BootsnAll Travel Community

Hi There

I'm new to these forums so Hello everyone!

I am thinking about going around the world for 6 months late next year and would just like some general advice. I do not have anyone to travel with so I would be going solo, I'm female and 21 years old. Is it safe to travel by yourself. Also I'm not very outgoing, would I struggle to get along with people especially with language barriers etc.

How do you go about budgeting for your trip? I know the main places I would like to go:

Oz and New Zealand
Thailand
China
Hong Kong
Canada

Those are the main ones, I would probably add a few more places in there as well.


Also, does anyone have links etc to hostels and where would be the best place to buy my airtickets?

Any advice would be much appreciated and I really don't know where to start off!

Thanks
Debbie

Hi Debbie!

Welcome to the boards. I'm planning my own RTW, leaving next June, also going solo. It's quite daunting, but the more you read up on things & do your research, the more you'll realise there's hundreds, if not thousands of people planning exactly the same sort of trip as me and you.

Have a look at the articles and threads on this site in particular - many of my questions have been answered by spending hours trawling through the info on here - it can become quite addictive! (i.e. I'm at work right now )

As far as budget goes, I'm still as confused in some ways about how to go about it as I was 6 months ago (when I was in your position now). I've decided I'm going Thailand, Bali, Oz, NZ, Fiji & Cook Islds, LA over about 7 months (possibly staying longer in Oz if I get a working visa) - I've budgeted for about £25 per day (food, accomodation, etc.) and my ticket, insurance and equipment should be be about £2,000 all in all, no expensive tours, just cheap hostels and leave everything else to chance.

To be honest, one thing you'll hear from all the seasoned veterans is 'it depends on how you travel' - keep this in mind as I have and it will give you a better perspective when planning your own trip. Ask yourself what you want out of it, read some guidebooks, speak to other travellers and get ideas. I've found that it's like a very big jigsaw puzzle, you start off with a rough idea of the picture and a few pieces and take it from there.

Anyway, I better get back to work. Good luck!

Oh, one more thing - I found this section of the site particularly helpful, have a look at 'traveller profiles' to get an idea of what others budgetted before they went, and the 'post-trip' link for an overview of what people actually ended up spending on their own RTW trips.

J.

Hiya Debbie!!

There's some good advice there from Mr Hotpot!!

The trip sounds like a good one to me and like Lancs says, you'll be suprised how many people are planning such similar things to you! Read thse boards, ask questions chat to folk in the chat room! Its great for finding out from those the have done it and those that are doing it!! - Oh, and everyone is pretty friendly!!

I'm planning a 1 year rtw trip leaving in May 2006 and just finializing my itin. and dates just now. -I'm still tearing my hair out at times especially when I think I'm nearly there and someone throws a spanner in the works! ...But people here are great to chat to and talk you through it!

Dont be afraid to travel olone! I know its different for a lass than a guy but I've met so many lasses going solo and they all seem to be having a great time! ...And really...don't worry about being a little shy...once you're on the road you'll soon realize that there are loads of people in the same boat as you and most of them will be up for a chat! You'll feel your way into it but I've found people so friendly on the road! For starters...you already have one thing in common...TRAVEL!!

Like I said, read the boards here, do some research on the net, read a few travel blogs and come chat!!!

As far the hostels try http://www.hostels.com or http://www.hostelworld.com both are pretty handy sites and give you reviews of the hostels fom folk who've stayed there! Others here have their own faveourite sites but I've found these 2 to be very helpful and did me great for my last trip!

Have a look at Trailfinders and STA travel (I know trailfinders will go throough the main alliances that offer rtw tickets to find you the best deal).

If you've got any more questions just ask away!

Hi dm21
You've come to the right place....in fact myself and Mr Hotpot have had frequent discussion/worries about how much things cost.
From what I can gather they cost however much you're willing to spend (which is a bit vague I know).

If you have a look at Hotpots previous posts (click on his name, go to his posts) you'll find one where he was asking pretty much the same question re: budget & I believe he got loads of help.

As far as hostels go have a butchers at http://www.hihostels.com and http://www.hostels.com these seem to cover most hostels that are any kop round the world.

As far as being a solo female traveller goes you obviously face a few more risks than I would as a male traveller, although from what I can gather your risk is real but rare. General advice like keep your wits about you and use common sense seems to be the general theme.

I'll second the jigsaw comment above, I have been planning for over a year and still things seem to change all the time, to be honest half the fun is planning it all.

Good luck & don't hesitate to ask if you want more info on anything.

LondonCard must be quicker at typing than me....as you see I have actually repeated most of what was said....i'm sure that wasn't there when i started

Ian Bavill & Londoncard2 are officially my 2 new bezzie mates on this site, helpful, friendly souls indeed - and they're calling Mr Hotpot! - no neeeeed fellas, I'm not a ranking BNA official (yet )!

