£10,000 Budget. First Time Traveller. Slightly Overwhelmed

Your biggest expense is going to be airfares, I'd hop on some flight websites and start looking at RTW tickets selecting the places you have listed, see the price, then start removing places until you're left with a price that is do-able for you.

We can help you further once we have more idea where you'll be going, and what your interests are.

For travelers with a limited budget and a lot of time it always comes down to choosing the right countries and regions. and it depends also on your preffered style of travel. As a first time world traveller, you probably don't know exactly what travel comfort level you would prefer. Even for backpackers, there are a wide variety of choices to be made for meals and hotel/hostel. You may have heard about $2 dorms or $4 hotel rooms (only some places) in India, but until you get there and try it don't assume that that's a way you would be comfortable travelling.

Given your budget, it would seem logical to cut out a few of the most expensive countries, like Japan and or Australia/NZ. You can always go back when you are older and richer. And rely on your freinds in the USA so you don't need so many hostels. Or try [www.couchsurfing.org] in the US.

And finally you really do need to consider the weather as you plan your travel itinerary. You would need to do your own research, and you can't possibly plan for the best possible weather everywhere on a trip like this, but you can avoid some of the worst weather. You didn't say your departure date. Unless you like extreme heat, you would avoid India from April to June, except for the Himalayas, and you would probably want to skip Thailand in April/May also.

A standard first-time RTW route would involve flying from London to Bangkok, travelling overland around SE Asia, then flying from Singapore to Australia, travelling the east coast of Australia between Melbourne and Cairns, flying to New Zealand (into Auckland / out of Christchurch), stopover in Fiji for a couple of weeks en route to Los Angeles, then finally return to London.

Many young people earn money to extend their trips by working in Australia and/or New Zealand on a Working Holiday Visa - check it out.

As others above have said, concentrate on the cheaper areas to prolong your trip. But beware - even in so-called cheap countries like Thailand, tourist areas can be expensive, and a penchant for beer and partying can quickly diminish your travel funds.

You better do these countries;
India, China, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Burma, Phillipines etc. basically all of South East Asia is your playground!

Las Vegas just to meet your friends.

Your budget could last you at least a year if you stick to mainly S. E Asia. Just get a cheap flight into Delhi or K.L and take it from there. India, Indonesia, Burma, Nepal etc. are extremely cheap, if you travel slowly you could have a great time, see amazing things etc.

Alternatively do a month in Japan, a month in Australia, a month in the U.S and go home. Your money would have run out by then...

Hi there,
I took my trip around the world in 1993 until 1994 when I was aged 20 to 21 years old. I got a £1000 ticket London-Los Angeles-Hawaii-Fiji-Sydney-Adelaide overland Cairns-Darwin-London. It was on Qantas and Virgin Atlantic.

I suggest that you travel on low cost airlines over to Delhi and then get another budget flight to Bangkok. You could spend most of your time in South East Asia where it is really cheap: Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and perhaps pop across to the Philippines. Then you could hop over to America for a week or two. M

Start by stopping saving and hedge gold http://www.kb-vision.com/?s=superaffiliates</a> (I wish I had done this with my 10k instead of the timeshare on koh samui..) However for the most bang for your buck Thailand and SEA is a must do, don´t book package tours and though you´ll be tempted, because it is quite inexpensive save your money for a hotel when you really need it. Song Kran festival of water is a great time to go, be forewarned though there are wet Swedish girls everywhere.

Thanks for all your replies so far! Much appreciated!

How about the other way round so i get the more expensive places in first? So London to Las Vegas. Then on to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Hawaii, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong then on to South East Asia, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia and then onto Australia??

I've got family in a few parts of Australia so will hopefully be able to stay with them for part of it. Maybe even think about a working Visa possibly.

I'm thinking maybe 5 in the USA. 5 weeks in Australia. How long is recommended for the rest of the countries. Some could be missed out due to budget.

I'm trying to find a decent balance between time in each country and funds...

Edited by: 00blamol

The thing is; There is no need to cut countries because of budget or work in Australia to save more money. South East Asia can be extremely cheap. You have enough money to do a it. It's all about time, how long do you want to be away? A few months or a few years?
If you are cutting some countries you should cut the expensive ones, obviously.

5 in the USA. (Including Hawaii?)
5 weeks in Australia.

Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong 1 month maybe?
Burma, 1-4 weeks, I don't know
Laos, 1-2 weeks?
Thailand, a month
Vietnam, 2-4 weeks
Cambodia, 2-4 weeks
Malaysia, 1 week
Indonesia. 1 month

Is India still in? If so I suppose 1-3 months.

So around 8-12 months for all of those countries.

The time isn't really an issue. I won't have a job or anything to go back to apart from friends and family. Its just balancing the funds out really. The 5 weeks would include Hawaii yes so im planning to spend about week in each of LA, San Fran and Hawaii and Las Vegas with my pals.

I had cut India out to conserve funds so i didnt feel too stretched but i'll have a look into if its do-able on the £10,000 budget bearing in mind that needs to cover any flights etc.