BootsnAll Travel Community

Has anyone done an around-the-world trip and just not really plan much? I'm not talking literally buying the ticket and flying overseas but do you really have to have the amount of time planned out? I see a lot of people who seem to know how long they are gonna stay places and how long they'll be gone and it just doesn't seem like I can even begin to plot out the entire trip.

Some people seem to know they'll be gone from X month and return X month.

When I look forward to doing a RTW I can set a tentative date for departure but I have NO CLUE whatsoever how long I want to or can even afford to be gone.

Just make sure you get shots for everywhere on your "maybe" list...

Yea definitely. I'd get shots that are good enough for just about anywhere.

Having no plan is the best plan of all

I haven't done an rtw, but just shorter trips instead. I find that not planning lets me explore places that I didn't think I'd go to (ie. from a recommendation from a traveller that I meet on the road), or lets me stay longer in places that I fall in love with. Screw the itinerary. Do what feels right at the moment

If you buy an RTW ticket, they will most likely ask for specific dates that you wish to fly in/out of the destinations you'll be visiting. Though these are often date changeable, it probably a good idea to have a think about how long you are going to be away as you can save yourself money on things like insurance if you the period you wish to be covered from/to.

I booked my ticketlast week - ** - and up until when I sat down in the travel agents I didn't have an exact idea of the length of time I wanted to spend in each country, so I had to estimate based on my budget so he could input the flight dates. I can change the dates en route if need be, but it would cost a lot more if I were to change my route.

It depends if you're buying a one-way ticket or not I suppose. I'd advise considering where you wnat to go, even though (if you're anything like yours truly) you'll change your mind a million times before (and probably after) you make your final decision on where to go.

Just something to bear in mind.
(I really should stop over-using bracket(s) shouldn'(t) (I)..(.)(.)))))))

has anyone gone to foreign countries without guidebooks? i sort of want to go without guidebooks and just use word of mouth....it gets tiresome and annoying to whip out the old LP at every corner!

I'm with Joey. I keep struggling with the planning. I go back and forth on where, when, how long, etc. I have no idea how I will make up my mind. And in the meantime the time just keeps getting closer and I have little decided! The only thing that is established so far is 3 months in Egypt working with Coral Cay in the Red Sea. And even though I have committed money to that, I entertain ideas of shortening/changing that too!

If I am going to keep going after that 3 months or come "home" is a real problem. If I am going to be gone long term, I need to rent out my condo....but part of me wants the option to just come back after 3 months. If somebody is living in my place that would be a lot harder.

I can make the 3 month comittment but can't seem to get beyond that!! Help me out folks. I need a push!

I imagine a few of the countries i'd hit on a RTW I won't have guide books for so that would be fun.


I don't plan on buying any plane tickets so i'm not worried about changing dates or anything like that. All my travel will be overland except the one-way jump across the Atlantic.

That is why I want to save up plenty of money. I want to be able to literally wander around. Other than flying into London with a vague idea of when I want to get to Moscow to catch the train to South East Asia, I don't really want to commit.

I once traveled to Dublin without a guidebook and felt a little lost that I didn't have anything to refer to. Go figure.

Bring along a guidebook and then feel free to ignore it. There is a lot of basic information in guidebooks that really is valuable. The listings for cafes and guesthouses are often out of date, but the rest of the info is handy.

I went to Mexico for a week without a guidebook. Granted, it was only for a week, but it was just a spur of the moment, "I get xmas to new years off where can I go tomorrow" kind of trip. So I went to the bus station with a friend the night before, got a bus ticket to Monterrey and headed south of the border. No itinerary, just thought about getting to a place called Zacatecas that a few people had raved about. Needless to say, my friend stayed in Monterrey but at the bus station, I met her friends, who knew friends in Zacatecas and gave me their contact info. I hooked up with them the entire week, got the local tour, and celebrated New Years Mexican style. It was awesome!

But I do have to thank NTFT for some info from *his* Mexico guidebook!

static is wise....listen to the wisdom.

Unless you know a lot about a country, what will you do when you get there? Walking around aimlessly may get a little boring.

Aside from maps, and a suggested list of 'to do's, there are also helpful foreign language phrases.

If you are a nature freak (bird / animals / botany), and are visiting East Africa, I also suggest a wildlife guide or a native foliage book, so you can understand a bit more about what you are viewing.

Getting along without a guidebook is easier in some countries than others. Sometimes you find a tourist/traveler office in the center of a city that is overflowing with maps and info on the city - this is good. friendly locals and a common language are also beneficial. however if you end up in a city that's not really designed for tourists and you don't speak the language, well, you may well feel quite lost.