Definitely read some blogs actually, they're very very useful. Some ones I like are:

Never Be Complete - this guy's finished his trip now, but it's an excellent site with well written entries from the road.

http://www.bavsworldtour.webeden.co.uk - bookmark this one, right Mr. Bavill?

In fact, have a look here for tons of good blogs to read. You can even set up one of your own to document the preparation for your journey and life on the road. I did! {Joe Blogs}

Post stuff on the boards too, you'll get an answer sooner than you think...hence this post! Haha!

J.


PS - anyone know where the link for the Euro-meet-up bash on 30th December is? I can't find it!!

Awww bless ya....i'm touched.

Definately bookmark the bavsworldtour site....whoever wrote that must be a right lad.

I must say Hotpot you seem to know loads of random things about various meet ups, camps and various other bits n bats going on in the BNA community...where do you find all this stuff out? Euro-meet up bash, that sounds ace....I say it sounds ace, it does involve getting drunk doesn't it.

Heh. Dons a russian-mafia stylee voice... I heeve my sourlces Meester Baaveeel.

Actually I haven't got a f*cking clue about half the stuff on this site - let's just say I spend far too much time on it (although this is my last week at work in my current job, so they can plant a smackerooney on my ass if they think I'm gonna be productive )

Not sure - I read about it somewhere on here last week I think, it sounded good. -Help us out Mods!?!-

It will involve getting drunk if us two turn up mate...

You lucky get....I don't leave my work 'til 31 Jan...although to be fair I have done very little for a number of weeks now, and long may that continue.

Euro meet up sounds too good an opportunity to turn down...i may have to put a post on that is more prominent.....keep me informed if you find anything out.

I only leave my current work place Ian, gotta find further work as of, well, now. Pain in the ass.

Good idea on the Euro meet-up link sonny jim.

aaarrrgggghhhh...nightmare. you had any ideas yet? can't you just be a temp for a bit or something.

Yep man, gonna temp till Christmas then get a job back home (Preston), and live with me parents till I set off on my trip .

Ace.

Ian, PM me mate, tell us what you do for a living, etc. we should deffo ave a pint sometime on travels, or at this meet-up (if we ever find out about it).

- Apologies to dm21, I know this is your thread! -

dm21, come to the Euro meet-up!

On the downside...If you come to teh Euro Xmas/New years/holiday/general drinking session....

...You'll have me to put up with! Guess you cant win 'em all!!!

hi dm1, before you know it, you will be on the road... i've been contemplating my 1 year rtw since april of last year and now i only have just over 4 weeks till i hit my first stop... singapore.

advice... gees, there are so manh aspects to rtw travel that i would suggest starting off with a generic coverage of topics - try http://www.travel-library.com/rtw/html.faq.html

i suppose if anything, even though i am happy with my routing, i would of spent more time by examining routes and destinations covered by my carrier (oneworld) at http://www.oneworld.com. judging from other traveller's already on the road, this oneworld ticket provides significant flexibility in changing dates but can cost with changing routes. So, before you buy that ticket, make sure you are happy with it.

i've also spent the last 6 or so months adding to the backpack... take ur time in filling the backpack... i'm glad i've got most things now so i can now spend the last 2 or 3 weeks relaxing and working on the fitness etc... i've got an 80L Montt backpack - i like it because it opens up like a clam, but one of the downfalls is that it doesn't have wheels... even though i think this may be a bit big, i don't intend on filling it... i wanted the flexibility just in case.

in terms of being a solo woman traveller, i have met heaps and heaps on all of my previous backpacking trips... the other thing is that i meet all types of people... the extravert, introvert, friendly, unfriendly (even though most are friendly), helpful, annoying etc. etc.... joys of travelling.

good luck with your planning... i'm really glad i had the time to go through everything that needed to be done... But the next few weeks will be busy... packing up house/ removalist/ staying in temp accommodation in Perth/ saying the goodbyes (dreading that!) and then off I go.

Cya,
Shane.

dm21, in terms of budgeting, i've done a daily budget based on the number of nights i intend on spending in each location... check out lonely planet's rough guides for each location... but i must say that their estimates are a tad low for me but probably feasible (i haven't been to asia yet)... according to lonely planet, the suggested budget for SE Asia is as follows (2004Edn):
Brunei US30-50/D
Cambodia US15/D
East Timor US20/D
Laos US10/D
Malaysia US12/D
Myanmar US12-20/D
Philippines US25/D
Singapore US25/D
Thailand US11-15/D
Vietnam US23/D

Hello everyone!

Thanks to everyone who replied and for all the great info, I've got a good idea of what I should be looking for etc now!! I can see that there is lots of planning required but I'm looking forward to that as well!

I'm going to start off by finding out what routes etc are possible and take it from there. Next hurdle will be getting time off work, that's tomorrows task.

No doubt I will be asking plenty of questions over the next couple of months!!

Thanks again
Debs