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Hey guys, so I've been reading this forum for a little over a year, bought some LP guidebooks and shoestrings and went on my first solo trip to Berlin last October because of it. I'm starting to plan my trip now and looking at starting it next early March/end April.

My idea of this trip is to have nothing set in stone except my visas for Russia and that's only because its completely necessary. I want to have an idea of places and I want to go and things I want to see, but nothing 100% for sure.

I'm in the process of getting dual citizenship to the EU and that will most likely be the passport I travel with. I'm looking into flying into Europe from Canada, most likely the Mediterranean or south, so Italy most likely. I plan on spending 3-4 months in Europe and than continuing onto Russia (yes I know still part of Europe). I realize I'll have to get this Visa before I leave Canada. The next part I'm not so sure about. I thought about doing the Trans Siberian to Vladivostok and spending a few days in a couple spots along the way, than going to Japan and than flying to Beijing after that, or either just flying from Moscow to Beijing and potentially going to Japan afterwards. I don't know if I could stay on a train for that amount of time and I'm someone who likes to shower daily.

Afterwards I want to spend at least a month in China than continue down to Southeast Asia. Spending a month in Vietnam and Cambodia each, a few weeks in Laos, 6 to 8 weeks in Thailand, than take three months to do Malaysia and Indonesia while spending a few days in Singapore.

From there I want to go to Australia. This is where I'm assuming a good chunk of my budget will go. I plan on spending time in Sydney and working my way up the East Coast to Cairns. From there I want to go Darwin and into the outback seeing Alice Springs and Uluru. I want to about 2 months in Australia.

After that I'm not sure what I'll have left for funds. I will have about $37K Canadian. I plan on staying in hostels 95% of the time with splurging every so often on a decent hotel. I will be preparing my own meals mostly or street vendor style food, with eating out occasionally at a decent restaurant. I'm going to try to take minimumal flights and use overland travel as much as possible. I like to travel slow (I spent 10 days in Berlin) and really get a feel for a place, if I like somewhere I'll stay longer, if I don't like it I'll move on. I do plan on doing the touristy things such as the Louvre, Great Barrier Reef, Angkor Wat, that type of thing but I like to travel by foot and get to people watch rather than constantly taking city transportation.

I guess what I'm asking is my time in each place long enough and will my $37K budget be enough? If it is enough is there potent to travel longer and if so where would you reccomend?

Thanks in advanced! Tamara

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Sorry about some spelling mistakes it's currently 4:15am and I am very tired!

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Time:
Looks like you have left plenty of time for everything. Some places you could "do" quicker, but as you said you like to travel slow and the longer you stay in each place the more you will see.

Budget:
Europe 3-4 months = approx 8000-11000
Russia = Depends too much on how long you plan to stay and if you are doing trans siberian
1 month in China = approx 1500
2 weeks Japan = approx 1250
SEA 8 months = approx 8000
Aus = approx 6000
TOTAL = 27750

Obviously you still need to add Russia costs to that, plus any flights/ferrys you take, visas etc. but you should have some money left for extra travel. Personally I think if you want to add in extra travel you are better off adding a side trip to India or Nepal from Bangkok or adding in a couple of weeks in Myanmar. If you wait till after Australia you are looking at backtracking to Asia or a pretty expensive flight to get anywhere else other than NZ which you may not have the budget for.

Regarding the trans-Siberian, there is no reason why you would need to sit on a train for more than 48 hours at a time. Just include plenty of stops at places along the route. You can always do something like:
day 1 - wake up, shower, breakfast, 9am train (overnight on train)
day 2 - arrive at new destination 6pm.
Which means a 33 hour train journey but you still get a shower each day!

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Thanks! I'm glad my budget is good. How much would reccomend for 2-3 weeks in Russia? Like the Moscow/St Petersburg area?

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Since it's such a long overland trip that you want to embark upon I think it's best to plan the trip as you go along. Years ago we went to India and from there headed north to Pakistan and crossed over into China the only preperation we made was doing this in the summer because the pass closes in the winter. From China we took the transmongolian to Moscow and from there to Europe. We ran out of money and ended up counting on friends hospitality and hitch hiking. We had a terrific trip but the best thing about it is we didn't overplan it.

The first trip I ever took I had planned out my routing as most people do. But, I blew all that very early on and never kept to a schedule or the routing that I planned on taking. I bought a euralpass that was good for two months which was a waste of money because I only used it a couple of times. I stayed flexible and took opportunities that came my way. It was a great trip but it wasn't what I planned.

By all means make your plans and discuss them to all of us but once you hit the road forget all about it and plan your trip as it comes. It won't stay as you planned and if it does you will miss out on opportunties that come along and that would be a great loss. The best part about travelling is the unexpected.

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Sure the OP may well (almost certainly will) change her mind once out on the road but there is nothing wrong with having a rough plan, which is what I say they currently have. Things like "3-4 months in Europe" is hardly over planning. Sure there are some more specific bits but maybe they are the main things they want to see/do.

No planning can result in plenty of negative things in itself. For example that trip majortraveller describes from India to China would no longer be possible as the Pakistan visa must be obtained in your home country. Other examples would be a Japan railpass, which must be bought outside the country and can save a significant amount of money.

Russia first only makes sense if she drops the trans-siberian. Would make more sense to fly into Beijing than Bangkok though and work south from there to SEA.

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Thanks for all the replies! I know I won't be staying to my itinerary as I had stated it, but that's just an idea of what I would like to accomplish. I'll travel based on how much I enjoy the place and reccomendations from other travellers. I'm almost leaning towards going to Russia first now because of the visa issue that way if for example I'm having a good time in Croatia and than have to be to Russia for a certain date, I won't be obligated to have to drop what I'm doing in Croatia to be able to see Russia. What are your guys thoughts on that? Russia is definitely a MUST SEE for me, that's my dream destination!

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It may sound counter intuitive but you do not have to travel in a logical way. There are budget airlines connecting Western/Central Europe to Russia for small coin. That way you could start your trip in let`s say Croatia or Italy for a month or two and fly to Russia for a month and return to a Med country if you want.

I would suggest to familiarize yourself with some of the plethora of budget airlines in Europe as well as historical weather data (March/April in Russia?) for this part of your trip.

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Thanks altona! What other budget airlines are there besides Ryanair? I'm not very familiar with anymore

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Easyjet
Jet2
Ryanair
Wizz air
All budget airlines within Europe some of whom fly to Russia

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