First time RTW Trip all on my own yeah baby!!!!
Replies: 5 - Last Post: Aug 26, 2012 7:46 AM Last Post By: travelinstyle46
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First time RTW Trip all on my own yeah baby!!!!
I am planning my first RTW trip for the beginning of next year, i am going on my own which i am slightly pooing myself over but im sure it will be great for me in the long run and will blatantly be better than falling out with someone i like ;-)I am really overwhelmed by where to visit and whether to go on organised tours/trips with other travellers e.t.c so that i can meet loads of people. I also want to do everything as cheaply as possible so am well up for hostels e.t.c and i also like the idea of being able to travel at my own pace.
I am planning on going to South America - Brazil across to Peru, NZ, Australia, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and India. I want to be in Barzil for February, as i would like to be there for carinval.
I just really need as much advice as poss and i guess my main issue at the moment is deciding whether it is a good idea to go on the trip/tour things that the travel company suggests or just make my own way to these places and research them loads first so i obviously know where i am going.
Any advice will be much appreciated as am sooo overwhelmed!!
Thanks
1
Welcome!Almost everyone will agree that the best thing is to stay flexible and not plan too much or book tightly controlled tours. In the end it's up to you, but my thoughts are this:
- Staying at hostels is best for your budget and also best for meeting fellow travelers. As long as you're a somewhat sociable person I'm sure you'll get along just fine, and you'll probably find yourself with temporary travel partners. Also, you won't have to be stuck with them for long if it turns out they suck, like you would if you were on a long tour together.
- Hostels often offer tours of their own, like day trips to area sights, or even overnight trips, or else they can guide you to places that offer the same. With a little planning and resourcefulness, though, you should be fine getting around on your own. And it's usually cheaper.
- Stay as flexible as possible with planning your route. For something like carnival, you'll probably need to book a bed in advance, but everything else should be fine.
- Take your time, you'll enjoy it more. Besides, you're spend less money on average by letting yourself chill out. I did a very quick SEA trip and now I really want to go back and finish what I started.
- Pack light. Very light. Seriously, you'll thank yourself.
4
Pretty much all the areas you're considering have pretty well established traveller trails and are easy to get around. Travelling by yourself will most likely turn into you travelling with plenty of people except that you're not tied down to a specific schedule/itinerary. You can travel with someone/some people for a while and if they want to go somewhere and you want to go somewhere else, no worries. Also you're not stuck with people you don't like (which on a group tour can happen).As Jim says, a short - say 2 weeks tour at the start to get you going can be good but for the most part plan on doing your own thing.
Read up on places - it can be fun and get you excited but don't worry about planning too much beforehand, just the basics, where do you need a visa, where can you get that visa, what are the good times of year to travel... Also don't worry about booking unless there's a special reason to (Carnival being a prime example, book months in advance for Carnival).
Ideally don't even book your flights in advance but that's another debate.
5
Well first, I suggest you do some reading of posts here on the TT before you post the same old, same old repetitive, 'I'm new, don't know what to do and would like advice.' type of question. As it says in the FAQ on another branch, "1. Research before asking a question. It will help you get better, more detailed and useful answers from the community if you've already done some homework. It's also polite. The community is here to help, but we're not your personal search engine. Invest some preliminary time and we'll help you fill in the gaps."What happens otherwise Mushee is you ask questions for which you could have easily found answers yourself. You will also tend to ask questions for which there is no answer. For example:
1. Organized tour or not? Yes or no depending on which is more suitable for you.
2. Where to go? Wherever your interests suggest you go.
3. Other advice? About what?
That is in fact all you have asked and those are in fact the only realistic answers possible. So do some 'lurking' here and read a LOT of threads. Then when you have some specific questions go ahead and ask them. There is nothing you are planning on doing or wondering about that hasn't been covered here numerous times before.
