RTW tickets?

Have you ever wondered how someone who has never been to a place can figure out how long they will want to stay there? I go, I stay, I leave when I am ready to leave and not before. Seems to work out to exactly the right number of days in a place every time. ;-)

Like all things, it's circumstantial. If people don't have to be in a certain place at a certain time, then of course that can be a great approach. But not everyone can have that unstructured a life. I know, for example, that you have very strong feelings about RTW tickets and the "structure" they impart to travel. But the majority of alliance-based RTW tickets are actually sold to people who use them for business, who have appointments, deadlines, and other "structures" imposed on them.

One night I was on a flight from Vancouver to London (was the last person to board because of a hideous mis-connect, but that's another story) and while I was catching my breath and thanking the travel gods, I chatted with the fellow sitting opposite to me (in a BA business class "pod" facing forward, while I faced aft.) He was on a trip to visit his company's offices in London, to be followed by visits to offices in Mumbai, Hong Kong and New York, before returning to his home base in Vancouver two weeks later. He does the same trip (with minor variations) six times a year, using RTW tickets in the process. Doing so saves his company something like $50,000 a year in his travel costs alone.

Certainly a different sort of travel than the kinds talked about on this forum, but maybe a little illustrative. Not all travelers can pursue open-ended itineraries or sing Val-de-ri nonstop.

Business travel is of course a different story altogether gardyloo2. But I am only referring to travel for pleasure which is what this forum is all about.

People plan 3 days here, 4 days there, 2 weeks in Y with no way of knowing if that will be enough or too much or too little time for what they find they are interested in seeing/doing when they get there. It really doesn't make any sense.

I'm not talking about someone who books a 2 week holiday to a sun destination using a package deal from a tour company. I do that myself sometimes. But when people are planning a 6 month to 2 year trip 'RTW', that do the same thing. They plan it all out ahead of time. There is no need and no way of knowing how long to give a place.

Why do people who CAN 'pursue open-ended itineraries' not do so?

I see your point tis, but there is a balance to be achieved on most backpacking trips. I absolutely agree with you about those who take 2 days in x, 4 days in y then a few days in Z, that itinerary is exhausting at best and you cannot travel in an open ended way like this. However, most people do have to travel with a semblance of planning. Long 6 month to 2 year trips even have to take this form sometimes, especially with the rules imposed on people with an RTW for example. But on my longer trips (say a year for example) I will book my major flights with say 3 months within A and B countries, then a month or two in C, then 6 months in D and E before I have to return to A to fly home. For example. I'll still have an extra month to play with, and overland border crossings that I can choose to take at any time. It is still relatively planned, but relatively open ended too.

To each his own mike, I have no problem with that. I'm just suggesting people think about it before deciding. Most don't, they just follow the herd mentality.

On my first long term trip I bought a one way ticket from Canada to London. My intent was roughly to 'see Europe'. However, I ended up crossing Africa from north to south, working in Cape Town and returning a year later via Iceland and New York to Toronto. Nothing was planned beyond that first ticket.

I am a big believer that itineraries and pre-booking blind people to opportunities. I always recall a guy in the south of France. In a bar, another traveller said he was looking for a couple of people to share costs and join him in his VW camper to go to Pamplona for the running of the bulls. This guy responded with something like, 'Wow, I would so love to do that but I have a hostel reservation in Rome for next Thursday and a flight to Istanbul the following Friday. I CAN'T go.'

He couldn't see that his 'itinerary' was getting in the way of the potential freedom of travel. Freedom from everyday schedules and responsibilities is one of if not the biggest plus of travel. Why then do so many people immediately throw that freedom away by self-imposing a plan?

Suppose on your trip mike you meet someone at your first stop who says, 'I have a boat and plan to sail it from here to Fiji. It will take me 9 months and I'm looking for crew to share expenses. Want to join me?' Are you going to answer, 'Wow, ......... but I've got 3 flights booked in the next 9 months. I can't go.'

That I am not in disagreement with at all Tis,on the whole I agree with travelling with the minimum of planning and going with the flow. Most of my advice on the TT is to first timers telling them to slow down and don't plan so much. All I meant was that sometimes some planning is necessary, and in some cases (ie first time backpackers) certain planning points can also be comforting. Sometimes the potential freedoms of backpacking takes time to ease into for some people.

ugh you're both making me seeth with jealousy

You can always join us effie? ;D Get a plane ticket somewhere with only a general idea of what direction to head in and no plans to go home until the money runs out! lol! You know you want to! Come on over to the dark side!

oh please!!!

annoyingly I have two wee people who apparently need an education and a partner who wants his career...we are planning a full year out in a few years though to go wherever themood takes us around South America

otherwise, see you in about 18years?!

Haha. Well in the meantime there are always snap years for you! There are plenty of backpackers now who travel with families for shorter periods (say the summer holidays) or professionals who have taken a year out of their career. I meet so many of them on the road now. Personally I fit my career around extended breaks.

That year around S.America does sound pretty good!

Joking aside, I hope you gained the answers you needed from earlier in the thread. Sorry it turned into a bit of a discussion! ;D

no the discussions are the best ways these threads go, so interesting to read and inspire me to crack on with that SA savings account!