Backpacking Around the World!

My Around the World Trip!

Ever think about doing a trip around the world? This is exactly what I did earlier this year! After researching round-trip flights to Australia in the $1400 range I thought, “why not circle the globe with this kind of money”. I read dozens of articles online and travel books including the Lonely Planet Guidebooks which were most helpful. There were also the countless hours spent comparing the numerous flight and transportation options. Everything from basic one-ways, EuroRail passes, cruises, slow boats to China and of course Round-the-World (RTW) fares.What I concluded from all this is if you’re goal is to see a lot of places via multiple one-ways (4-6 legs) on a limited budget you can get a lower price by getting a RTW fare with One World Explorer.

My One World Explorer, 4- Continent flight route included:
London, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Singapore, Brisbane, Cairns, Sydney, Christchurch, Sydney, Honolulu, Dallas, Boston, San Juan, Boston, JFK, Montego Bay, JFK, Boston, Madrid, Tenerife, Madrid, Cairo, London, Dublin (Dublin was not part of the fare).

Whats your route? Where would you like to visit? What do you recommend?

Cheap Airfare, Hostels, Rail and More

Around the World Travel Tips, Advice, Airlines and more!

This is the hardest and most stressful part!

1. Why do this?!
2. Where in the world to go?
3. How to take around 2-4 months off!
4. What airlines or alliances to use? Major two: Oneworld & Star Alliance.
5. One continent, multi continent or RTW (Round the World) flights?
6. How to purchase?
7. How to set a travel schedule?
8. What to bring?
9. Where to stay and what to do?

1. Why do this?! The adventure. The excitement! The education from experiencing new people and cultures.

2. Where in the world to go? Everyone has a different opinion here. Take a look at Oneworld Alliance or Star Alliance Where-we-Fly maps. Oneworld Map

3. How to take around 2-4 months off! If you make it a priority in your life you can take the time off. People in the States probably will just have to quit their jobs or take a leave of absence. Other countries like Australia, New Zealand and UK give their people more time off. Many can still be paid a percentage of there full or part time salary!

4. What airlines or alliances to use? Major two: Oneworld & Star Alliance. It depends on a couple of things. Most important, where you want to go. There are two main alliances for which to consider, One World and Star. Both are similar in prices and offer a host of airlines and destinations to choose from but there are a few differences you may want to consider. For example, if you want to include the South Pacific on your adventure then Star Alliance is probably better. This alliance includes Air New Zealand which offers more destinations than it’s competitor Qantas who is part of the One World Alliance. If traveling in EU then Oneworld which includes British Airways might get you to more places. So plan your route first and see what alliance offers the best pricing options and suits your destinations. One moe word of advice on this topic, beware the fine print! There are many rules to follow such as number of stop-overs allowed, backtracking, and flight segments.

Affiliated Airlines:

Star Alliance:

• Air Canada
• Air New Zealand
• ANA
• Asiana Airlines
• Austrian
• bmi
• LOT Polish Airlines
• Lufthansa
• Scandinavian Airlines
• Singapore Airlines
• South African Airways
• Spanair
• SWISS
• TAP Portugal
• THAI
• United
• US Airways

One World Alliance:

• American Airlines
• British Airways
  
• Cathay Pacific
• Finnair
• Iberia
• Japan Airlines (JAL)
• LAN
• Malév
• Qantas
• Royal Jordanian

5. One continent, multi continent or RTW (Round the World) flights? One great perk regarding either airline alliance is they offer single and multi continent fares. This is great if you have less flexibility and don’t have the time to complete a full RTW journey or if you’re just looking for a trek around a continent. Advantages include fares that are set at a flat price so you don’t have to worry about booking in advance to get a lower fare. Disadvantages of going with an alliance are that some continents like Europe offer discounted flights within the EU that are lower then set single continent fares (excluding peak times, ie: summer/holidays)6. You can save money if you start your journey in a country that has a lower fare. A lot of times purchasing a single flight to a cheaper starting continent is more economical, you can compare the prices on One World Pricing. Star Alliance Pricing. When you’re ready to purchase your fare you may have to use a travel agent because the airline will need a credit card issued in country of origin. This was a problem when we purchased our tickets in the UK as Americans. We had to use a travel agent to actually buy them for us. The travel agency was Abercrombie & Kent and the service was great, well worth the 5% fee with the time and hassle saved.

