World tour

[Jazzzoline]

One of my nephews and his girlfriend decided to quit their job, their apartment, stored the furniture, and travel the world for 1 year. He is 30 and she’s 27.

They’ll visit:
Tanzanie
Germany
Russie, from Moscou to Sibérie
Mongolie
Chine, from Pékin toward Vietnam
Vietnam
Thaïlande
Philippines
Japon
Chili
Patagonie
Argentine

I think that’s it. One month per place.
I asked how much such a world tour cost. They told me they already paid the plane tickets: 6,000 $can each.
And… they figured they’ll need 15,000 $can, for the food, the hotel (or somewhere to sleep) and whatever they’ll need to pay, like train tickets etc. It doesn’t seem very much to me.

Anyone of you has tried it?

[steve(thelil)]

I once visited Troy, Schenectady, Albany and Saratoga (all in New York State) in the same 3 day period. I don't know if that counts.

[Jazzzoline]

only if it did cost 6,000 for a plane ticket and 15,000 for food and hotel.

[tippy]

Oh thelil, I love you and it counts in My Book!!

Jazzzoline, that does sound incredibly exciting.

[Enforcer]

That sounds like a really, really reasonable amount of money to spend. I think travel is terribly overrated, so I'd never embark on anything like that. But man, that sounds like a bargain if that's your thing. Good for them.

[Jazzzoline]

Sure thing, Tippy,

once, my husband and I decided to ride down to louisianna for a month. Excluding the cost of the 2 bikes, it did cost 10,000, food, fuel, hotel and almost no souvenir bying ( we couldn't carry anything more than we already did).

Last year, our trip to France cost around 10,000 for 10 days (including the plane tickets though).

I've been to Japan and China in the past, but lots of my staying and food wasn't paid at all.

So... 15,000 sounds to me a lil bit under evaluated.

[Uli]

Originally Posted by Jazzzoline

They’ll visit:
Tanzanie
Germany
Russie, from Moscou to Sibérie
Mongolie
Chine, from Pékin toward Vietnam
Vietnam
Thaïlande
Philippines
Japon
Chili
Patagonie
Argentine

You mean Alemagne?

[Jazzzoline]

Originally Posted by Uli

You mean Alemagne?

Allemagne, yes

[Noj]

Traveling is like remodeling, add 20 to 30% to whatever you think it will cost.

[moneyp]

Originally Posted by Jazzzoline

Anyone of you has tried it?

More or less, yeah. It was the year after college. I spent most of it bopping around Europe, with a couple of weeks in Southeast Asia. I spent another year in Korea and Japan on a martial arts tour.

It's financially disastrous, but I still recommend it. Hard to do that stuff when you're older.

[clinthopson]

If they don't get to Tustin, CA, they'll miss the cultural center of the galaxy.

[moneyp]

Originally Posted by clinthopson

If they don't get to Tustin, CA, they'll miss the cultural center of the galaxy.

I lived there as a kid. I think it attained "cultural center of the galaxy" status long after I left.

Incidentally, you can definitely do that tour for $15k. That's about $41/day. If they've got some free lodging worked out for some of that trip, that's cake. You're not going to do much touristy stuff or stay in four-star hotels, but who cares? Get down and dirty, eat with the locals, stay in hostels... good times.

[Gary Sisco]

I wish.

I met a Finnish woman in Nicaragua who was on her second trip around the world by herself -- ships across the oceans, rather than planes.

[steve(thelil)]

Not joking for a second, to me, money is better spent for experiences than for possessions. Travel is always a good bet to produce experiences and possessions only have value to the extent they help you have or improve experiences.

The funny thing about money and travel is that your perspective on what you should spend traveling can change so radically from the time you plan a trip to the time you begin one.

So many times, looking for the best airfare for a pleasure trip, I agonize over a difference of $40 dollars for round trip airfare. Then, once there, you can easily spend $700-1,000 per person per week even trying to be frugal (if you include lodging). And sometimes, once there, if you mellow out, you might not think twice about an extra 40 bucks for a special meal or event or whatever.

Anyway, Tippy said she loves me, so "Fly me to the moon and let me play among the stars"

[jazzy mary]

Originally Posted by Noj

Traveling is like remodeling, add 20 to 30% to whatever you think it will cost.

Exactly!

[Gary Sisco]

Any kind of construction, too. If someone tells you otherwise, run.

[Dan G]

Originally Posted by steve(thelil)

So many times, looking for the best airfare for a pleasure trip, I agonize over a difference of $40 dollars for round trip airfare.

Yeah, flight shopping is hell. I now look at it the other way - I want to get there as fast and directly as possible, and if an extra $100 each way means a shorter layover, I'm paying it. Connecting flights should be about an hour apart, at most 90 minutes, or I'll look for something else. I just booked a flight to Sweden in August, and one option had an 8 hour connection in London - for $75 I got it down to 70 minutes. I prefer being at my destination rather than hanging out in an airport.

[Dan G]

Originally Posted by Larry Nagel

...I think travel is terribly overrated, so I'd never embark on anything like that...

What a strange comment. Can you elaborate a bit? Don't you see value in experiencing other cultures, learning about their customs, lifestyles, arts, firsthand? I can't imagine not travelling, seeing new things and meeting new people, on a regular basis. I consider the city I live in a pretty much just a good place to make money so I can hop on a plane to another country for a few weeks each summer!

[Enforcer]

I enjoy traveling in doses, Dan, but I wouldn't want to spend that much time on the road. A couple of weeks is one thing, but to up and travel the world for months (or a year) at a time is more than I'm interested in.

