Preparing a world tour is already part of the trip. It allows us to imagine, to dream, to take an interest in geography, politics, climate, history, bureaucracy ...
While traveling style '' backpack '' leaves much to improvisation, it can also demonstrate a minimum of organization before departure. Several months are required to inform, prepare, plan, budget ...
Why leave?
There are plenty of reasons to leave, and certainly many others to stay home. I like the words of Montaigne: 'I know what I am, not what I want'. Fleeing from the ordinary to the Discovery of the World. If fair share to escape their problems, no doubt they will still be there when he returned.
Leaving is often more difficult than the trip itself. From means end up out of balance, leaving the sense of security provided by all that surrounds us. To leave is to expose to the world and itself.
The engine is the motivation. Some go around the world with a purpose or theme: humanitarian, ecological, deserts, volcanoes, honeymoon, archeological sites, people, world music, mountains, trains, islands, spots surfing or diving.
The mode of travel can also be a goal in itself (by boat, on foot, by bicycle, motorcycle ...).
Just make your own program.
My goal was to see a little piece of the world to live and experience something different in my life everyday. It is more comfortable to stay at home to continue his life as before but the taste of the trip is grown. On each of my previous 'small' travels, I often said it was too short, that's when we begin to speak the language, understand the customs of the country need already returned. So I made the choice to spend time in each country, without me imposing completely frozen initially course, sometimes with just a few ideas on things to do in the countries visited. From a year around the world, it is also a challenge, an adventure that leaves traces and memories for a long time.
Adventuring: what is it? Cross the Nepal clinging to the roof of a bus eat dirt? Down a river on a canoe frail? Eating fried scorpion? The adventure of some is not often that sharing a parcel of everyday life for others.
How to prepare for a world tour?
Although we basically need is a passport and a credit card. It is wise to ask a few questions before leaving. That's the whole purpose of this page. The potential difficulty of preparation is that all the questions are closely related to each other (the course, budget, schedule, travel, the activities, the weather, politics). It's hard to know where to start. I do not pretend to be exhaustive in the questions (or answers in the matter). My goal is simply to share with you my personal experience of preparing a world tour through the information I could gather, meet with fellow travelers and your comments.
The key word is ANTICIPATE.
Anticipate all future needs that will meet on site (money, security, route). If you want to be methodical, it is best to make a list of tasks to accomplish placing milestones: a deadline for each action and stick to it. In other words: make a schedule!
Vaccines: how long before? How many injections? at what intervals?
Unlocking my location: how much notice?
Being own my home, can I rent it for a predetermined period of time?
Can I extend the deadlines of my credit?
Ask my sabbatical or put my dem what is the law, how much notice?
Visas: whom should I ask before going any validity, ask which way? How embassy? How much are they? Are there special requirements for obtaining?
Budget: How much money do I have? What will my expenses?
Purchases before departure: What, when, how, where? (tickets to the backpack)
What will I do in return: me money he will return to me?
I will it be possible to change their minds at the last moment, or go back to mid-term?
Etc ... etc ...
In short, think of everything but trying to sort out for not going into totally unnecessary details (like the fare of a hypothetical taxi or bus timetable between Bombay and Goa, but where will I sleep in 6 month, arriving in Santiago)
All preparatory work can be spread over three months, but this may be a bit of a race against time, especially if you are working. I think six months is more reasonable for someone who has never undertaken such travel plans. I also met someone who was determined and prepared in just 2 weeks. Everything is possible!
Finally, the preparation of a long journey is a pleasure, it's already starting a little ... Why not give time to enjoy it?
Which route?
'The true traveler does not know where it goes' (Chinese proverb)
Destinations.
The choice is not obvious because the list of interesting places is endless. What will the climate, season? Provide a trek in Nepal in July is perhaps not a great option, unless you like particularly slush and leeches. Travel guides will give you a general idea of the country, an overview of the customs, attractions, prizes, transportation. There are probably as many trips as passengers. My best memories of travel are not printed in the guides, they are dating, impressions, unexpected, galleys also ...
Some destinations are easier than others, because there is no big problem of language or because the lifestyle and culture are similar to those we know. Some countries, particularly in the third world can be more difficult to transport, food, accommodation, cleanliness, or human contact (rarely all at once though!). The 'culture shock' can be great, and this can become painful in the long run to be constantly destabilized. In this case, it may be a pause in his journey by staying in a quiet and pleasant time to recharge. To reduce the phenomenon we can try to alternate countries "comfortable" and the other, while having one eye on the budget (comfort is paid of course).
