One Year of Travel – How We Did it

I’ve been meaning to write this blog post for a very long time, but perhaps it’s good that I’ve had nearly three months to reflect on it all. Three months to think about what we did right, and what we might have done differently; where we were right to plan or not to plan, to spend money or not to spend it. Because this will be long, I’ve split it into headings – so if only some of this interests you; hopefully you can skip to that point.

But before I go into the details; here’s the summary. If you’re thinking about taking some time out to do your own trip of a lifetime; I cannot emphasise more that this was the best decision of my life. Yes, it was a lot of money to spend in one year. Yes, it may mean you have to make some sacrifices. But for me, it changed my life in ways that I never anticipated. I hoped it would open my eyes to the world, that I would see some beautiful things and take lots of beautiful photographs. But it did so much more.

It taught me to make the most of every hour on this planet, that there’s beauty out of every window if you look hard enough. That the sun doesn’t have to be shining for it to be a perfect day. It gave me the skills to keep calm in stressful situations, to treat every person with respect and never to make assumptions. It gave me a thirst for knowledge; to find out about new cultures, learn new languages, the stories of others and the history of our world. It gave me a new appreciation for nature; it’s overwhelming strength and beauty. It taught me that a smile breaks every language barrier.

And yes, I know that you can read all those things; and you can learn those lessons in different ways. But when you travel and experience them for yourself if genuinely changes the very colours of your experience. We are in an incredibly fortunate position, to live in the west where two or three years worth of savings is enough to fund a round the world trip. But we didn’t win the lottery or a holiday of a lifetime competition. We earned everything ourselves. And I believe that the kind of trip we did is much more accessible than people might expect. We dreamed, and we believed that we could do it, and we did. And here’s how…

The Dream

Karl and I met whilst we were both at university. We had both considered travelling in our gap years, but neither of us had ended up following through. I decided to go straight to university, promising myself a gap year when I finished. So, travelling together was a dream from the early days – we would often talk of the countries we wanted to visit, daydream together of beaches and mountains. We graduated at the same time and I decided to do two years of postgraduate study. We were able to move back into my parents house so I could commute to university, and Karl got a teaching job nearby. I was lucky enough to have my illustration business so I could earn money at the same time as studying, and staying with my parents saved money on rent. We realised that saving a sum of money big enough for some travelling was going to be possible, and we started to draw up a plan. Karl was the real dreamer; he said right from the beginning that it had to be a whole year and it had to be right around the world. I have to admit that for a while, I thought that it wouldn’t really be possible.

The Plan

Neither of us are big planners. I like to know the vague idea of something, but I dislike finalising every detail, which is lucky, as that would be almost impossible for a year. It wasn’t until the April before we left that we finalised the route, and decided on all the countries we would visit. We even added countries on during the trip as we went, such as Nicaragua. And during the trip we planned the locations, the places to stay, the transport – usually not more than a few days or weeks in advance, if that. And for a trip that long, I’m convinced it was the best way.

We decided on the regions together, over time. We both wanted to (and still want to) visit India and Africa at some point, but we decided fairly early on that we would skip these from the ‘round the world’ trip and dedicate separate trips to each at some other time. The route we really wanted was Australia > NZ > South America > North America > Home, but from web searches it seemed to us that this might not be possible on a standard ‘round the world’ flight. So one day we booked an appointment with Trailfinders, and had a game changing conversation with ‘Tom’ – (Thanks Tom!). Tom was honestly amazing. He had done lots of travelling himself, and he spent hours with us giving his honest opinion on where we might enjoy or not enjoy so much, what would be possible on our budget, and how the round the world ticket works. Basically, you can choose a skeleton route from one of the standard ones, such as you might find here, but beyond that you can add on as many or as little flights as you want. There’s an airline group called One World Alliance, and as long as you choose an flights with them then it will be much cheaper if you’re going ‘the right way around the world’ than booking the tickets individually. So we decided on a route, went away for a few weeks and worked out the finances, then returned to Tom and spent more money in one go than either of us every had. But from then it was real; we were really going, and the countdown began.