[Surfer]

I've done a lot of travelling, mostly in my early and mid-20s, on very little money. Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Belize, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North Africa, West Africa, etc etc.

Its not hard if you are a male, and its not hard if you're used to camping and cooking your own food. Also I always (90%) travelled alone. Its just much easier logistically. Its obviously harder if you are a female, but not impossible. If you're female, I would not advise travelling alone.

My transportation of choice for a while was my bike. Here I am biking from Alice Springs to Uluru, across the Simpson Desert.





Here's me biking the South Island of New Zealand:



Probably the best education I ever got was travelling and just learning how to get by on little. Learning about people. Observing. Reading tons of books while doing it.

[jesus marion joseph]

They will definitely have to work hard to spend $41/day in Thailand. I'm insanely jealous of them, and hope they have a great time.

[clinthopson]

I've found Side Step pretty useful in the past for airline flight shopping.

[Al in NYC]

I did something like this back in '92 when I was between gigs. I'd travelled quite a bit overseas in the past, but always to a single place (Japan, China, Ireland, Western Europe, Mexico and Central America). Now I wanted to go see a lot of stuff all at once while I had some time to do so. I ended up spending nearly 5 months doing it.

Went from the U.S. to London first, where I put the whole thing together (London was then, and may still be for all I know, the world capital of cheap plane tickets. Got a killer "round-the-world" package for $2,500). Flew from there to Greece, ferried out around several of the Greek islands, into Turkey for awhile, then hopped back into Greece for a flight to Nairobi. Spent a few weeks going out into the Kenyan national parks, took a van trip with some hard-drinking New Zealanders up into Uganda to see gorillas, and made an unplanned, and most likely illegal, foray into Tanzania. Flew out to Dubai where I spent a couple of days in western-style air conditioned luxury before flying off to Pakistan. Was planning to travel overland from there into India but was prevented from doing so by yet another border dispute flare-up, so flew to Delhi and after hanging around that area for awhile (Jaipur, the Taj) went overland by train and bus to Nepal. Spent a good long time walking all over the central Nepal countryside (no super high altitudes for me - I get very sick). Went from there to Thailand, travelled to the north of the country, then back south through Malaysia and down to Singapore. From there up to Hong Kong to spend a few days with friends, a couple of weeks travelling around South Korea, a lengthy stop in Japan with more friends, then back to the U.S. in San Francisco. Did it all for under $9,000. Probably cheaper than staying in NYC.

Definitely one of the great experiences of my life. It's something I'm looking forward to doing again (with some different stops this time) in the next few years. Highly recommend it, and totally agree with steve (t) about experiences vs. stuff. The only thing I wouldn't sell to do this again is my music collection.

An absolutely wonderful thing for your nephew and girlfriend to do. I hope they enjoy the hell out of it.

[Surfer]

Originally Posted by Al in NYC

An absolutely wonderful thing for your nephew and girlfriend to do. I hope they enjoy the hell out of it.

If they make it through one year of travelling together on a limited budget, then they are definitely made for ech other.

I think most couples would break up after 1 month. Just my opinion.

[Dr Dave]

I did it because I got paid to do it. Took 11 days and while there were some cool moments, it was mostly a grind. Itinerary went like this:

Boston
New York City
Frankfurt
Bangkok
Manila
Bangkok
Tokyo
Los Angeles
Providence, RI

Bangkok was the best--had a couple hours to walk along the Chao Praya. Everything else was a blur of cars, buses, and hotel rooms. Oh, and Makati City, the "new" neighborhood of Manila, where I had the unpleasant experience of walking into a bar that turned out to be a kind of bazaar for prostitutes.

PS: This was before 9/11. Customs in Frankfort was hilarious: A huge herd of people, and they just waved us all on through...

[Jazzzoline]

got news from my nephew and his mate:
they left on july 4th. they reached dubai stopping in Frankfurt and London.
BUT
their luggages are among stuff piling in Heathrow (20,000), after Heathrow and Glaasow closed earlier this week.
Now IFthey have their luggages back, it won't be before a month.

[Paul B]

Originally Posted by Surfer

If they make it through one year of travelling together on a limited budget, then they are definitely made for ech other.

I think most couples would break up after 1 month. Just my opinion.

That does seem to be the common scenario. Of course, if they make it all the way through the trip unscathed they are made for each other...

[Dennis Gonzalez]

Originally Posted by Jazzzoline

Allemagne, yes

Allornothing, yes!

[Pete C]

Originally Posted by steve(thelil)

So many times, looking for the best airfare for a pleasure trip, I agonize over a difference of $40 dollars for round trip airfare. Then, once there, you can easily spend $700-1,000 per person per week even trying to be frugal (if you include lodging). And sometimes, once there, if you mellow out, you might not think twice about an extra 40 bucks for a special meal or event or whatever.

One time in India I realized that I was haggling with an auto-rickshaw driver for 10 minutes over the equivalent of 25 cents.

Traveling a lot I often met 20-somethings who were traveling for extended periods. Unfortunately, they sometimes tried so hard to make their money stretch I couldn't imagine how they were having any fun.

[Jazzzoline]

Originally Posted by Surfer

If they make it through one year of travelling together on a limited budget, then they are definitely made for ech other.

I think most couples would break up after 1 month. Just my opinion.

Strange thing, last year they talked about living one year in Australia, work and travel. When I asked why they changed their mind he replied he got a promotion at work etc. The true story is, they split. I don't know why.

But now they are back together. I think it's more his project than hers. I remember one summer about 5 years ago,she was talking about having babies. He didn't like the idea. He had a strange childhood.