BootsnAll Travel Community

Here's the thing: I really dislike planning my travel. I'll do the bare minimum, but the way I travel best is to figure out the first week or so, then just wing it- stay longer in the places I fall in love with, keep moving through those I don't. I'd like to keep my itinerary open and I have 6-9 months to travel. The only places definitely on the list right now are Morocco and Turkey.

So I'm wondering, how possible or impossible is it to get visas on the road, and/or what kinds of hassles am I not thinking of/forgetting by trying to "wing" a long term trip, most likely RTW but really just moving in one direction, "piece meal"ing my plane tickets or going by land? I don't want my plane tickets set in stone if I can at all help it... but maybe it's still cheaper to buy a ticket then change it than buying it on the road...?

has anyone else done this out there?

and is there some kind of travel resource similar to a guide book but online, so that when on the road, travelers can find out important information without having to fish through Google?

thanks so much!

Generally, this is pretty easy. You can usually get visas in a neighboring country, for example. But some problems can come up. Certain countries want you to apply from your home country, or apply up to 3 months in advance (for example). I would advise researching which countries you will need to apply beforehand for. I would help you with that, but it really depends on where you're going (and sometimes where you're from!).

Whilst you're on the road, I would say it's easier (and more economical) for you to travel overland - especially if you're going RTW - when possible. Apart from getting to see more of a country, you also won't have to buy a bunch of one way tickets on the road.

I just did a bunch of visa requirement research last night for our trip starting off in October this year. I was actually kind of surprised at how few visas we would have to get prior to leaving - only 4 or 5 out of about 40 countries on the current itinerary.

I did all of my searching at the US Dept. of State website. Pretty straight forward with their descriptions and requirements. It seems to get confusing thought once you go to the other counties websites to get more info. Good luck!

The important issue is 'proof of onward travel' that you need for some countries, particularly CA (though I haven't researched Asia or Africa)...Basically having to prove you are not entering a country to live there. Border problems and workarounds are discussed in various threads. The general consensus seems to be that, as long as you have proof of funds to support yourself (like travelers cheques to flash) and you are relatively neat and sensible looking, you are unlikely to be asked for proof of onward travel - but that's just what I have read