Although trailfinders were absolutely great and I would completely recommend them for flights, we personally weren’t interested (/couldn’t afford) any of their or STA’s tours within the countries themselves. We didn’t take a ‘tour’ of any country. Of course it depends on your circumstances; for lone travellers or people who don’t want to have any stress of worry of planning, tour agencies can be fantastic in helping you see a part of the world. But we wanted a raw travel experience where we learnt lessons and made mistakes and stumbled across places which weren’t on a tour itinerary. And for us, that was the right way to do it. Often we would take ‘tours’ once we had got to a place ourselves – especially in South and Central America where this is often your only option to see certain locations – such as parts of the desert or waterfalls. This is what I would recommend to most people doing a trip similar to ours; make your way between the places you want to go yourself and take smaller day tours when you get there if you have to; you’ll save money and give yourself the flexibility of stopping somewhere a bit longer if you like it.

How did I plan the details of each place? Pinterest. Yes – in a word – I used Pinterest to plan pretty much my entire trip. I’d start with a country – for example – type in Bolivia to Pinterest. Straight away you’ll see the Salar de Uyuni, Laguna Colorada, La Paz, and Sucre. You’ll also find lots of useful infomercials like this one. You can click through links to find out more- like ’11 unmissable attractions in Bolivia’ or read other’s blog posts about their favourite places and tips for travel in that region. I honestly think it’s better than any guide book, and it’s constantly updated and crowd sourced.

Other than that – my biggest tip for planning within a country is to talk to people. Talk to locals, other tourists, your guest house owner, the waitress in a restaurant. You’ll get honest opinions from people who aren’t trying to get money from you and you’ll make sure you never miss anything accidentally.

The Route

‘Round The World’ Ticket Flights: (‘…’ means we travelled overland and then got the next flight from the following place)

London, England > Bangkok, Thailand > Sydney, Australia…Brisbane, Australia > Auckland, New Zealand…Christchurch, New Zealand > Auckland, New Zealand > Santiago, Chile… Quito, Ecuador > Panama City, Panama > Miami, USA > Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands > Miami, USA… New York, USA > London, England.

Actual Route ( ‘>’ means flight, ‘…’ means overland)

England > Thailand > Koh Lanta (Thai Island) > Northern Thailand … Laos… Cambodia… Vietnam > Thailand > Australia > New Zealand > Chile … Bolivia … Peru … Ecuador > Galapagos > Ecuador > Panama … Costa Rica … Nicaragua … Costa Rica… Panama > Miami > Cayman > Miami … Tampa … Orlando … New Orleans … Smoky Mountains National Park… Nashville … New Orleans > Denver… Rocky Mountains NP… Arches NP… Canyonlands NP… Bryce NP… Grand Canyon NP … Zion NP … Joshua Tree NP… San Diego… LA… Sequoia & Kings Canyon NP… Big Sur… San Francisco … Yosemite NP … Napa Valley … Seattle… Mount Rainier NP… Glacier NP… Grand Teton NP … Yellowstone NP… Denver > New Jersey … New York > England.

South East Asia wasn’t on our original list, but since we needed a layover between London and Sydney, Tom helpfully pointed out that we might as well spend some time wherever that would be. And of course I knew that Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam were beautiful and interesting countries so it didn’t take much persuasion. We decided on six weeks there, and to travel mainly overland (we did take a couple of smaller flights but we booked these days before, and this flexibility was really useful). So we flew into Bangkok, and out of Bangkok six weeks later, but in the meantime we travelled overland through Northern Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and into Vietnam. This was the region in which we were probably most rushed, but it worked for us, and it was just about enough time. Of course we could have spent so much longer in almost every country, but we actually surprised ourselves about how much you can fit in once you get used to the pace of travelling. If anyone is thinking of a similar trip; it’s definitely possible.

