Ok, first off, I just want to say that I have read some of the other posts on this subject and have seen some great advice.

So here is my situation. My girlfriend and I are planning on leaving for a RTW in April/May 2007 and return in January 2008(8 months). Right now, my iternary is something like this:
1. Peru/Chile (stay for 6 weeks or so)
- Go see MP
- Backpack a lot
- avoid Lima (haha, a little joke)

then fly to

2. Madrid, Spain. (In Europe a total of 3 weeks or so)
- Buy a euro rail pass and travel europe by train. see museums. Visit Prague, Berlin, etc.
- End up in greece, want to stay there for at least a week. Visit some islands, check out all the wicked stuff there.

then fly from Athens to

3.Bangkok (Thailand/Laos/Cambodia, Bhurma)(Total of 2 months)
- travel around Thailand (probably by bus)
- Visit Laos, Cambodia, Bhurma.

fly from Bangkok to

4.Kathmandu (Nepal/Bhutan)(total of 2/3 months)
- Hike everest base camp(apparantly all you need is a permit which costs less than $100)
- Annapurna trail
- hang out with the nepalese.

Fly from Kathmandu to

5.Somewhere in China (2 weeks)
- just want to hike part of the great wall

Probably fly home to Canada after this.

Ok, time for my questions

1. How much money would this trip take?

Together, for 8 months we will have $30,000 canadian between the two of us.
Is this going to be enough?

We are going to hostel it in Peru and do several week long hikes in the andes. In Europe we are going to look into the program where you stay on people's couches(anyone heard of this?). PLus, we'll get night trains so that we can use the train as a hotel.
We also have to buy plane tickets with the $30,000

2. Where does one buy such a ticket? And what sort of Cost?

I've used the program here, but I get a rough estimate of a cost and no dates. Are RTW tickets open ended? Do you buy one and just get as many flights as you want for a year? Is it actually a RTW ticket, or is it a series of tickets through many airlines and the cost is just a cummulative cost of all the single trips added together?

3. Is it cheaper to find transportation in Thailand?
By this question Im wondering if I can somehow take a bus/train through Asia and right into Nepal. Can you take a train into China? If you can, would this drastically lower the cost of the ticket, considering I would just be flying to Bangkok.

Ahhh I'm so confused about the transportation!

Final thoughts
There will be some days where we will splurge and eat dinner at a decent restaurant ~$20 US for both of us and we will be doing some guided trips. River rafting in Nepal, renting mountain bikes, stuff like that. We will be most trhifty in Europe. Is it possible to be thrify in Europe?

So, can I take on this trip with $30,000 for 2 people?
What is the real deal with a RTW ticket?

Any information anyone could give me would be greatly appreciated. I'm grateful to all of you who have been all over the world and take the time to share your learning experiences with those of us who are just beginning our journeys.

For the sleeping on couches bit try Hospitality Club or Servas.

OK, did 16 months out myself anbd went to most of the places you are heading to.

tried to transfer canadain into USD and i am figuring about $30USD a day. is it possible, yes, but will be dauntinmg to stay in that budget.

can you be thrifty in Europe. of course, but it still aint cheap. dorm beds are like $20USD a night and really check into train tickets because that aint cheap either. there are upgrades from the regular prices into cochettes for the night trains which are pricey

dont forget to add in departure taxes and visas money

annapurna hiking is ridiculously cheap. keep some money for the Maoists

greece is expensive. no doubt about it. the ferries arent cheap and lodging is like $30$40 a night

in terms of the RTW ticket check out www.airtreks.com they did me right but i know some people like to buy as they go. however, if you are moving that fast that would be stupid

you are moving fast on your itenary and that always costs more money. you might want to rethink your itenary all together and throw out a few and spend a bit longer in each place. moving so fast will make you tired too and that can be tough on traveling partners

good luck. you will have the time of your life

You can catch a train from Vietnam (Hanoi) all the way to Beijing, where it is eay to access the Wall. Vietman Railways has timetable and prices.

To get to Nepal you can go through Tibet. The train line to Lhasa is finished but passenger trains are not running yet - they are meant to start in June / July 2006. At the moment it can be done by bus

China Trains has the prices and routes of trains around China as well as prices for the different classes.

Some other links that may help.
Ryan Air can have really cheap flights around Europe
Ride 4 Cents does ride share where you can get rides with people and pay towards fuel costs.
Liftpool is another one that you can get rides from.

Good luck and happy planning

Your RTW ticket is a package of individual flights but the packaging would normally get it cheaper for you than buying individually, the exception coming in where there is availability of extensive budget carriers.
You could use airtreks to cost your complete extent of flying and also get comparisons from the likes of www.circletheplanet.com or www.circlethe globe.com, and then use airtreks to cost your main international legs and have a look at www.attitudetravel.com for budget European flights and www.asia-budget-airlines.com for budget Asian flights to see if it works out a worthwhile ammount cheaper.
On top of your flying costs, you ought to then try and developp an itinerary in some detail, do a heap of to get some idea of pricing for particular events intended, and then you'll beginning to get an idea of what you've got left to survive on.
I reckon you certainly need to review your movements in the Asia area for you are jumping about SEA a bit, heading back over to Nepal and then thinking of going from Nepal to China, whereas you may be better to head from Greece to India/Nepal/Tibet and then on to SEA as tho you are considering flying to China you're also asking about a train to Nepal and then also to China, and per Kotiti that'll only be from Vietnam, no train going from BK to Nepal and it'll probably also be a flight into and out of Myanmar, tho there is a land border crossing with Thailand.
You also need to consider making the most of best weather over such a long trip too as currently for Asia in hitting SEA first you may miss the worst of the monsoon weather but find it starting to get somewhere near more than chilly up in the Himalayans - also of note is that Bhutan is horribly expensive like to tune of US$200/h/d.
And then by January you'll freeze your butt of on the Great Wall. Doing the reverse will get you having it better in the Himas, catching the full monsoon and still freezing your butt off.
I,d even think of hitting the Great Wall first, working down thru SEA, doing your stuff in the Himas and then heading for Greece and Europe and hightailing it to SA for your swan song - miss most of cold and all of Monsoon that way.