Air travel often requires a lot of stresses at the dates, forcing travelers to book a place for days or even weeks in advance. Have "open" ticket (= no date set at the time of purchase) can help solve part of the problem on popular destinations, depending on the period.
East vs. West?
Which way to turn around the world, east or west? Most Europeans began towards Asia. This is actually the climate and the departure date that will guide you in this choice. The goal is usually to avoid the monsoon, winter and hot weather. Please note, some countries have very different climates throughout the other (Australia, India, Indonesia, etc.) and anything can change completely if you go into the mountains. Even if you can not find a lot of info on the net, purchase the book 'Seasons and Climates' Jean Noël Dartle I think is a good investment for the preparation of his career.
There are not that round the world, it is also trying to get to walk by China, to go from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, to travel the Silk Road or Zindes of off the North Cape in Cape Town, to go around the Mediterranean ...
When to go?
The choice in date: the killjoy will tell you that this is not the time, because of the conditions, the risk ... The question I asked myself is simply 'why wait for retirement to go I need regular. '
There is no better time than now to take advantage of such a journey.
Another aspect of things, valid at least for the French and perhaps for other nationalities also: if you pay taxes on income and you expect from one year, it may be better to make her suitcase in the middle of year to reduce its tax over two years instead of one sheet.
The choice in date: the killjoy will tell you that this is not the time, because of the conditions, the risk ... The question I asked myself is simply 'why wait for retirement to go I need regular. '
There is no better time than now to take advantage of such a journey.
Another aspect of things, valid at least for the French and perhaps for other nationalities also: if you pay taxes on income and you expect from one year, it may be better to make her suitcase in the middle of year to reduce its tax over two years instead of one sheet.
How long?
Everything depends of course on your budget, your preferences, your availability ...
Rich and pressed can turn around the planet in 24 days in a private jet and 5-star hotel, while others cycled for ten years, enjoying the hospitality of the people and sending signales an article from time to time to round for the difficult months. Between these two extremes all possible.
The ideal length is probably no. One year, it is already good, but we must be aware that it requires to make many compromises on the choice of the countries visited or even the total impasse on one or two continents and visit only partially others. One year, it is also the limit of normal validity of most of plane tickets ...
Speed.
Tortoise or hare? Travel slowly allows for increased contact and see things more deeply, differently travel optimized for maximum thing in minimal time. On the other hand one can also choose to increase the destinations to enjoy the variety of the world.
Personally, I did a bit of both. Enjoying long country I had chosen as "my main goals," and going faster, even extremely quickly to other places. At the beginning of the preparation, I did not go around the world but the idea has become a little cheaper than the other options considered, such as the trip to 'star'. I did my route based forecast of the places I really wanted to go and stops (cheap or even free) offered by the airlines. No question completely freeze my route, I had provided, for example in Nepal two months and one month in India for various reasons, I did the opposite. We have often been asked the question: why did not go to Australia when it was so close? I just felt they did not have enough time to "good" visit this vast country as a continent. 1 year is a long time, but it is both very fast past.
Ideally, of course, have no big time constraint and stay in one place as necessary. If travel time-limited (as is often the case!) Stay longer in one country will necessarily leave less time to devote to the other ... not necessarily less interesting. Visas induce additional time constraint. In Thailand, for example, the "trick" is to leave the country (to Malaysia) to return immediately, armed with a new one-month visa.
Going 2 years for a world tour? (Lucky boy!) Why not make two trips around the world instead of one! one by the southern hemisphere, by a northern hemisphere, all with a little break in the middle to to kiss his mother who longs to see you again? This is not necessarily more expensive at the airline as expensive cross paths is avoided. A study.
If you plan to return one day (!), Also know that the more we share, the longer rehabilitation life 'normal' can be problematic. How to find the subway and routine after all these adventures?
What budget?
This is a fundamental question that will determine his background and activities.
A buget too tight can ruin the trip: It's still nice to be able to afford a decent room at least occasionally, to enjoy a good meal but also to do some activities to better discover people , animals, nature ... If resources are not sufficient, may be it is better from nine months instead of 12, or modify its original line to stay longer in the countries 'cheap' and avoid hanging out in countries 'expensive'.
Already, you should know how much money you can have because you can not spend more than what we have (stating the obvious would not have said better). After that, it's like everywhere, we can expect to living large or living in the economy, and often we do a bit of both. Depending on the country and what we are doing. For example, not to mention some European countries frightfully expensive northern Asia can be very cheap, while Australia can be ruinous if we do not pay attention to what we do. Know for example that my short trip to the Galapagos cost me as much as three months' budget in Nepal and India combined. It's funny to see that you can spend half an hour to negotiate the price of a taxi ride to the nearest euro cents in one country and pay 100 times more unflinchingly in another.
