1: Booking a RTW Ticket
If you’re following a fixed route through expensive cities and your time is very limited, RTW tickets can work out cost-effective. In general, most longterm or budget travellers are better off piecing together a route using cheap airlines, last minute deals, online specials and local travel agents.
RTW (round-the-world) tickets expire after a year, often cost extortionate fees to change, and are, generally, much, much more of a commercial proposition for agent and airline than the bargain they at first appear. Doubt me? Check out AirAsia’s advance fares on the big transcontinental routes.
2: Ignoring Travel Time
Hmmm…. You want three days in Chiang Mai. Then three days in Phuket. They’re in the same country, right? It’ll be just like hopping on the bus. Err… No. If you believe in itineraries (and that’s a whole other story), at least allow for the travelling time between destinations. And in some parts of the world, that’s a WHOLE lot of time. Research it online, if you’re thorough. If not allow at least a day, more often two. Most of us don’t want to get straight off a plane and hit the sights. And after an 18 hour bus journey? Fuggedaboutit.
3: Getting the Seasons Wrong
Finland in January? Sure. Provided you know it can get to thirty below quite easily. Cambodia during the rainy season? Well, the Mekong looks great and the weather’s dramatic, but the roads will be like soup. Egypt in high summer? Only for the brave, or those travelling in fleets of A/C vehicles. When you’re planning where you’ll be when, use a site like BBC World Weather Country Guides to check temperatures, rainfall and more.
4: Leaving No Free Time
You might be able to plan a two-week holiday like a cultural route march through must-see sites. Try that for more than a month and you’ll be miserable and exhausted. You lose the opportunity to take spontaneous trips to places you’ve never heard of, hook up with people you meet along the way — and you have no leeway when transport connections take longer than expected.
5: Hitting the High Season
One of the great bonuses of longterm travel is being able to avoid, to a large degree, the hordes of tourists and fellow travellers who descend on wherever you want to see during high season. Aim to be in popular spots when other people, in general, aren’t. That means missing the Western summer, Easter and winter holidays, and researching local holidays too: religious, national and, importantly, school.
6: Missing the Natural Big Event
Whale sharks in Honduras? Nesting turtles off Borneo? The great surf breaks of Bali? The ski runs of Chamonix? They all have their natural high points. Go at the wrong time of year and they, quite simply, won’t be there. Whoops.
7: Same Old, Same Old
After a few weeks of desert island bliss or hilltop heavens, most of us are gagging for the city. When you think about where you’re going, mix it up a little. Go from mountains to jungle, from glaciers to cities, from deserted islands to cultural sights, and you’ll get the balance that’s right for you.
8: Racing through Cities
From the transport to the street life, big cities take time to get a handle on. They just, well, do. And there’s much more to cities than the sights. Allow yourself a day for a city and you’ll spend most of your time blundering around or sitting in taxis. Give yourself long enough to appreciate the heartbeat of a city and experience its rhythms. A lot of the time that means, well, not doing very much at all.
9: Prebooking Tours
Many things are cheaper online. Organised tours of countries or regions are not among them. When you get to where you’re going, you’ll most likely feel perfectly competent to arrange your activities yourself. And, if not, there’ll be tours on offer there. And if you’ve just paid five times the rate of your new friends in town for a boat trip up the river, or weeks in a minibus with a bunch of folk you’ve never met, you’ll regret it. Bigtime.
10: Doing Too Much
Six months or a year might feel like a long time. When you’re on the road, it flies by. Try and cover five continents in a year and your experience will be superficial at best, and you’ll most likely be exhausted within months. Almost everyone who abandons their longterm travel plans and comes home early — which happens more often than you’d think — has tried to do too much. Slow travel is cheaper and better than speeding round the sights.
Are you travelling longterm? Have you travelled longterm? Are you planning longterm travel? What mistakes did you make planning? What are your top tips for people embarking on the same?
Nice list — well done. Agree with almost everything here, especially the parts about leaving some free time. If you are on a long-trip, there should be tons and tons of unplanned time. Good stuff will happen.
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Good stuff always does!
Great post! I like to travel without too many plans in place, but a bit of research combined with slowing things down both go a long way in not missing out on some amazing things.
Me too. I’m a great believer in not over-planning, but, yes, some research is pretty vital. Often best done on the ground…
Some great tips. Thanks!
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Awesome post, some great tips here!
I’m guilty of a few, but you live and you learn ;P
Sofia – As We Travel recently posted..1 Year Of Travel Blogging – 5 Things We Learnt From As We Travelcom
I’m guilty of a few of them too!
I’m late here, but I wanted to leave a comment because much of this list really resonates right now. Especially #5, #8 & #10.
Schengen visa restrictions have us racing around Europe right now. In three months we’ve driven through the Netherlands, Germany and Italy, as well as bits of Switzerland, Austria and the Czech Republic. Now my family is ready for a break, but peak season is in full swing and many popular places are unbearable.
Through we’re all having a great time, we’re also burning out. At this point we’re heading to Turkey where we’re going to settle in one spot for a month.
Sounds like a great plan, Renee! Travel is tiring, end of story. Where are you staying in Turkey?
Hey, Theodora. Didn’t realized you’d replied to this old comment.
We’ve now been in Turkey about five months, having made our way from Edirne to Kilyos, Istanbul, Gallipoli, Izmir, etc and on down the Aegean coast. We’re currently settled in an apartment in Fethiye (on the Mediterranean), where we’ve been catching our breath for the past month and a half.
Loving this country.
Merry Christmas to you!
Renee — ramblecrunch recently posted..That’s Some Fresh Fish!
Wow! Do you know, I’ve never been to Turkey? Perhaps one to check out this year…
I would add one more thing: don’t make plans to meet someone in a particular place six months from now. I can guarantee you won’t be in the spot you thought you would be. Yep – been there, done that. Too many times, in fact.
Nancy from Family on Bikes recently posted..Where to sleep while bike touring
Yep. I’ve done that too. We were supposed to be meeting someone in Laos in June. Now meeting him there end of August… A great tip, thanks, Nancy.
This is a great round-up of factors to consider when planning an RTW – I wish I saw this list before I started my trip, especially the points about high-season and weather.
Seems such obvious things to consider, but in excitement and having many other things to plan at the same time, it’s easy to overlook.
Great list! Stumbled, tweeted and Liked!
- Lily
Lily (Explore for a Year) recently posted..The 45 Most Inspiring Quotes on Change
Thanks so much, Lily!
We enjoyed visiting a bunch of places during the “off” season. really helped cutting down on costs and you get to see a side of the city or country that most don’t. Obviously we didn’t go to Finland, but I would highly suggest Australia as a off season destinition because the weather isn’t too much different in all the tropical locations and still quite enjoyable in Melbourne and SA.
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I’d agree with you on some parts of Australia. You have problems with the rainy season in Darwin if you want to do Kakadu, and also on the rural roads which can often be closed in times of heavy rain — S.A. can be quite chilly in the winter. But, I think, in general, avoiding school holidays is pretty much a must…
I completely agree with you. I have tried traveling to Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam in just one week and it was pretty exhausting. I imagine if I keep doing so for a long-term travel, then I’ll be far more exhausted. Then, where’s the fun? Exploring local cultures and foods sounds much more interesting now than going to all touristy sites in short time.
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It really is more fun to travel more slowly.