How To Travel Around The World
Submitted by TravMonkey on September 23, 2009 – 10:29 pm7 Comments
Reach new heights - traveling the world.
If you are looking to go backpacking or even to travel around the world, sometimes it’s difficult to know where to start. In reality planning to travel around the world isn’t as complicated as many first timers think.
It’s natural to be slightly nervous about traveling to unknown places and first timers usually over plan in order to put their mind at rest.
Here are the key areas you should cover in order to travel around the world:
Get some motivation for travel
- Sometimes you need something to motivate you to leave everything behind. It’s usually just fear that stops you from actually making that giant step out of your comfort zone. See - 5 Reasons To Quit Your Job and Go Traveling and 5 Steps To Make Your Travel Dream A Reality.
Get an idea of where you want to travel
- Find some inspiration for traveling to a certain country or region, see – 101 Things To Do Around The World.
- Research some activities that you’d love to do, see – Travel The World With Extreme Sports.
- Be inspired by unusual world cuisine, see - 10 Weird Things To East Around The World.
Save some money
- Once you have a rough idea of where you want to go, draw up a rough budget.
- Start saving your hard earned cash.
- Start cutting out any money you tend to waste on things you don’t really need, see – The Secret of Successful Saving For Your Trip Of A Life Time.
Organise yourself
- If you have an idea of where you are going then check out the Visa situation for the countries you maybe visiting.
- Once you know how long you need to save enough money, you can book your flight. This will help you focus and give you a definitive time frame.
- Buy some travel insurance.
- Get your vaccinations. Check out Travel Health and visit your local doctors.
- Buy a backpack and any items you’ll need. Don’t go overboard you probably won’t need the kitchen sink – 5 Reasons Backpackers Should Travel Light.
- Photocopy your passport, vaccine certificate, insurance, contact details etc.
- Sort out your banking. Think about opening a Nationwide Flexi Account for a debit card with the cheapest withdrawal charges abroad.
- Optional: Buy a guide book, or don’t. See – 5 Reasons Not To Trust Your Guide Book.
- Optional: Book your first few nights in a hostel. See - Web Booking Sites For World Travel.
Then Relax
- Read up on the first place you are going to for any dangers or scams. See – 6 Steps To Stay Safe Traveling The World.
- If you are going to document your trip, browse a few online travel blogs and pick one you prefer. See - Top 4 Travel Blogging Sites.
Also see:
There’s some nice tips in there, Paul! Booking a flight early is key, I think. Then you’re comitted. First time I went travelling I got my flight way too soon, though, and then had to work much much more to save up the money I needed…
Hi Boris,
Yeh I definitely agree with that. Book the flight, it’s stops you from making excuses and not tackling the planning process.
Thanks,
Paul @
TravMonkey.com
Hey there Paul,
Im fallowing you on twitter now,
Love this site, really great!
Found it thanks to twobackpackers
I have been reading some of your articles, and I enjoy them.
I am a hiker who travels around the world, this is my hiking site , more of a guide though. Looking forward to hear more from you and this site!
Great day Paul!
Thanks for the tips! Very inspirational! I really need someone to boost me so that I can continue my goal to visit every country in the world.
Hi Paul, I’m heading off to Phuket in March I’ve got my flights booked but not accomodation, I want it to be a long trip around that part of the world, do you have any advice for staying in 1 place for a couple of weeks/months at a time. More for where to stay rather than what to do?
Great site by the way, I’ve had it book marked for a couple of months now.
Tom
Hi Tom,
It really depends on what you want to do while you are there really. It’s usually a good idea to book your first nights accommodation so that once you get there you don’t have to worry about finding somewhere.
After that, if you want to stay a few more nights (if it’s a good place) you can usually just book them when you are there. If not you can continue onwards.
As I said it really depends what happens and what you what to do… for example I did some scuba diving on Koh Tao, I roughly planned to stay a week but ended up staying for 2 weeks. That’s the great thing about travel if you have the flexibility of time… you can stay when you find a place you really like and you can move on if the place isn’t very good etc.
There tends to be a range of accommodation in Thailand depending on your budget, but the more you spend the more comfortable you’ll be. I personally didn’t mind a simple little hut on the beach… that’s perfect for me.
If you do intend on staying somewhere for a week or more it could be worth bartering for a good discounted price.
The best way to go is just simply go with the flow and enjoy yourself!
Hope this helps,
Paul @
TravMonkey.com
My Mom and Dad always pushes me to travel around the world but i dont want when they are not with me, cause i’m their only son and they has a great love for me that’s why every birthday that i have they want he best for me.