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5 months around the world

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_sophie_ | 16:11 Mon 07th Feb 2011 | Travel
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If you have read my previous posts I am keen to go on a 5 month trip to Australia. Me being very indecisive this has now changed to a 5 month round the world trip. I'll post something like this post on a website specifically for gap years but just wanted to see what you guys thought of this! I'd like to fly from UK - Bangkok - Brisbane - Sydney - Auckland - Fiji - Cape Town - Brazil (where abouts do you recommend?) - LA - New York - UK.
Ok, I know this is maybe a bit far fetched but basically this is everywhere i want to visit in the world!! How do i budget? How long in each place? Is this too much in 5 months? Any other places i should consider? Am i going mad?!
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Fiji - Brazil - Cape Town would keep you going west to east.

That does sound doable in five months; how much it costs is up to you. You might want to try someone like Trailfinders, who will be able to tell you who flies where (for instance Fiji to anywhere is quite limited - flights to Auckland, Brisbane, LA and Hong Kong is about it).

Have a look at websites like Thorn Tree for lots of stuff about going places

http://www.lonelyplan.../thorntree/index.jspa
No you are not going mad. Do it while you are young and have no ties. See as much of the world you can. Will you be going alone? jno has given you some good tips!! Do it!!
Hi Sophie

It's do-able but you might feel a bit rushed, I would be inclined to do less but enjoy each place you go to - we did a trip over 7 months that was India - Thailand - Australia - New Zealand - Fiji - USA. You should definitely do Thailand, Australia, NZ and South America but other places ie New York or Cape Town you could do another time as long haul city break holidays.
We booked through STA and would highly recommend them - they have some very handy brochures if you can pop into an office it would be good reading material for you.

One other tip - sometimes it's better to go into a country at one end and fly out at the other end - so you journey through the country rather than having to go back on yourself. For example, fly into Bangkok and fly out of Singapore so that as you travel down through Thailand you are always heading in the right direction !
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Thanks! Your getting me excited for this now haha but don't want to get ahead of myself! I really don't know how much to budget for. I'm hoping to get a part time job as soon as possible (handing out CV's this week) as i am at school but it will get me some money. Obviously i would want to keep some myself but i am limiting myself to maybe £30 or even £20 a month for spending.. otherwise is saving for this trip! Hopefully during summer i can work full time and then when i leave next may i will work full time up until my 18th birthday in febuary. I'm hoping to fly that march and return in late august to hopefully go to uni. I want to do it with a friend - i haven't really spoken to them about it alot because i just don't know how to go ahead with this idea. I'm sure they would love to come though and i'd be a bit apprehensive of going solo so .. yeah hopefully!
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Thanks LDC, yeah i would like to buy a round the world ticket from STA, i hear they are very good. Thanks for the tip - i'll keep that in mind! How to travel around though through the countries? Which is best - road, rail etc?
I have a question for you, sophie. Can I come with you? They say two can live as cheaply as one, and I have never been all around the world. Any ABers done this?
you'll meet plenty of people on the way doing similar things. Have you read lumination's travel blog? (She's an ABer now out east)

http://www.facebook.c...-Blog/171452602865097

And there are many other people blogging their way round the world

http://www.getjealous.com/

First thing I suppose is to do some reading and decide what you really want to see or do - try awarding stars, three for the ones that are top of your wishlist, two for 'if I have time', one for 'if I'm in the area'. Helps to focus your mind.
If you want to avoid jet lag go the other way around; just keep going westwards.
Hi Sophie
In Thailand the train and bus are easy - and in Australia you can buy coach travel (like our National Express) - I haven't been to South America but I would imagine rail and bus would be easy - you will find so many other backpackers doing the same thing that most countries make it very easy for you. The best thing, in my epxerience, is to mix up the travelling so you can try it all - in Asia they also have 'VIP' buses which travel overnight - they are quite an experience and limited sleep opportunities but they easily get you from place to place.
My sister and her bf did a very similar trip to yours over an 8 month period... it cost them 10k all in (5k each).

I'd also recommend Trailfinders for multi-stop long haul...
''in Asia they also have 'VIP' buses which travel overnight''

Nightmare! Use the trains...
sorry snags - when I said they were quite an experience, I should have said "quite an experience" but Sophie is only young and will probably curl up in a seat and love the experience !! You only know how bad they are once you have done one !
buses in South America can be quite an experience too, in similar fashion, but great if you've always wanted to have a llama on your lap. But what the hell, go out and enjoy yourself.

Brazil, personally, I don't like Rio, but it's worth going to Iguassu falls (views from the Argentine side are slightly better), Manaus 1000 miles up the Amazon is fascinating (though you have to go a long way into the rainforest to see any wildlife), and Salvador on the coast is very pretty.
Hey Sophie, I thought of something else to be aware of - the legal limit for drinking alcohol is America is over 21 - and they seem to be pretty strict about this, unlike over here so if you want to be able to have a drink, you may want to give this area a miss for this time. Equally you will probably struggle to hire a car in the US and although you would not want one in New York, I would imagine you would be more likely to want one in LA
I personally wouldn`t bother with LA. It`s just a spread-out urban sprawl. San Francisco has more going for it tourist wise. It`s more compact too and you wouldn`t need a hire car.

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