anniversary of me selling my house.

My first RTW was 6.5 months. My second trip was 14 months. I was traveling the whole time. I think the longest I spent somewhere was 10 days because I was sick. I was totally worn out after 14 months of constant travel. Enjoy your trip!

829 days so far. Only a few months to go. The longest I stayed anywhere was a month of volunteering, but otherwise I've been moving pretty consistently the whole time.

Wow DJperry, 829 days that's amazing, how long are you planning to continue? CeasarRomanus and Bunglegirl that's awesome that you guys have both gone for 1 year or more. You guys are my hero I've been dreaming of doing a 1+ year RTW but for this time I'm only able to pull off about 6 months.

I'm already putting together an outline of my next trip and I'm only 1 month into this one.

Darcy and MC Deli, good luck planning and starting your trips.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rrbhs99/sets/
http://www.ryansrtw.com/

Current trip will be 15 months. On month 9 at the moment.
I spent 2 months volunteering in both Peru and Nicaragua, and the last 2 will be volunteering in India. Other than that I've been moving.

First I left for three months. I liked it. Then for one year - long enough to not have enough money so I had to find some work to bring my self trough. I liked that experience a lot more. Now I’m already three years abroad only because I found a good job in the mountains. So I’m actually enjoying my self in another country, I had enough time to travel trough it, managed to pay my debts off and I'm about to have enough savings to go somewhere else in a half a year from now on. My home became a place where I’m going for holiday to, twice a year for two months.
The only thing I’m looking for when I‘m here, to still feel like on a travel, is not to accumulate too much unneeded stuff. It becomes a anchor after a short while. So I guess I’m travelling for a bit more then four years now, right?

I'll be gone for 18 months, and out of the US this Thursday. I haven't really travelled for more than a few weeks before this, so hopefully 18 months won't be too long! I'm already planning lots of on-the-road meetups with friends and family though.

143 days so far and man has it flown by. Our first RTW trip or extend travel journey.

Admittedly, we've been traveling very slowly and enjoying loafing around Central and South America. But, now we're ready to move along at a bit faster pace. I think the speed of travel will ebb and flow depending on a number of factors. How you feel (sickness, exhaustion), the method of travel, if there are lots of things in the area that interest you, all affect travel time. The whole trip doesn't have to be done at top speed or a snails pace.

But, keep it cheap and you can wander around for a while out here.

Have fun out there!

We have been on our world tour for 19 months so far and we are big believers in slow travel, so it is not unusual for us to stay a month in one location. We travel as a family with a young child, so that is part of it, but we also just prefer really getting to know places. I think I would go crazy if I had to do one of those fast tours. What is that line,this is tuesday, this must be rome? I do not want to be just counting countries and ticking off world heritage sites, but discovering the world in greater depth..... and that takes time.


We are from California so spoiled by good weather, so we decided to travel mostly in great weather if at all possible. Thus, we have wintered the last two winters in a beautiful, authentic small village in Andalucia Spain. That has been fantastic for us, we have made friends for life, our Spanish has gotten much better, we have immersed with the culture, enjoy the festivals, my daughter takes flamenco, we can walk to everything we need and my daughter has gone to school here in the local school.

So for us, traveling for about 7 months and taking time to reflect and immerse more deeply in just one culture has been the best for both worlds for us. The luxury of time is a very different experience than traveling through at a fast pace. We do some small trips when we winter, but mostly we enjoy village life. We do sometimes travel faster, but still much slower than most and usually after a faster run of places, we then find a great spot to spend a month. We like breathing space and reading time and time to play and make new friends.

Either way, we have a hard time remembering what day or time it is as we do not need to know much in our lives. We so love this lifestyle and freedom that we do not see ending our trip for years and possibly will become permanent travelers ( which is easy to do at this relaxing pace where burnout is not an issue).

I don't think a year is long enough for a RTW tour. We have seen and experienced more than most people see in a lifetime, but feel like we have barely begun. I would hate to have a time limit as a big part of the freedom, is doing exactly what you want to do without limits. How can you follow your bliss with a stopwatch? That said, I know not everyone can take endless amounts of time.

We love the RV for a family,so will just ship it to other continents....Africa is next. I recently read about a couple that have been traveling the world cheaply shipping their one vehicle everywhere since 1987! My daughter thinks we should try to beat their record! LOL.

Happy travels!

We are about to take off for a 2 1/2 year trip bicycling from Alaska to Argentina. My first experience with extended travel was a 7 month trip in Central/South America. A few years later my husband and I spent 14 mnths cycling the Indian subcontinent. We waited 16 years before taking off for another year - that time cycling around the USA and Mexico with our sons. We are really excited about heading out for a really extended time!

The California wildfires of 2007 took our apartment from us and the credit crisis took my job from me in January 2008.

Now having sold what little we had left, my wife and I are embarking on a 12 month trip taking us from the USA, through Europe, Asia and South America.

We plan to travel and blog at the same time, earning money where we can along the way.

For travel articles: WorldRamblers

Oh World Ramblers! I'm so sorry you were affected by the fires. I am in San Diego so I was there for the whole thing, but not affected. I say you are making a good choice to just get on the road. I lost my job due to credit crisis last year too but was lucky to get another one. If I hadn't i might have just left as well.

We plan on going for at least a year and we will work along the way. I'm hoping that with working and wwoofing we will be able to stay out for a couple years. I would rather go slowly as well. For me, i think the best thoughts and realizations happen when you're not doing anything at all and just having enough time to let the culture of a place sink in.

Spending 2 winters in spain sounds awful nice! I would love to be a permanant traveler doing that but i don't know how i could continually fund it. I guess you never know what happens when you hit the road though!

How can I answer this question? I left the states over three and a half years ago, but it hasn't all been travel. first I spent a year in NZ, about a half travel, and half living somewhere. then I was just traveling for the next 8ish months. Making it to Europe I started to settle down, and then lived for a year in ukraine, and now have live the last year in spain. but during these times of living somewhere, I've always managed to travel, but not really be traveling. I plan on continuing to live abroad with occasional visits back stateside for quite a while.