BootsnAll Travel Community

Hi,

I'm going to be doing a RTW starting in January of 2006 for 6 months. I am hoping to have at least $10000 US and I am still in the early stages of planning. I'm thinking that although I'd love to hit every continent, I won't actually be able to do so. Soooooo, I was wondering if any of you could give your opinion on which continents would be the most important/best/fun etc. to travel to based on your experiences. In other words, how would you rank them! Also,if you could give some input as to what is/are things that should be on a "must do" list for your favorite places I would really appreciate it. Thanks so much!

Cheers,
Danika

Uh...

Drop 5 in a savings account, fool around with the other and see if you get burned out on the traveling!

But then again I'd see 10k and burn it up in weeks... Gotta put a restraint on the spending part of the brain.

Oh yeah...

Gotta island hop the caribbean!

If you have not done a great deal of reading on prospective destinations, I would strongly encourage you to do so. By doing so, you might answer your own question. If your travel interest is in developing or third world cultures, for example, ignorance of local mores and customs could cause some real problems (I was delighted a couple of weeks ago, for instance, to see a German in the village of Neifu in the Vava'u group in Tonga hauled off to jail for not wearing a shirt in town.Ignorance is no excuse.) Here are a few suggestions for travel reading that may allow you to answer your own question:
* Travellers Tales: any year or topic
* Best Travel Writing of 2004 (or any other year)-arguably the best travel story anthology published on a regular basis; often brilliant and always interesting
* Paul Theroux: Happy Isles of Oceania/Riding the Iron Rooster/Old Patagonia Express
* Tim Cahill: Pecked to Death by Ducks/A Jaguar is Eating my Leg/Pass the Butterworms
* JM Troost: Sex Lives of Cannibals

The other thing I would suggest is traveling where most people don't. Perhaps save Europe for your later years, as I have. The developing or third world (I am fond of the Pacific and South America), Turkey, and Eastern Europe are off the beaten track and well worth the effort. I always find that such places offer more to the visitor because you are not one of countless thousands, and the interest is mutual. Finally--and I cannot stress this enough-- READ about where you are going, learn a few words and phrases (and watch people's faces light up), and know something of the culture. It can save you from making mistakes that would affect other travelers as well.

Good travels and best of luck-
RM

Thanks for the advice!

I have picked up a couple of books but the titles that you've given will be sure to help me out. South America is gradually becoming a must do for me but again, I'll have to read a little more to determine where exactly I'd like to go there.

Thanks again!

Hey D~

I asked a similar question when i joined BNA in early 2004. The advice I got that was great (and now seems kind of obvious :-)) is to list out all the places you've ever thought about, read about, heard about visiting that intrigued you. Then think about what activities you enjoy or if you want to have a driving purpose on your trip (i.e. are you a budding photographer that wants to attempt to document the churches of prague, etc). I read a ton of the BNA travelouges to the places I was curious about and picked up the guide books to the places that were still intriguing and then bought a map and started noting spots to visit....this naturally evolved into my route. But another piece of advice is to not "over" plan you trip (i.e. be in x place on y date for n days).

Hope thiss helps!

Danika, South America's a wonderful place to travel. Now the hard part is choosing where to go...your money will go very far in SA, if you want it to. There's all kinds of landscapes, whether you like snowy mountains, beaches, salt flats, dunes, etc...lots of places to explore!

If you're really curious about SA, visit the SA forum and have a gander!

Shouldnt 10 Grand last longer than 6 months!!!!

I was planning on twice as long with the same $.

im not dreaming am i?

I plan on Thailand, maybe some more of SE asia, India, then I hope to end up in Scotland..