Next was Sydney. I had always been tempted by Australia but slightly apprehensive because of its reputation of ‘things that can kill you’. To anyone holding back to the same reason – seriously, don’t. It’s an incredible country and we saw less spiders and snakes there than in Central America. When you do see them, it’s really not as scary as I expected; most of the time they’re pretty scared of you too, or just generally don’t really care too much about your existence. Of course you have to be careful, but the reality is unless you’re going into the outback on your own, the chances of being bitten/stung by anything are very very slim.

With Australia’s vastness, we were torn between trying to cover a lot of the country in less detail, or try and really get to know a region. We decided on the latter, and did the Pacific Highway from Sydney to Brisbane. So we flew into Sydney, hired a car, and flew out of Brisbane four weeks later. The main places we stopped other than the cities of Sydney & Brisbane were the Blue Mountains, Port Stephens, Dorrigo, Coffs Harbour, Byron Bay and Noosa. We had a wonderful, relaxed time. It was expensive, especially compared to South East Asia but we lived simply and quietly- we camped in our tent, cooked most of our own food and spent the majority of our time on the beach, in the rainforest or or amongst the mountains. It was a blissful contrast to the rush and excitement of Asia, but completely incomparable.

From Brisbane we flew to Auckland in New Zealand. We had read that it’s very easy to buy a car in New Zealand, and so this is what we did. Since we were there for six weeks we figured if it paid off we could save a lot of money on car hire. And the gamble paid off; we sold the car for about the same as we paid (this was helped by the fact we bought in the North Island and sold in the South, where cars are harder to come by). We were lucky enough to have some friends to put us up in Auckland, so we stayed for a few days looking at cars (mainly on a website called trademe.nz – their gumtree type equvialent). Once we found one that suited us – a well looked after 2000 Subaru Legacy Lancaster. We ended up being able to sleep in the back of it which was a lifesaver with the less-than consistent New Zealand weather and the fact that we were still camping everywhere. We left about 3 days in Christchurch at the other end to sell it, (which was cutting it fine, but we were lucky). If you were going for less than 6 weeks, it might not have been worth it, but for us it worked perfectly and it’s certainly doable. Make sure you factor in the expense of having to take a car on the ferry between the islands whether you’re buying or hiring (I don’t think this goes for much less than $300 NZ). If hiring, it might be worth doing two separate rentals and being a foot passenger.

We flew back from Christchurch to Auckland for our flight from Auckland to Santiago, Chile. This was the craziest flight of all. We left at half past four in the afternoon on a Wednesday, and arrived in Chile 9 hours later at half past one on the same afternoon. It knocked us out for about a day, but Santiago was so exciting that we weren’t going to spend too long sleeping. After a calmer few months, we were completely ready for a foreign environment again; new culture, new language, and new landscapes.

When people ask me my ‘favourite place’ – I used to resist because everywhere was so different and it’s sort of an impossible question, but the question became so common that I just started saying ‘South America’. But I think on reflection there is truth in it. If I had to pick one region to go back to – it would probably win – if nothing else purely for its variety. Chile alone has the harsh glacial landscapes of Patagonia in the South and the extraordinary Atacama Desert in the North. But then there’s the incredible Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia; ‘the world’s largest mirror’ in rainy season. The beautiful colonial architecture in the cities of Santiago, Sucre, and Quito. The breathtaking inca ruins scattered across Peru. The high altitude scenery and mountains found everywhere. Not to mention the Galapagos- a secluded sanctuary in the pacific; a volcanic wonderland for wildlife where you can catch a glimpse of a world without humans.

We did the whole region overland, with the exception of a return flight to the Galapagos. The buses in South America are on the whole, surprisingly fantastic. Especially in Chile and Peru, they are basically aeroplane standard; the overnight ones often complete with hot meals and personal video screens (with options in english). Often for $20 or less.

The one catch for South America; you won’t get very far without Spanish. Unlike South East Asia, very few people speak English and they generally expect you to speak at least some Spanish. We learnt the bare minimum before we got there but ended up having a week of lessons in Bolivia, which was invaluable. We had private lessons with a wonderful teacher and a week was enough to get us to a basic conversational standard, and definitely enough to get by; book tickets, order food, chat to hostel/guest-house owners. If you’re there for long, take the time to do this or get lessons before you go, it will be completely worth it. We were in South America for two months.

