Feedback For My 2012 RTW Trip

Hello all! While some planning is still tentative, this is pretty close to what my final concrete itinerary (not necessarily in this order) and budget will look like for my 2012 RTW Trip:

Central America (Guatemala, Honduras)
South America (Peru, Argentina, possibly one other)
Oceania (New Zealand, Australia)
Asia (Japan, South Korea, Thailand)
Europe (Germany, Italy, Scotland, Ireland, possible few others)
Africa (likely 2 countries - still working on route to decide whether they will be in the north or south)

My budget for the trip will range between $30k - $38k.

I am looking for any and all feedback from everyone. I have many other recent posts circulating this upcoming trip - so If you want to take the time to read and give me advice in those threads as well, I would be very grateful for your help.

Also while I am thinking about it, I could use some advice on routing the itinerary. I realize the seasons vary depending on world location and that there are peak seasons / festivals to hit in certain parts of the world. Can definitely use some advice on this along with everything else anyone has to offer in general.

Thank you!


Chris

P.S. If there are already good existing threads on this subject, feel free to send me there!
P.S.S. If you want more info / details, I'll be more than happy to supplement them.

How long are you planning to travel in total and how long are you planning for each region? Europe and Japan are much more expensive than CA/SA, so the length of time could really impact your budget.

You mentions the off peak seasons... We found shoulder seasons like October in Europe (and March in NZ) to be much cheaper and less crowded. However, when we got into November a lot of the museums, attractions like cable cars up to hiking trails, and restaurants were closed up.

The other thing to consider in your route planning is the culture of each place. After months in Asia and India, we went to NZ and it was amazing to be able to speak English, recognize the foods (and drink the water), rent a car, and shop for clothes that fit. While I had a great time in Asia, it was nice to have a little break and get back to the 'west' for a little while. If your budget allows you may want to space out the places that you might find more difficult with ones that are easier (whatever that means for you - based on language skills, food preferences, budget, etc.)

Sounds like a great trip!

@Seat42A: I had planned on travelling for a year or just over. If I still have funds though, I am not obligated to any time structure for home return. If by region you mean country, I plan on staying in each country typically for 1 month (no less than 3 weeks). There will probably be a few times where I'm ready to leave sooner due to lack of interest or may even stay longer due to loving the area so much. So many tangibles... Anyway, good to know that Japan is a more expensive area - did not know that (knew of Europe). What I mean as far as seasons was that I am trying to get the route figured out where I end up in the right parts of the world during the right seasons. In other words, I was told Europe can be brutal during winter and so I am trying to avoid running into seasonal miscalculations. I realize seasons are opposite above and below the equator, but am still relatively inexperienced otherwise in the area. I'm sure besides trying to avoid the wrong times to be in certain areas that it is optimal to be in some during certain parts of the year. Definitely not a big fan of ridiculous crowds of tourists and the like. I do intend on hitting some festivals and certain events, so I know I'll also have to figure that into the route timing equation.

Definitely agree with you on the likelihood of "burning out" when getting away from the "west" for too long. That is definitely something I'll figure in, although the rough routes I've looked at seem to line that up back and forth pretty well.

One possible rough route I was mapping looked something like this: CA => SA => NZ => AUS => ASIA => EUROPE. Problem is I would like to go to Africa too (looking like mid-south since North has so much crazy stuffs going on right now) but am not quite sure how to route that in just yet. Trying to keep the flights logical as well to keep from burning up too much funds.

What do you think?