How To Travel Around The World

Janki Insan

4 years ago

Traveling is the world is much easier, now that we have access to the internet. Booking a ticket has now become a matter of seconds, and it is no longer as tedious as it was once upon a time. All you need to know is where you want to go, and the online travel tools do everything for you.

Even though traveling the world is much easier now, it can take lots of planning and saving before you can go on a trip. But, we have made everything easier for you. We have made a list of all you need to know and do to travel the world. If you’re waiting for a world trip or thinking of traversing the planet, this article is for you.

Planning

First things first, it isn’t easy. To plan a trip like this can take months, if not years. But if you have the desire and curiosity to travel, you will be able to make your dream come true. So, how should you plan?

There are many things which are important during planning. You need to take care of the budget, packing, pre-booking and more. Let’s start with the budget:

1. Budget

The first step is the budget. If you’re going on a ten-day trip to some country, you would splurge a lot. But a world tour isn’t going to be so brief, so you can’t spend the money wherever you want. Some people have traveled the world in ninety days, whilst others take years to go to the same countries. It all depends on you. But, whichever option you take, you don’t have hundreds of thousands to spend on this trip! So, planning a budget is required.

Traveling short-term is more expensive in terms of per day costs, whereas traveling longer lowers the cost as you aren’t traveling that much. Per day costs can also be higher in developed countries, like New Zealand, Australia, Europe, Japan, and United States, whereas, countries in Africa, South America, and Asia make for cheaper stays. You could visit more countries at a lower cost, or maybe spend more time in cheaper countries so that you can save.

The website budgetyourtrip.com has an approximate per day cost for each country. Not only this, but it also gives you options to convert this cost into your currency so you can have an idea of the least amount you need for everything you do.

While planning, you also need to take into account the cost of your stay. You can stay in hostels, hotels, dorms, according to your wishes. For long term travel, it’s good to take three-star hotels, hostel, apartment rentals. You can also go couch surfing, camping or stay at B&B’s.

Remember to also allocate money for sightseeing trips to museums, safaris or any excursions you’re taking a part in! Safaris, treks, boating excursions can cost a lot whereas hiking is always free. Even if you have a budget, it’s always good to do what you want instead of trying to save money everywhere.

Food is another important factor while traveling Around The World. Dining out every day can be expensive, so you can either cook your meals or eat local food from a stall, whichever suits you better. You can, of course, splurge once in a while and have a meal in a well-known restaurant.

Transportation is the next thing to take care of. While you can take flights to and fro, it is economical to use buses and trains when the location isn’t far away. Cabs can be booked, or you can also rent bikes for sightseeing.

While you’re traveling, keep aside some money for gifts to take home, and also laundry, clothes, gears and items you may need. That is to be done in addition to the flight, visa, vaccination, insurance expenses. You could go for RTW flights if you think you can plan your travel before the trip, and limit your number of stopovers and not backtrack any continents. One-way flights are the way to go if you’re more of a spontaneous traveler.

Check out the best hotels here

2. Itinerary

The next thing on which all your budget depends is the itinerary. To plan an itinerary, go through travel guides and brochures for as many countries as you want and see if you really want to go there or not. While doing this, you will realize that you have some things that you want to totally do, like spend some time in Italy, or take a wildlife safari somewhere in Africa. Put these things on your itinerary first, according to their best time to visit, and then plan your trip around these. If you’re doing this with your family, it’s good to ask your kids about where they want to go and add these places into your itinerary.

Once you have put down the must-see places, find the direction in which you want to travel. Eat to West, or west to east? Either way, timezones will change, but, you will get all your lost time one you go back home after the trip. After you determine the direction, see which weather you want to see. It’s good to travel in the Northern hemisphere in the months from April to October, and the rest in the southern hemisphere, so that you can get warmer months everywhere.

Even if you try as hard as you can, you won’t be able to go everywhere in the best season, or the peak season, so it’s okay to travel in the other seasons too. Because there are lesser crowds, and the prices are usually lower. Peak season or not, it’s all your choice.

The last and the most important thing to add is ‘downtime’. The time you need to relax, after traveling and sightseeing for a few days. Excess traveling can cause travel burnout and you may feel like ending the trip and going home! So, add a free day after a few days so you aren’t tired out!

3. Packing

Now that you have planned and booked all you had to, it’s time to pack. Try to pack as little as possible so that you don’t have to carry the load everywhere. Packing can be very hard, for those who love to have a wardrobe full of choices, but it has to be done. The right-hand rile is to pack as much stuff so that you can last a week without laundry. And, other than clothes, get a few pairs of shoes, all the required toiletries, the required medicines, in case of allergies or illnesses, and your electronics. It’s all up to you whether you want to take all your devices or not, but whatever be the case, have a backup. Travelers have reported thefts, and it’s good to be prepared.

Also, Read essentials things to carry on a trek

4. Visas, insurances and more

If you are going to be on the road for a long time, plan ahead for want you want to do with your car, your house or your pet. Other than that, get travel and health insurance ready in case of any problems. World Nomads give international insurance. Your visas also need to be in order. All the countries have regularly changing visa requirements, so you need to get visas in advance, that are long-lasting, while you can get others before you land.

Also Read: How to apply e-visa for India

5. Travel insurance

People should take Travel insurance before going on an international trip. It is an insurance product that people take for covering unforeseen losses incurred while traveling. Whether you go internationally or domestically, do take travel insurance.

Basic policies generally only include emergency medical expenses while overseas, while full policies typically include coverage for trip cancellation, lost luggage, flight suspensions, public liability, and other expenses.

During your trip

No one can tell you the best way to enjoy your trip! But, here are some tips from frequent travelers that will help you during your trip!

Be patient during your trip, because there are some unplanned incidents bound to happen. Don’t be discouraged, instead find a solution and change your plans. This will happen more than a few times.

Wake up early to get the best shot, and take as many photos as you can while stopping to observe and interact with the locals. Interactions with locals can give you a lot more knowledge on the best time and places to go to.

It’s okay to be embarrassed at times. Laugh at yourself sometimes, and don’t take life too seriously. Also, try to break out of your comfort zone!

Try to slow down your trip so that you can explore all the parts of a place! During long stays, try to volunteer, as it will be an enriching experience.

Don’t judge a community or the people. It’s best to keep an open mind and enjoy and learn. To communicate better with locals, try to learn a few words of the local dialect. And don’t be afraid of a country just because you have heard a few things! You are traveling to create your own experiences!

Don’t overpack, but carry a few extra things. Like extra passport photos for visas, extra batteries for your camera, extra credit cards, and ATMs in case, the one you have gets stolen.

Get lost on purpose, and take the road less taken. It will help you to explore more. If you love discovering, you can also go on free walking tours.

Check out: best airports in the world

Travel Packages

If you don’t like the idea of planning the trip yourself, take a world travel package! It will help you see a lot without stressing and working tediously to plan your trip. There are various Indian travel companies that provide international tours, to a particular region. Thomas Cook, Cox, and Kings, SOTC, all offer various trips to overseas destinations, but neither of them includes the whole world. You can take successive tours if you want to visit more than one continent. If you are interested in going around the world, aroundtheworldtours.com provides various trios with the best RTW deals, but the tours begin from the United Kingdom. You can take the tour which suits you the best.