7. How to set a travel schedule? We found that with the major cities you need no more than 3-4 days, in some cases less. Hong Kong and Singapore is a 3 day max, unless you love shopping and malls. Other countries, you can travel out of the city and have some fun for a few weeks. Your best bet is to plan ahead a little bit and get an idea sites are a priority and what to avoid. For example, for our trip, we spent 3 days in Hong Kong and 3 weeks in Australia. For us, the Great Barrier Reef, Sydney, Melbourne and the 12 Apostles were all a priority.

8. What to bring?

Luggage: Best would be a backpack that zips open from top. Check out EMS or Osprey backpacks. Roller suitcase are okay not as flexible for airplanes, buses, hostels.

Clothing: A trip around the world may seem hard to pack for since you’ll most likely see winter and summer somewhere on your journey. Don’t fret! It is imperative that you only pack necessities and things can be purchased along the way. I found that one pair of everyday shoes and a pair of sandals is more than enough! No need for fancy club shoes on the beach. A good light weight waterproof jacket/parka. One lightweight sweater. Problably 2 pairs of pants, some shorts, underwear, socks and t-shirts and your ready!

Currency: Bring limited cash in your home currency, no more than $200 and keep it for emergencies. Exchange rates and fees are not worth it. An ATM card is best way to pull out local currency when you need it and you get current marker rate with minimal bank fees. Check your bank for foreign ATM transactions fees. My bank was only $2 USD for any foreign withdrawal. Credit card is a must but beware, most have “foreign transactions fees” that can vary from 3%-5% of total transaction charge. The only credit card I’ve found with no foreign transaction fee is Capital One.

Camera: I like the new small digital 7+ meg point and shoot cameras. Get a 2 gig chip.

Passport: Many countries require your passport to be valid for 6 months or more before entry. Best to renew now rather then later. Bring a photo copy just in case you loose it, store it some other place then your wallet.

Visas: A lot of countries require you to have a visa. Depending on your citizenship you can find most travel tourism visa info on the government’s tourist website.

Cell Phone: Some people enjoy not having a cell phone when they travel just to get away from the rat race at home. I say bring one just to have in case of emergency or send text to your friends and family. The best world cell phones are quad band GSM capable. USA only uses 2 of the frequencies. The frequencies are 850 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz and 1900 MHz. If you don’t have a GSM phone you can get a used one on Ebay. Recommended brands include Nokia and Ericsson World Phone. The Ericsson T28 World is a older model but is a great basic cell that last a long time.

As far as services providers, my experience with Truphone on my Nokia E61 has been excellent. Their VoIP service works by routing calls over the internet rather than via traditional cell phone operators. The cost is free to call 40 countries. Some hostels and airports have free WIFI so this service was a big help.

Labtop/Notebook: I would not recommend bringing due to high risk of theft not to mention the additional size and weight. There are internet cafe’s everywhere you go. You can upload your photos to free image hosts like Photobucket or others.

9. Where to stay and what to do? We stayed in hostels for the most part. Unless you are in a country where the exchange rate greatly favors your currency hostels are the best way to go. In USA hostels are not that popular and often times you can find a cheap hotel. Good websites with hostel info with fellow travelers’ ratings include: hostelworld.com (fee unless you buy their gold pass), hostelbookers.com (no fee). Some places you can get around on public transportation others just get a car, all of which you should research before hand. AU and NZ we got a car. Tokyo/Hong Kong/Thailand use public. etc.

Anything to add? Whats your travel advice?