The budget is 'self-adaptive'. In countries rather cheap, we will gladly taxi, rickshaw, tuk-tuk ... In the most expensive places we walk on foot, take the bus and metro.
Predict its budget, it is basically make a table with a column and a revenue expenditure and of course to see if it can work column.
RECIPES:
1) Economies of departure, a personal loan from a bank or a relative.
2) secure income or expected (if you rent your home, if you are receiving benefits, if you are the annuitant, if you plan to work on the way, if you have a sponsor or patron ...)
SPENDING:
Before departure:
- Equipment: Backpack, clothes ...
- Visas
- Airline tickets
- Assistance Insurance
- Vaccines
Traveling:
Transportation, housing, food, miscellaneous purchases, activities.
We can determine an average daily budget by studying topics guidebooks often offer several evaluations based on the destination and mode of travel (backpacking broke - a little more comfortable - comfortable). On the Internet, we see little country sheets of ABM, of Lonely Planet, the Backpacker or Footprint (in English)
This daily budget version "backpacker" typically ranges from less than 15 € 30-35 € per day depending on the destination exeptionnelle above 100 €, it can happen but it's not really backpacker!
Then identify activities that can or wants to do in the country. -Walking is generally free but not scuba diving, or tour in a helicopter safari. This part of the expenses is the most adaptable. It's easy to add or remove an activity based on changes in its budget. By cons, stop eating and sleeping, it's more difficult.
At home:
Insurance (home, car ...), taxes, etc.
We can reduce the bill by getting rid (selling) which costs money and who does not relate, like a car, for example, especially if it is new and it will lose value.
EXAMPLE:
To give an idea, here are some thoughts about my budget ... We can do with a lot less money than that by choosing other steps as mine.
Before leaving, it was 9 years I was working and I was saving for future projects still vague. This has allowed me to go with pretty comfortable budget of 17,000 €. I spent € 16,500 all inclusive: travel, accommodation, food, souvenir shopping. Of course, my predictions were more or less just between countries, but the offsetting + - everything is miraculously balanced.
The key points of the budget of my journey:
plane:
The forms 'round the world' pre-established by the airlines often try to confine the traveler on one side of the hemisphere but are surprisingly cheap. With € 1800 we can already make a deep run with many stops.
For me, the air is much higher budget (€ 4,550 tickets!) Because I made my own journey, not necessarily the ideal economic perspective. However, I kindly pay full price for my round the world to me through places I'd actually chosen, such as the very expensive stop on Easter Island or return Madagascar.
Nepal and India:
Life can be incredibly cheap. Less than 6 € / day during my trek in the Annapurna, nothing to buy, just to walk and enjoy the most beautiful mountains in the world!
Galapagos:
€ 1,500 cheerfully spent 12 days: it is a fact!
Lifestyle in New Zealand:
A friend joined me three weeks. Car rental, bed and breakfast, good restaurants ... for a bill of more than € 76 / day. Very comfortable and relaxing after India. After the departure of my friend, the budget is again reasonable by my own mess in the hostels and moving in stop and bus (20 € / day). A fine example of adaptivity of the budget!
Expensive sports:
I did a lot of scuba diving (Madagascar, Fiji, Cook Islands, Galapagos). Some paragliding, rafting, a freefall. About 1,500 €.
revelry:
I appreciate the good things and I never tire of discovering the culinary world. I am often tempted to let a good restaurant and a nice bottle of red to share with friends. A force that eventually weigh in the budget, but when you love ...
hotels :
Conversely, I have my accommodation rather tight budget, rarely sleeping in rooms on top, not forsaking the dorms on occasion.
A plane ticket to go around the world?
A plane CT (or rather a bunch of airline tickets) ticket is the most common form. To design the course and buy a ticket TDM, it seems essential to go through an agency that specializes in this type of travel. At the rate: it is much cheaper than tickets purchased separately.
These agencies have their catalog a series of trips that use a small number of airlines that are partners in the same alliance: There are three: One World, SkyTeam and Star Alliance.
Economic formulas (between 1500 and 2000 Euros) follow the most popular airline routes: Europe, Asia, Australia NZ, North America. With a little over budget, we can add South America or South Africa or additional stops. More and more expensive if you want to spend outside of traditional air routes such as in West Africa or Central in the islands of the Indian Ocean or Alaska.
Namely tickets TDM also possible to combine flights and land paths like the classic Singapore - Bali or Santiago - Quito to name a few.
