Amount of time for RTW??

[millmuff]

Easy guys and gals, hope your having a beauty of a day.

In the process of saving for a big trip in the next year a few things have popped up. I started thinking I'd take my 3-4 weeks of payed holidays and go somewhere, and that turned into possibly going for 2 months, which lead to now asking for a leave of absense from work....or maybe quiting depending on the amount of time needed/ available to get off and go.

The thing is I figure if I'm going to go for a while on an RTW that I might as well do it right. So from experience how long is usually enough time to get it done. The basic lay out is a trek through europe-china-southeast asia-OZ or NZ-south america-central america- and back to canada. Now other than a few beach areas (thailand/costa rica) I probably will move fairly quick and not settle down for too long. So is approx 4 months enough??? Or is that pushing it?? I think getting a leave of any more than 3-4 months from work might have to constitute as quitting....does anyone have experience with leaves of absence from work?

I think I'll probably (not including flights) budget for between 75-100CAN a day, unless the trip would take up to about 6 month or more where I would really have to trim the budget. The main thing is I just dont want to rush it too much, and want to be able to get around freely once in a country...busing/ ferry's etc. SO I defeinetely dont want to hinder myself with the cash flow.

Anyhelp is greatly appreciated, and want to throw out a thanks for being introduced to the couch surfing site from some people here.....so excited to meet some people through there during this trip. Take care. Peace.

[Esterina]

Are you talking going overland from Europe to SEA ? Then 3-4 months isn't realistic at all, unless you include one or two flights. I don't know how much you have travelled before, but from Eastern Europe you'll find that transportation takes a looooot more time, and it gets worse and worse in Russia and Asia. 8 hours for 200 km in Asia in "normal". My longest trip took 24 hours for 200 km ! Yep dear !

Could you tell us if your amount includes airfare + visas, or just daily expenses (lodging, food, activities, transportation) ? If it is the latest, it is way too much for Eastern Europe and Asia, except in Russia.

Some visas need to be purchased in advance. You might need a bit of prep on that one.

If you only have 3-4 months, I personnally would recommend to do several countries in one continent, or two at the most. For a RTW trip, 6 months is super fast pace, a year is good, 18 months is perfect ! But I know, who can afford 18 months abroad ???

My two cents

[millmuff]

I would definetely be flying from europe over to asia. The only time I would maybe use bus/train is around china and south america...even though I hear south america doesn't have much for trains.

My flights would be over and above my budget and they look aroun 3500-4500CAN. I don't want to spend to much time in europe, but I figure if I budget for along those lines I'll be safe and maybe be able to bring some back. When it's all said and done I think I can real in about 12500-15000Can in the next year that will have to pay for everything including flights.

I really appreciate your opinion on the amount of time for the RTW.....I want to do it so bad, but the more time off the more I have to look at leaving work for good. That might bring in working abroad too.....which wouldn't be all that bad. So many things to worry about!!!

[lauren313]

I embark on a "round the world" trip in September, but it's not really around the world at all! We're taking 3 months to go to Florida, California, Fiji, New Zealand, East coast Australia, then Singapore and Hong Kong to finish off.

I wish we could be going for longer, but money and other commitments mean we have to be back after 3 months.

Your proposed trip sounds far bigger and more in depth than mine, so I personally wouldn't go for less than 6 months for that.

[Esterina]

Why don't you write down a rough itinerary with time frame ? You'll see if it works for you. Four months and four continents = about one month each ; which is pretty much four cities/towns per continent... not a lot. But like you say, you wanna do it so badly !

Four months around the world is better than staying home ! It doesn't cost much to change your plane ticket. Stay flexible on the amount of time spent in each country, so you can decide to skip one spot, or a whole continent to enjoy longer where ever pleases you. I was supposed to stay two months in Nepal and travel south to India, but renewed my nepalese visa twice, for a total of four months in this country only, and not go to India. I know, crazy, I was so close. But I figure I'd go next time.

I'm positive that once you get to Asia, you'll want to slow down, because the culture, ambiance, and the other travellers' pace will get to you. I haven't been to South America yet, but I've read it's pretty much the same thing. Hehehe... remember my words...



Budget wise in canadian dollars (roughly) : Western Europe $75 - Eastern Europe $40 - Asia $35 (except Japan, Hong Kong and Singapour) - Australia $ 60 - South America ???

+ flights + visa + insurance + your apartment back home etc.



I soooo envy you ! And you too lauren ! I'm stuck at home for a while !

[jeza]

Yeah, work it out yourself...a RTW trip can vary from person to person dramatically...if its your first proper trip id say 4months would be fine...for me though ive done a couple of 4-6weekish trips already so im waiting till the time is right for my RTW one as i really wanna take it slow and do as i please without to much planning so ill be allowing over a year. jump in word and write down all the places in the route that u really wanna go to, and work it from there.. remember to add plenty of extra time onto that for changes in plans