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London

London:

London was the starting point for our trip, the reason being because it was about $500 cheaper to purchase it in the UK than the US and a one-way flight to London from Boston was $250. London is a great city to visit, especially in the summer. It is probably the most similar to the US and most comfortable of all of our destinations because it is so culturally similar. There are a lot of things to do and see if it is your first time to London. I recommend staying 5 days and if possible, avoid the winter month, if not you are risking cold weather and/or rain. I would recommend the London Pass if you plan on seeing many of the attractions: 56 London Attractions - 1 Ticket: The London Pass

On the go to Tokyo!

Eygpt

January 2008 we headed to Egypt. First stop Cairo. To say the least it is the land of scam, pyramids and more. Our first experience was getting scamed by local official inside the airport saying he could arrange a cab for us to town. It ended up being some limo service for 85 pounds, and yea no change for a 100. Would recommend getting your money broken to small amounts before your leave airport.

We stayed at Lialy Hostel found at hostelsbookers.com. Pretty much a dump, as most buildings are in Cairo, but cheap so what do you expect, $5 a night. Next day we got a cab driver for the day and headed to Giza, worth seeing once in your life. At night we found that the Hilton on the Nile has nice sheesha bar, recommend it. Next day we browsed Cairo Museum. Pretty cool place, it many of the stolen artifacts from country. Most viewed is King Tuts burial artifacts.

After Cairo we headed to Luxor by Egypt Air. Probably the fasted way to get around Egypt without being scammed. Luxor was nice, we took bikes to Valley of the Kings one day. This is where King Tut was buried as well as many other Kings of the time. Another day was touring Karnak temple.

From Luxor we were off to Sharm El Sheikh by plane. Cool place but it is crowed with Russian tourists. We stayed at the Domina Coral Bay resort, it was too expensive and about 5K from Naama Bay, too far. Also would recommend going during a warmer time period. Red Sea diving was nice but compared to other areas in the world i don’t think its all that great. Most of the coral along the coast has been destroyed from mass tourism, uncontrolled development. But there were plenty of colorful fish.

Hong Kong

Hong Kong was a nice stopover for a few days in between Tokyo and Bangkok. I think we stayed for 4-5 nights, you really only need 2-3 nights. The sky line at night is pretty cool and worth seeing. Other then that Hong Kong is mainly for business trips, shopping, banking and hotels. They do have a casino in Macau, which is a short ferry ride. I would not recommend Hong Kong for a vacation, just a stopover.

Thailand

Thailand:

After a few days in Hong Kong we headed to Bangkok, Thailand. From the airport we headed by bus, ask the info desk about this its cheaper then cab, to our hostel around the Thong Lo stop:

HI-Sukhumvit: Sukhumvit Soi 38, Sukhumvit Rd, Bangkok, 10110, Thailand

This was a very nice hostel close to sky train and has nice roof top to have a beer. The manager was very helpful when we departed by calling us a cab at 4:30am, i would never think anyone would get out of bed for this, he even walked us out to the cab and told the driver exactly what we wanted, many drivers will try to scam you so this was a big help.

Bangkok was nice but very busy, dirty and polluted place. After seeing the temple and sights around the river we were ready to head south to the beaches as soon as possible. First stop was Bangkok Air to Ko Samui , many backpackers take the bus but flying is faster, then over by ferry to Ko Tao, Thailand for 6 nights. Ko Tao is definitely the place to go for diving, relaxing and just taking in the laid back vibe. We stayed at Koh Tao Coral Grand Resort, Sairee Beach. It was a great deal if you take the diving course and nice accommodation, we didn’t stay in the more expensive huts on the beach but the scuba diving cottages they have in back. This diving and snorkeling is a must on this island and every hotel and hut has a deal going.

Comparing Ko Tao to Ko Phanang and Ko Samui you are better off staying at Ko Tao. It is not built up yet as Ko Samui is and years behind the mast tourism buit on Samui and Phanang. But i assume Ko Tao will be developed into another Ko Samui soon and destroy the coral and laid back vibe.