An idea that we do not always think when an Air TDM were prepared: it is the use of certain stages of low-cost airlines that explore a country or continent. The idea is to combine an air TDM and enjoy cheap rates "low cost" to increase the number of calls or circumvent some limitations of style: not travel westward if the CT turns east .
Most low-cost airlines are in Europe, Asia, and North America. They are rarer elsewhere. As a personal example: I used several times AirAsia to get around Asia cheap and quite a few others in Europe.
How to find a sponsor and travel for free?
The dream: getting paid to travel. Find a job with a publisher of guide !!!
Sponsors usually require a serious and well-mounted project. People must be motivated and tenacious and suggest a theme - original? - The whole trip (humanitarian, education, heritage, ecology, history, writing or picture / video reports), some media coverage, etc ...
Who to contact?
www.fondations.org already offers some ideas ...
Scholarships Youth Challenge 62, rue Saint-Lazare 75009 PARIS Tel. : 01 40 82 97 97 Fax: 01 40 82 97 98
On the same site, other ways to find funding
Not bad address as the site of the Nicolas Hulot Foundation
(Thanks to Geffroy for the pipes)
Choosing insurance contract - assistance around the world?
Most of the time, insurance and assistance are combined in a single contract. Guarantees covered vary from one insurance company to another, exclusions too.
- Civil liability (still limited)
- Repatriation, visit a family member, early return, transporting the body of coffin (yours!)
- Legal Assistance
- Cash advances, advance bail.
- Costs of search and rescue, sometimes 'unlimited'
- Medical expenses hospitalization (Disease - Accident). Desirable Ceiling: € 150,000, but twice: it's better! (hospitalization costs can be exorbitant in North America / Japan / Singapore). Appendicitis is Real! See the list of excluded by the contract diseases: AIDS, malaria ...
- Dental (usually little or no coverage at all)
- Sending drugs
- Cancellation: Refund of flight / room for illness, accident, death of a loved one, dismissal (economic only) tickets.
- Disability, death, disfigurement, in these cases a capital can be paid to you or to your heirs.
- Baggage and Personal Effects: Loss, theft, delay, damage. Repayment is often symbolic. Look at the conditions for the cameras, eyeglasses, bicycles, sports equipment ...
- Compensation Flight Delay
- Transmission of urgent messages
We can compare contracts based on the asking price and guarantees (caps, deductibles, exclusions). Usually all "risky" activities are excluded from cover: motorcycle, car, diving, mountain climbing, air sports, backcountry skiing, bungee jumping, competitions of any kind. It's up to you to take out additional insurance to cover you. The insurance does not cover you either if the acts are intentional, if you are under the influence of drugs or drunk, in case of attempted suicide, the states of pregnancy ... Also excluded: wars , terrorism, nuclear weapons, the cataclysms ...
Geographic coverage: some countries may be excluded including yours. Regarding the search operations, rescue, repatriation: are often excluded areas highland / mountain, the sea searches Within the EEC, the agreements allow to be reimbursed by the French Social Security. accident or sudden illness (E111).
From whom?
AVA
AVI International
Elvia
Europ Assistance
Inter mutual support
Connoisseurs of travel
Mondial Assistance
Backpacker support
For certain sports ...
At Old Camper
French Alpine Club
See also on the websites of your federations (sailing, paragliding, diving, etc.)
Owners of credit card are automatically covered by insurance / travel assistance. If the benefits are very limited for the cards 'standard', they are correct for the cards "high end" as the first visa or mastercard gold. The benefits are highest for six months of consecutive trip. A check.
Visa
Eurocard Mastercard
American Express
What will happen to the house while I was away?
The ideal is to have someone you trust at home that can take care of some administrative and financial problems for you. The tax office will he forget me as I will forget?
Make proxies to the bank, post office to receive recommended. What to do with bills, insurance, mutual ... (we will of course take care to calculate everything in his budget). Direct debit is very Internet allows for more transactions (banking, administrative procedures, and may soon be as visa applications).
What reactions expected from the environment?
The people I know have had contrasting reactions to the news of my project. It goes: "This is great, I've always wanted" to "you're completely wacko" through "you are brave to do that."
A friend even told me "your path is bad, you'll miss a lot of things" (sic). 'No, really, it takes at least through Angkor and Chichen Itza, it's a shame not to go! 'Listening to him, it would be in the plane every week to jump from one site to another.
Joking aside. His determination to be great to take the leap from the dream to the project and the project to its completion. You may feel misunderstood and hampered by his relatives. They are surprised and concerned to see you go so far and so long. But why you leave, you're not right here?