A benefit of traveling with a guidebook is that it does provide info on the more well-known/popular attractions in the area. Also the history/background on an area is typically very good.

But depending on your personality and travel style, you may well thoroughly enjoy traveling without any references and try and find your way -- tougher, for sure, and you may miss out on some big things, but then again, unencumbered by a 'guidebook', you may stumble onto some truly fascinating spots the book forgot to cover.

My advice, try it both ways. Sorta what Joe E static said -- Take a guidebook as a backup but try not using it for a while. see how you feel in each situation. that's how you'll know which is for you.

I agree...at least do a little research into the places you might want to go. My last trip I did very little, and wish I had because there are other places I would have liked to visit, that I found out about while there and it was too late. You don't have to do much, but a little planning is good.

You could always borrow the guidebooks from the library, friends, or whatever before leaving home, photocopy the most important info on each country, hole punch, and stick it in a folder with brads (or some other way of keeping yourself from losing pages). You could also type up some basic info if there isn't enough on pages to be worth photocopying it.

This way, you won't have to carry all the crap on every restaurant around that someone else thought was worth listing BUT you will have vital info (address of hostels, currency information, visa info, etc)

If you have good eyes, you could reduce the size of the copies too, and fit it all in a mini notebook or something that will fit into a ziploc bag, in case your pack gets wet.

Ok, someone is messing with me or i'm freaking out.

I could have sworn I posted this thread in the vagabonding/rtw forum originally and then it moved to the bna member forum and now it is back here.

Am I crazy or is that what happened?

You must be loosing it. :P

I bought a one-way ticket to OZ, and then another one way out to Singapore 5 months later. After that, I don't have anything planned at all. I have places I'd like to go and probably will go, but nothing set. i don't have a return ticket home, whenever I get to a certain amount of money left, I'll buy my ticket and that'll be the end.

I have my guidebooks for Oz and NZ, but nothing else yet.
I would feel really weird traveling without a guidebook of some kind. You can always find a place to stay and eat, but it would be the sights that I would worry about missing. I'd be the person that would show up in Cambodia without a guidebook and not know about Angkor Wat and completely miss it. So I use the guidebook mainly for sightseeing and activities. I need to know if there is a cool museum in a little town or something like that.

I guess if you have unlimited time, you can just wander and take your time, but I have 6 weeks in New Zealand and about 3 months worth of things I want to do, so it will take some planning and organization. Nothing is set in stone, but there are things I definitely want to do.

pat123123

Has it down pat, as whereas some countries have just so much free info about in airports and visitor information centres, there will be others that have less and also language differences to contend with.

So for non english speaking countries especially, as an alternative to a guidebook or books and extra weight, I would be inclined to do some research as there is as much if not more info on the net than what you will find in guidebooks.

You can then make up a list of basic phrases/words for different languages, what you may want to see, and print of a map even.

The one advantage of some guidebooks is that have a section on local customs, and that also should be noted to minimise offence in other cultures.

Emeraldeyes - for NZ in particular, you will find just so much info on arrival in NZ for free, with AA brochures on regions of the country along with maps, and in Australia, there are locally based visitor information centres just about everywhere you go, and on arrival in Singapore, you willalso find it very similar with a Singapore free visitor guidebook available (NZ has a similar one for the whole country too)

Can you not plan at all? Sure. If you plan a little first!

1. Get all the shots you'll need to go to countries you're thinking about going to.

2. Not planning doesn't mean not having a guidebook, or at least not using one minimally. I've travelled both ways, and both ways have their charms. One of the NON-Charms is arriving in a town without a reservation, and no idea where to start looking for a good hostel. It can be wearying and expensive.

The few times I experienced that I happened to be in a spanish speaking country, and I used my Spanish to ask people on the street for a good place to stay. It turns out he directed me to a place well known in the guidebooks. Go figure it.

It helps to know how to find the areas where the low cost accomodations are, especially in countries where you don't speak the language, and they don't speak much English.

You can usually hit a lot of the good sights by asking people once you arrive somewhere, but sometimes not planning means stumbling onto a great festival or nice town, to find its all booked up. People who made plans got there first.
It's all in the attitude, really. YOu can carry a guidebook to find places to stay, then ask around for the neatest non tourist things to do!

If you say, speak Spanish, and are travelling without maps or guidebook, you most certainly can practice your Spanish looking for a specific place, asking everyone you encounter how to get there. It's great practice.

Some people travel like vagabonds, with little money, following the opportunities, and that could be fun too!

Its all about style, and only you'll know which is best for you.