Just come back from 2.5 years traveling (no working). Thought I'd offer to help other travelers out to keep me in the travel frame of mind. I went to Europe, Africa, India, SE Asia, China, Aust/NZ, Central and South America (plus have travelled USA and Canada already). So I'm familiar with quite a few places.

A lot of people ask "where should I go?" That's tough to answer when I know nothing about you. Would you really let a complete stranger plan your entire trip for you? I'd recommend you check out some online travel blogs (like on bootsnall) and visit a bookstore browsing travel books and especially photo books. Once you get an idea of places that you think you'd be interested in, I can help out. For example, if you decide you'd really like to see Italy, in addition to the standard cities I could recommend you see Cinque Terre, the lakes north of Milan, the Dolomites, Amalfi Coast and Sicily. I can try to give input on tentative itineraries and that sort of thing. Best advice I can give is just get out there and be flexible. Once out on the road you'll meet people who will suggest great places to see.

Travel planning is one of the more exciting parts of the pre-trip. Try not to stress and don't be afraid to do whatever you think sounds fun.

quote:

Originally posted by mono loco:
Best advice I can give is just get out there and be flexible. Once out on the road you'll meet people who will suggest great places to see.

This needs to be repeated for emphasis. Be flexible!

Wow, 2.5 years! How are you adjusting to civilian life. Need any pointers? I'm sure these guys could help.

If you don't mind me asking, how much did it cost to live, without working for 2.5 years?

ya, adjusting back to "normal" life isn't easy. i'm back in the corporate world so maybe i'll have to start posting on that thread.

2.5 years of travel cost A LOT. i don't know exactly, that's something i should figure out. but i think it was around US$60k. had i not spent about a year in Europe, this would be dramatically lower. this figure also includes 2 rtw tickets, a tour in egypt and a tour in africa (those alone are about $10k). i think for future trips i'll try to pick the less expensive countries. the experiences there are often more rewarding as well.

ok but how did you fund that? Did you save for several years? Inherit some cash? 60k doesnt just manifest itself

Coming from someone who is dedicating themselves to saving for their own RTW trip... how did you get all that moolah?! I'm dripping with jealousy.

I worked and saved for 7 years. Seven long years of living cheaply (e.g., eating pb&j sandwiches for lunch daily). I also had a little bit of investments from before then that I cashed out. Coming home with no money isn't so good though.
(I was originally considering buying a house, but chose travel instead.)

quote:

Originally posted by mono loco:
(I was originally considering buying a house, but chose travel instead.)

Right on man! Invest in what?... the future? THE FUTURE IS NOW!

(also, an investment in personal experiences far outweighs a house)

two and a half years...man, that's dreamy. Did you know you were gonna go for that amount of time? Im planning a rtw romp with my soon to be husband in November (depending how the Met's are doing)and its been tough planning that far in advance and figuring out what we're going to want a year from now... It's also tough to keep up the same level of dedication and excitment leading up to our departure date.

i was expecting 1-2 years for the rtw trip... but thinking it would be more likely around 1 year. turns out there's a lot to see in this world even after 2.5 years there's A LOT left to see.

being flexible will help with what places you may want to visit towards the end of your trip. if your interests change during the trip, you can always alter your initial plan. of course this is hard to do if you have set flights.

there's something about me that was always excited about getting on to the next destination (in some cases i should've stayed put a while longer). now and then i'd take a week to chillout along the way (recharge). one thought to keep you motivated is would you rather be out there traveling or stuck back at work.

Wow - thanks for the offer of advice! so i guess my question is a kind of simple and opinion based but if you were going to say that there are 5 places in the world that cannot be missed, what would you say? Feel free to add more than 5 but your top 5 would be great. also, did you run into weather problems anywhere?

thanks!

hmmmm...top 5... that's difficult. i'll try but i'm sure to space out on some great places.
(in no particular order)
- Africa (for the people)
- Africa (wildlife safari - i saw the most animals at Maasai Mara in Kenya)
- India (it hits you on all your senses. living through it isn't always easy but there's a sense of accomplishment when you reflect back on your time there)
- Sarajevo (cool city with a great post-war atmosphere, be sure to do the war tour for the full effect)
- Olympos, Turkey (relax on the beach by day, party by night. yes, there are plenty of places you can do this. there was just something special about Olympos)

notable places that made me go 'wow':
- the pyramids (+ abu simbel, luxor)
- machu picchu
- easter island
- sydney harbour
- grand canyon
- cappadocia, Turkey
- canadian rockies (icefields parkway)
- Carcassonne, France (medieval castle and old town)
- sisteen chapel (vatican)
- eilean donan castle, Scotland (maybe more of an 'oooh' cuz it made for nice pictures)
- neuschwanstein (Germany)
- Tallinn, Estonia (SOOO many pretty girls!!!)
- lake bled, Slovenia (another 'ooooh' for good pics)
- skocjan cave, Slovenia (it's HUGE inside)
- Uluru at sunrise
- The Alps (Swiss & Italian)
- Angkor Wat

other notable experiences:
- felucca ride down the Nile (Egypt)
- la tomatina (Bunol, Spain)
- tubing down the river in Vang Vieng (Laos)
- touring Scotland in the snow
- partying in the streets of Granada, Spain, and not even knowing what it was everyone was celebrating
- hiking along the Cinque Terre and stopping off at the little villages
- Amsterdam ('nuf said)
- volunteering in the islands of Thailand post-tsunami
- hiking along the Great Wall with a Chinese woman trying to sell me stuff for half the way (about 5km)
- Cesky Krumlov (chillout, float down the river)
- island hopping in Greece
- hitchhiking Bulgaria
- switching buses 5 times to reach my destination w/o speaking the language in China
- canyoning in Slovenia and after "sliding" down a 12m waterfall the guide tells us none of the other companies do that one due to potential injuries
- going to a dance club in Croatia and hearing a better mix of music by the DJ than anywhere i've been in UK, US, Australia, etc... (plus he really did take requests)

cities of note:
- Barcelona, Spain (one of the best cities - art, architecture, nightlife)
- Rio (going out at night - the crowds, the dancing, the potential to be robbed)
- Krakow, Poland (cheap food, beer, good ambiance)
- Cuzco, Peru (in general just a cool place to be)
- San Sebastian, Spain (another cool town)
- Paris (of course)
- London (you can spend weeks here and still not see all the museums and sights)
- Rome, Florence, Venice (history, art, architecture)
- Zermatt, Switzerland (hella expensive but fun little town)
- Split, Croatia (often passed over but shouldn't be. cool old town with great little bars throughout. beaches could use improvement though.)
- Hanoi + Hoi An
- Luang Prabang, Laos
- Yangshuo, China (backpacker-ville, but cool place)
- Pingyao, China (classic Chinese look)
+ + + lots of others i don't have time to think of

i'm sure i'm forgetting all kinds of stuff. and, of course, these are just some of my opinions. i always favored the small towns to big cities. after a while, i found the big cities were very much the same (not much special about them).


Weather problems...
it was rainy season in Costa Rica which was a lousy time to be there.
i wasn't really prepared for the snow in Scotland.
lots of unseasonably cool weather when i was wanting hot sun (europe should have me over to dispel heat waves. there was a heat wave last summer in the northern areas while it was cool around bulgaria/romania. a month later it was cool in the north [where i was] and a heat wave in bulgaria/romania. !?!)
otherwise standard rain now and then.

oh man, 324 days. thanks for the awesome post/inspiration.

holy crap, can i get $60 grand so I can do all that stuff?