RTW itinerary - help needed pls :D

Hello all,

My partner and I are planning a RTW trip starting in June 2013. We will buy a 1 way ticket from Ireland either to India or Nepal and start from there. We want to travel by doing volunteering work, woofing, doing some paid work and stay out as much as we can.

We are dividing our trip in 3 stages.

1) We would like to visit the following countries:

Nepal
India
Thailand
Indonesia
Laos
Cambodia
Vietnam
Japan
Malaysia
Indonesia

2) Afterwards, we would like to move to Australia and spend between 3 to 9 months there, depending on visa.

3) We then would like to come back to Europe through South America.

We are planning to travel for at least 2 years through Asia and Australia. That’s why we decided to work as we travel. I have spent 3 weeks in Japan and I know it is not cheap, especially if you don’t want to miss out on something that can make your day. I believe the same goes for any other country.

We would like to spend between 4 to 6 weeks in each country. Then again, if we find work we may stay even longer or if we don’t feel comfortable with the town/city/country, or our visa expires, even less.

At the moment, the idea is to start in Nepal and then move to India. We have no idea of what country to visit afterwards. We want to go as far as Japan. What do you think the best way to reach Japan from India is? Do you recommend flying or travelling overland through China?

Do you think it will be easier to find work in South Korea and visit Japan on a daily basis or trying to find a job straight in Japan?

As we are in the planning stage any suggestion is highly appreciated.

Hi there barby.

Sounds like you have quite the trip planned - congrats!

As for getting from India over to Japan, do you want to visit all those other countries on your list before getting to Japan or after? It might make sense to catch a flight from somewhere in India to Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, or Singapore (three biggest SE Asia hubs). You should be able to find a fairly affordable flight to one of those hubs, and then you can travel overland throughout the rest of the region for as long as you want. Then you can find another flight up to Japan.

Not sure what kind of work you will be looking for, but teaching English is probably the easiest way to make a buck in pretty much all those countries. Obviously some pay more (Japan, S. Korea) than others (Thailand, Vietnam), so that may factor into your decision. If I was you, I'd save the more expensive places like Japan for later, but that's just a personal preference.

You could go in the total opposite direction and head overland through China and ultimately make your way to Japan and/or S. Korea and the go to SE Asia after that. Again, totally up to you. I have not personally traveled in China, so I can't speak from personal experience. We do have some articles about traveling in China here on BootsnAll though.

http://www.bootsnall.com/articles/12-10 ... -rail.html
http://www.bootsnall.com/articles/12-08 ... china.html

Keep us informed on the planning - sounds pretty awesome!