We flew between Ecuador to Panama, and then did an overland loop all the way up the Carribean coast of Panama and Costa Rica into Nicaragua and then back down Costa Rica’s Pacific Coast. We took this part of the world a little slower – we did a workaway in Bocas del Toro, some islands off the Carribean coast of Panama. Workaway is a fantastic way to see parts of the world even if you don’t have much of a budget; it’s a website that lists places which will give you accommodation and sometimes food in exchange for a number of hours work a day. Often they are hotels, hostels or guesthouses, but it can be anything from to building to childcare. We found a wonderful guesthouse on the cusp of the jungle and the Carribbean sea. We spent a blissful two weeks there, painting cabins and helping with her eco projects in the grounds. This part of the trip was two months also.

Then we flew from Panama to Miami, and onto the Cayman Islands to visit my aunt, who lives there. This was an incredible part of the trip, but I’m planning to write a more detailed blog post all about it, so I won’t go into it too much now. In short, they are a beautiful set of three Caribbean Islands not far from Cuba, with gorgeous white sands, clear warm oceans filled with coral and tropical fish. It’s nothing short of paradise, really.

Our last section of the year was a road trip across USA. We deliberated for a long time over how to do this, especially as our budget was coming to an end and we knew we’d have to be careful. We had initially wanted to buy a car since we were there for two months, but it’s much harder to do in the USA than in New Zealand. Hiring a car isn’t too expensive but unless you’re starting and finishing in the same state, you’ll be hit with huge drop off fees. We were starting in Miami and finishing New York, but we wanted to go via California! So the drop off fee for doing this would have been upwards of $500, not to mention the fact that it would be an extraordinary amount of miles to cover on the ground. So we compromised. We drove from Miami to New Orleans, flew between New Orleans and Denver, Colorado. And then hired a car for 6 weeks there to do a huge loop through Utah to California, up the Californian coast, up through Oregon into Washington State, across to Montana and down through Wyoming back to Denver. This meant we could keep the same car the whole way, get the road trip feel, hit almost everywhere we wanted to go and still avoid the drop off charge. I think our rate was usually around $20 a day. Finally we flew from Denver to New York, stayed with friends in New Jersey for a week and did day trips into New York (about 40 minutes on the train). This was a great way to do the city on the extremely low budget we had by this point!

We always used the car hire company Alamo because we found them to be friendly and reliable, and it meant that sometimes even when we ‘swapped rental cars’- they would let us keep them same car. We avoided drop off fees when we had to drive between states by booking through Hotwire, which do across-state higher daily rates rather than a lump sum drop off fee. I was really pleasantly surprised with how well it all worked, and I can really recommend Alamo. They even upgraded us on our six-week car because we were patient with them when their machines were down. This was a huge help for our comfort on the long drives!

So that’s the route. We booked all the main flights in the April before, which fixed how long we would have in each region – six weeks in SE Asia, 4 weeks in Australia, 6 weeks in New Zealand, 2 months in South America, 2 months in North America, 2 weeks in Cayman, 2 months in USA.
We did have some flexibility to change this if we wanted, but we found it was quite nice to have some deadlines in place and this kept us moving on, and we didn’t end up changing any flights. I think with our lucky guesses we actually apportioned our time very well between the regions!

The Budget

I know this is the section which everyone has been asking me most about. The important thing to remember here is everyone is different and everyone will travel differently. Just because we were able to do the trip with a certain amount of money doesn’t mean that everyone could, and I wouldn’t want people to plan a trip and not be able to finish it because they based everything on my budgeting.

