Travelling
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Mendoza
NSC's Most Stalked
I did it back in 2002. I would avoid Europe with the Euro as it is now. I went for 5 months and covered
Singapore
Bali
Lombok
Gili Trewanagn
Australia - Perth, Sydney to Cairns (make sure you take it Fraser Island, The Whitsundays and The Blue Mountains) You will love Byron Bay along that route too
Fiji - only spent 4 days on the main island, make sure you get out into the Yasawa's
America - LA, San Diego, Vegas, San Francisco, Seattle
Canada - Vancouver, Toronto
I got my ticket at STA, it was a round the world ticket that allowed me to travel 27,000 miles, but you couldnt back track on direction. It included 2 internal flights in Australia, and one in America. I then bought additional flights to get round Indonesia (Lombok, Gili)
Bali I had surf lessons
Australia I had further surf lessons as well as Scuba Lessons and I did a sky dive
Canada I did a bridge bungee jump
Singapore
Bali
Lombok
Gili Trewanagn
Australia - Perth, Sydney to Cairns (make sure you take it Fraser Island, The Whitsundays and The Blue Mountains) You will love Byron Bay along that route too
Fiji - only spent 4 days on the main island, make sure you get out into the Yasawa's
America - LA, San Diego, Vegas, San Francisco, Seattle
Canada - Vancouver, Toronto
I got my ticket at STA, it was a round the world ticket that allowed me to travel 27,000 miles, but you couldnt back track on direction. It included 2 internal flights in Australia, and one in America. I then bought additional flights to get round Indonesia (Lombok, Gili)
Bali I had surf lessons
Australia I had further surf lessons as well as Scuba Lessons and I did a sky dive
Canada I did a bridge bungee jump
eastlondonseagull
Well-known member
I had a fabulous year away back in 2002-03 after being made redundant.
Spent two weeks staying with friends in Hong Kong at the start, then had a month in China, month in Thailand, month in Laos, six weeks in Vietnam, month in Cambodia, another month in Thailand, month in Malaysia, two months in Borneo (Sarawak and Sabah), month or so in Indonesia (Bali, Lombok, Gili Islands, Komodo, Flores), then finished off in Oz.
Would really recommend it, though I'm sure some of those countries have changed loads since then! Laos was one of my favourites, spent Christmas basking in 40 degrees on the 4000 Islands; then caught a couple of buses up to Hanoi in northern Vietnam for New Year - where it was 5 degrees. Man, that felt chilly!
One tip I'd give, would be to try and avoiding cramming too much into too short a time. So try not to visit three countries in a month, 'cos you won't really be able to relax, travel, and soak it all in. And if you have a bad experience (as you will in some places, it's just what happens) it could cloud how you feel about the entire country because you're not giving yourself enough time to give it a chance.
The Perhentian Islands, off the east coast of Malaysia, were amazing back then, but I think they may be way more touristy now. Worth looking into, and amazing snorkelling / diving.
I originally planned to stay and work in Oz, so I only bought a one-way ticket to Sydney, via HK and Bali. Hong Kong to Bali, via all those countries, was done overland, apart from a flight into and out of Borneo. But the good thing was it's cheap and easy to change flight details, so I just kept calling up and putting the Bali to Sydney flight back!
If you've got the time, it's ace seeing these countries using local buses and trains, rather than tourist ones. Though odd tourist bus can be very handy but it can remove some of the excitement (like a 12hr bus journey surrounded by chickens in China or eight hours spent sitting on the roof of a train in Cambodia!)
Go for it and enjoy!
(I booked through Trailfinders, btw, very helpful)
.
Spent two weeks staying with friends in Hong Kong at the start, then had a month in China, month in Thailand, month in Laos, six weeks in Vietnam, month in Cambodia, another month in Thailand, month in Malaysia, two months in Borneo (Sarawak and Sabah), month or so in Indonesia (Bali, Lombok, Gili Islands, Komodo, Flores), then finished off in Oz.
Would really recommend it, though I'm sure some of those countries have changed loads since then! Laos was one of my favourites, spent Christmas basking in 40 degrees on the 4000 Islands; then caught a couple of buses up to Hanoi in northern Vietnam for New Year - where it was 5 degrees. Man, that felt chilly!
One tip I'd give, would be to try and avoiding cramming too much into too short a time. So try not to visit three countries in a month, 'cos you won't really be able to relax, travel, and soak it all in. And if you have a bad experience (as you will in some places, it's just what happens) it could cloud how you feel about the entire country because you're not giving yourself enough time to give it a chance.
