Mine will be Beijing in 3 months.
I wanted something completely different from my everyday life. And hopefully thats what I'll get. I really don't know much about China and it seemed like the perfect first place to go and just start traveling south.

What was or will be your first destination? Why did you choose this stop to be your first?

Mine will be Mexico City.

Why? Several reasons...
- My first ever backpacking trip (for a brief two and a half weeks) was in Mexico, around Chiapas & the Yucatan, and I loved it so much it inspired me to do a whole year RTW
- My brief experience of Mexico made me hungry for more - it's the friendliest place I've ever been, and it has the best food in the world (well, so far...)
- One of my closest friends from home emigrated to Mexico last year, so it'll give me a chance to catch up with him.

Just over 6 weeks to go now and the excitement is now reaching fever pitch!

I've never done a RTW, but on my longest trip around Europe and Asia, my first stop was Amsterdam. Because a friend of mine was working for Cirque du Soleil there at that time, and she got me a free seat and let me stay with her.

For me, it seems to make more sense to start somewhere nearby. I'll eventually make my way to faraway lands anyways, so why not save money on that first plane ticket. I'm in California. So maybe Mexico or Canada, both within driving/bus ride distance.

On the other hand, I'd love to start in Beijing as well. It is the starting point of my first ever backpacking trip. Seems poetic to go back to where it all began.

Our first stop will be New Zealand. Why? Becuase I want to visit my Mum...

Mine was Scotland. I knew I was going to be traveling through India and Asia for the next year and I wanted to stop somewhere quiet and serene to decompress before entering the madness. It was perfect.

PhotoChick

The AIRPORT, of course!

But seriously... San Francisco for me! I mailed all my extra bags back to the ever-patient parents' house from there after teaching for a year and then went from San Fran SOUTH! Ahhhh yes, the memories!

Johannesburg, because Africa was the place I most wanted to go so it seemed the perfect place to start.

Tokyo, Japan. I was planning on Bangkok but there was a layover in Japan, so I stayed there a week. Glad I did.

My first stop will be Singapore, which however may include a layover in either Tokyo or Beijing. This is my first stop primarily because its where my first part of the trip north through Malaysia and Thailand will take place.

I started in Rarotonga, and then spent the next six weeks in New Zealand. It was nice to sort of get my "travel legs" in a new but low key and easy environment before moving on to more challenging destinations. By the time I got to India, almost a year later, I didn't think twice about haggling for everything, fighting my way up to train station ticket counters or being tailed by 20 curious street kids everywhere I went. If I'd gone there first though, I think it would have really stressed me out.

Technically it was Fiji but it was only for 1 day because it was an extended layover. But, the first country we spent any real amount of time was New Zealand. This was also one of my favorite countries we visited. I could live there no problemo. Loved everything about the place. I don't understand why so many New Zealanders leave and go to live in Australia. Although I liked Australia also. I just think NZ is so amazing I can't imagine wanted to live somewhere else if I was born there.

ours was first road trip to Pennsylvania from California and then fly to London from then to Slovakia and SA

Technically my RTW started by driving from Seattle down to LA, but internationally - Lima, Peru. I started my trip in October 2008 and wanted to go home to visit family in NY for Christmas. I found that round-trip flights from LA to South America were cheaper than to Asia or from NY to Europe. And the reason I picked Lima was because it was the cheapest flight that got me the closest to Machu Picchu and Argentina. So I spent three months in South America, went to NY for Christmas, and then flew to Dublin one-way for New Year's. And the cheap flight back from Lima gave me a few days stopover in Panama City.

I am actually also starting in Raratonga (cook Islands). I think if you're coming from the US and heading west it's a great opportunity to hit up one of the pacific islands in the middle of nowhere to break up the long flight over the pacific. We're taking the opportunity to get PADI certified there and chill for the week before heading to NZ and working our way up through Asia from there.