We drank very little alcohol throughout the trip. We didn’t eat out that much and we lived simply. Throughout Australia, New Zealand and the USA we camped almost every night- we bought a very good lightweight tent before we left and took sleeping bags and camping mats. We cooked either on camping stoves or in camp kitchens. In SE Asia and South and Central America, we almost always chose the cheapest ‘reasonable’ accommodation we could find. We didn’t stay in the worst places, and often by staying in small guest-houses rather than hostels we were able to get nice simple double rooms for the same price as a bed in a grotty hostel. This also had the benefit that we met locals who always wanted to make sure we experienced the best that the place had to offer, often with ‘local’ rather than tourist prices. But we were not luxury travellers, and we always had the budget in the back of our minds. Even in ‘cheap’ countries we made sure we were keeping an eye on spending, which is really important as it does all add up. 

The way in which I planned the budget turned out to be surprisingly accurate. I used the travel guides on bootsnall.com, which gives you a recommended, crowd-sourced budget for every day in the country. For example, in Chile, the recommended daily budget was $44. For two of us, this leaves us with $88 a day or around £57 – which was just about accurate for us this region. In Laos, the recommended daily budget was $31 a day – or £40 for both of us. This was also accurate, if not a bit generous. So before I left I worked out, according to this website, how much we would need for each country excluding plane travel. We used this as our savings goal.

Once we were away, I then allocated this amount per day, and we tried to stick to it. Obviously we adjusted the budget once we got to the end of each region and we were able to reflect on how much we had actually spent. At the end of South East Asia I remember we had spent less than we thought we would so we were able to be a little more relaxed in Australia. I’m actually really surprised at how well this worked. Of course I’m sure it varied and it won’t have been accurate for every day or every place, but in the whole balance of things I would quite confidently say that it’s a very good guide for planning your budget. In the end, by the time we left we had saved a little more than the strict guide to be safe, and our daily budget (excluding the RTW flights) for every day of the trip, for both of us was £70. Obviously in some countries we wouldn’t spend close to this, and in others we’d spend more. This amount got us to the end without having to borrow any money (although we were penniless when we returned!)

This allocated budget covered all the overground travel and a few smaller flights too, as well as food, accommodation and souvenirs. We didn’t feel hard done by, we never starved and we often managed to eat good, healthy food. We were able to do almost any tour we wanted in SE Asia, South & Central America, but obviously we had to be selective in Aus, NZ & USA, often opting for national parks and outdoor activities that we could enjoy by ourselves for free. Remember also that travelling with two of you will always be cheaper; you can share food and rooms. We also often met small groups of other travellers which cuts cost too; you can bargain for accommodation and sometimes even tours if you’re in a larger group.

The daily budget on bootsnall excludes plane travel, so make sure you factor that in too. Our round the world tickets were around £3,500 each, but this included going to Cayman and doing a very tailored route. I know you can get much cheaper ones if you’re willing to do a standard route. But generally, round the world tickets are incredibly good value when you compare them with the cost of individual tickets (Karl added this up before we left and ours should have come to around £20,000!)

The only time we threw the budget out the window entirely was in the Galapagos. We were deliberately very careful with money in the latter part of South America to enable us to ‘bank’ some of the budget – and then we spent it all – in a week! But I wouldn’t ever change this. We’d been told that the only way to do the Galapagos was by boat – this is the only way you can reach the uninhabited islands. So we found a last minute cruise and decided to go for it even thought it was more than we’d spent in the last month- and it was worth every penny! We had a fantastic naturalist guide, we saw the most stunning, untouched scenery and we swam and snorkelled with sea lion pups, galapagos penguins, giant sea turtles, eagle rays and white-tip sharks. It was one of the best weeks of the whole trip.

In terms of saving; as I’ve already mentioned, we were lucky to be able to stay with my parents whilst I studied and we saved. This did make a big difference, but if this isn’t an option for you then there are still other ways you travel. Maybe you could look into a house share, or get an extra job at the weekend. Or maybe you can see if you’ve got a hobby or a skill that you could make some money from – making cakes or cards or giving music lessons. The other option for travel is to go somewhere to work- if you don’t think you can save a lump sum big enough to support continuous travel, look into websites like workaway which allow you to work for board. For example, in Costa Rica at the Yoga Farm we stayed at, you can volunteer for months at a time in a beautiful jungle surrounded by wonderful people, working on the farm for as little £350 per month. And you get yoga lessons included.

I’ve tried to be as comprehensive as possible with this part of the guide as I know costs were one of my main concerns before I left and throughout the planning. As I said before, please use this as a guide and not a definitive analysis of what you will need on your trip. And feel free to ask questions in the comments if I’ve skipped anything you’d like to know.


The Kit

Briefly, here’s what we took in two 60 litre backpacks:

Together:

• 1 x 2 man tent (We got the Xephyros 2 XL Lite Wild Country Terra Nova 2 man tent – we spent around £200 on this but it literally sheltered us all around the world and it only weighed around 2kg)
• 1 x box mosquito net (essential for SE Asia)
• 1 spray bottle of mosquito repellent (we replenished this as we went)
• 1 x First Aid Kit – with added dioralyte rehydration sachets and blister plasters
• 2 x Sleeping bags
• 2 x Camping Mats (self inflating roll up ones)
• 2 x RAB down jackets (lightweight, small jackets that pack away)
• 2 x RAB waterproof jackets
• 2 x Walking Boots
• 2 x Hamamas Turkish towels (lightweight, great as a beach towel but big enough for showers in hostels)
• 2 x ‘wakawaka’ solar energy packs – great for camping, a day’s sunlight was enough to charge an Iphone – charges anything via USB.
• Dr Bronner’s ‘everything’ wash – you can use this for dishes, clothes, you – your hair, literally everything. Often available in health food stores or sometimes (randomly) American Apparel
• 1 x GoPro
• 1 x Canon DSLR
• 1 x tiny gas cooker
• 2 masks & snorkels
• 2 x toothbrushes

Rebecca’s bag:

• 1 x pair mosquito repellent walking trousers – (okay, these didn’t look cool but believe me it was amazing to be able to pull on some trousers and know my legs were immediately protected)
• 1 x mosquito repellent white shirt – also 50 SPF so great for hot countries
• 3 x eagle creek packing cubes – invaluable for keeping your bag organised!!
• 1 x cap
• 2 x yoga leggings
• 3 x t-shirts
• 1 x denim shorts
• 1 x workout shorts
• 1 vest
• 3 x sports bras, 1 x ‘normal’ bra
• 5 x sweaty betty ‘no show’ sports pants – these were amazing; quick drying and sweat wicking, absolutely perfect for travel
• 2 x normal socks
• 2 x hiking socks
• 1 x lightweight jumper
• 2 bikinis (I bought a few more along the way..)
• minimal make up
• haviana flip-flops
• hiking sandals
• 1 x pair nike trainers
• I bought all other products – e.g. moisturiser, shampoo & conditioner, when I got to each region and tried not to take these on flights.

Karl’s bag:

• 1 x pair of hiking trousers
• 1 x mosquito repellent shirt
• 2 t-shirts
• 1 vest
• 4 x under-armour boxers – quick drying, sweat wicking etc.
• 1 x nike trainers
• pair board shorts
• 1 haviana flip flops
• 2 x socks
• 2 x hiking socks
• 1 x fleece

Picked up along the way:

• 2 x magic carpet yoga mats (we were doing a lot of yoga)
• a few more bikinis
• a few more tops as we went – often threw away worn ones to replace with new
• classic thailand traveller trousers
• lots of souvenirs
• camp cutlery, bowls, saucepans etc
• hiking poles
• jeans for new zealand and south america- cut down to shorts for central america

What would we do differently?

Well, really – probably nothing: we had the time of our lives and the things that went wrong were just part of the fun and the stories to look back on. I guess our ‘hardest’ part was the USA – this was where we had the most struggle with money. This was because we had hoped it would be like Australia & New Zealand, where a $20 USD campsite had amazing fully equipped kitchens with fridges and ovens and great shower facilities. We later learned that we had in fact been entirely spoilt here – this is not the norm for USA. The USA’s travel/camp network is designed for people in RVs, whereas the Aus & NZ camping network is designed for people in tents of very small simple campers. So in the US you can pay $30 USD for a campsite and still get only basic shower facilities and definitely no kitchen. This often meant that we weren’t really happy to pay this – so we mainly camped in National Park or State park campsites – (usually around $5-$10). Yes they often had minimal facilities but at least they were in beautiful surroundings! In cities, we often used Hotwire to get cheap motel deals. We also used Air B&B a bit, and we are lucky enough to have a lot of tolerant friends across the US who very kindly put us up. (In fact we met most of these friends whilst travelling in South & Central America!) But on the whole, this was the most expensive place to be and eating well for less was difficult (especially as vegetarians). I think if we did this part again I would want to have more money – but we did make it work!

Some Final Tips

• if you’re on a budget – make sure you save on things you need to (food, accommodation, drinking, nights out etc) – but don’t hold back on the things that you’ll remember. Even though certain tours or sights might seem expensive at the time – if it’s something you can only do there – do it. You’ve gone that far and it would be a shame to miss out on it now.
• we would often treat ourselves to a nice place every once in a while – we preferred staying in ‘mediocre’ places for two weeks and then one ‘lovely’ place rather than staying in ‘good’ places all the time. This will just be up to you – you’ll work out soon enough the places you’re willing to scrape and the places you don’t mind spending
• Choose your travel companions very carefully! You will not believe how close you will become with this person – you’ll have to share everything and you’ll see them at their absolute worst. If someone sometimes grates on you in school/uni/the office – you can absolutely guarantee they’ll grate on you in the jungle. But at the same time – don’t overthink it too much; if you’re not quite sure maybe leave it open to being able to go your own way at some point – e.g. only book the flights. You’ll meet hundreds of amazing people when you travel- if you want to split off with your own group then so be it.
• If like me you’re travelling with your boyfriend/girlfriend/husband/wife – don’t worry! You’ll have an amazing time together and you’ll create memories you’ll never forget. Yes, you’ll fight, but you’ll make up too, and you’ll come out stronger at the other end.
• Always ask for discounts – even in places where you might not expect it. Generally people don’t mind at all and it all adds up. In countries like SE Asia, don’t be shy to haggle, they expect it. But depending on the country – respect the customs and don’t push it too far if you can sense that they feel uncomfortable.
• Get travel insurance, get travel injections, and take malaria tablets if you’ll need them (you can find an NHS malaria map here. Yes, these things are expensive but your health isn’t worth gambling with. If you can’t afford these things, don’t take the trip yet.
• Take a good camera and back them up to a good photo storage website as you go. I used Flickr which has a free terabyte of storage per user. Take photos of even things that aren’t beautiful- they’ll become part of the experience and you’ll appreciate the memories later.
• Keep a diary of some sort, whether it’s online or a few doodles every now and then in a notepad.
• Spend a few hours every week in a coffee shop – back up your photos, keep in touch with friends and family – and give yourself some downtime. On a long trip you cannot be exploring every second of the day – allow yourself to relax and reflect.
• Pack less than you think you need. You can always buy things if you decide you need something you didn’t bring; it’s much harder to get rid of things on the road. We were able to wash clothes much more frequently that expected – there are great, cheap launderettes all over SE Asia and South and Central America. In Australia, NZ & USA we just used coin laundries.
• Be open and honest with your travel companions about what you want to do. You’ll regret it later if you feel you were forced into something you didn’t want to do/couldn’t afford, and equally if you miss something you were desperate to do. Be flexible with each other and discuss any problems openly.
• Cherish every moment and be brave when you have to be. You honestly will regret the things you didn’t do more than the ones you did.

  

I hope this has been useful for you. If you’re thinking about your own round the world trip, please drop me a comment and let me know if you have any further questions. I love the idea of inspiring other people to have their own adventures! 

“Because in the end you won’t remember the time you spent working in an office or mowing your lawn – climb that goddamn mountain” – Jack Kerouac

{all opinions are my own and I have not been sponsored by any of the companies mentioned}