The Perhentian Islands, off the east coast of Malaysia, were amazing back then, but I think they may be way more touristy now. Worth looking into, and amazing snorkelling / diving.
I originally planned to stay and work in Oz, so I only bought a one-way ticket to Sydney, via HK and Bali. Hong Kong to Bali, via all those countries, was done overland, apart from a flight into and out of Borneo. But the good thing was it's cheap and easy to change flight details, so I just kept calling up and putting the Bali to Sydney flight back!
If you've got the time, it's ace seeing these countries using local buses and trains, rather than tourist ones. Though odd tourist bus can be very handy but it can remove some of the excitement (like a 12hr bus journey surrounded by chickens in China or eight hours spent sitting on the roof of a train in Cambodia!)
Go for it and enjoy!
(I booked through Trailfinders, btw, very helpful)
.
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murraymints4brighton
Well-known member
would love to go right across america one day and due to my love of tennis they have many tournaments in the summer over there so sadly my ideal trip would be to go to every single mens tournament right across america.
ATFC Seagull
Aberystwyth Town FC
According to facebook, it seems like a lot people I went to uni with are now taking a few years doing this, and it looks awesome.
My question is - how the f*** do you manage it moneywise?
By the time flights, accomodation and other expenses are thought of, for a good 6 months it must be upwards of 5-6k. If I put aside as much money as I could (i.e. gave up Albion etc) for a year, by the time I paid rent and food here, I wouldn't have that kinda money to be completely self-sufficient for half a year. Which has always led me to believe that the people who do it are all rich kids who's mum and dad have somehow been conned into thinking its an important part of their upbringing and funded it.
I'm sure thats not universally the case so can someone please let me in on the secret?
My question is - how the f*** do you manage it moneywise?
By the time flights, accomodation and other expenses are thought of, for a good 6 months it must be upwards of 5-6k. If I put aside as much money as I could (i.e. gave up Albion etc) for a year, by the time I paid rent and food here, I wouldn't have that kinda money to be completely self-sufficient for half a year. Which has always led me to believe that the people who do it are all rich kids who's mum and dad have somehow been conned into thinking its an important part of their upbringing and funded it.
I'm sure thats not universally the case so can someone please let me in on the secret?
supaseagull
Well-known member
I went to Stoke once and survived, does that count?
Scotty Mac
New member
- Jul 13, 2003
- 24,405
work a year of night shifts, spend absolutely f*** all if possible during that year, then take a credit card and max it out. oh, and pay for as LITTLE as possible when you are away - find people to stay with, take overnight trains and buses to save on accomodation, that sort of thing
i travelled across canada two summers ago - did sky diving, bunjee jumping, white water rafting, camped in the middle of the algonquin national park, with only the sound of wolves howling for company, whale watching, and god knows what else
cant recommend travelling highly enough - although it was a lot easier 'back in the day' due to the strong pound against the dollar
The Spanish
Well-known member
drug mule-ing. singapore dont often top posh white kids only nigerians, and thai jails are not as bad as they are made out by the scaremongerers.
Adds a bit of edge to the trip too.
sir danny cullip
New member
Went last year during my gap year. Went LA, Fiji, New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand. Went for just over 4 months in all. Wouldn't bother with LA, we only took it in as a stop over to break up the journey for four days.
New Zealand is a must do, at least 6 weeks, absolutely amazing place. Australia is VERY expensive on the whole but worth seeing and Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand were very cheap and all had amazing food. I booked a 3 week tour through south east asia with STA which was worth it and also booked my flights through them. Other than that I would avoid them like the plague, sort your own visas etc I have had many friends refused entry to various countries because STA have messed their visa's up.
I afforded it by working 3 months before I went and 3 months when I got back. Budgeted roughly 50 quid a day including accomodation with the exception of days where we did expensive activities eg white water rafting, sky diving and bungee jumping. Well worth doing.
New Zealand is a must do, at least 6 weeks, absolutely amazing place. Australia is VERY expensive on the whole but worth seeing and Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand were very cheap and all had amazing food. I booked a 3 week tour through south east asia with STA which was worth it and also booked my flights through them. Other than that I would avoid them like the plague, sort your own visas etc I have had many friends refused entry to various countries because STA have messed their visa's up.
I afforded it by working 3 months before I went and 3 months when I got back. Budgeted roughly 50 quid a day including accomodation with the exception of days where we did expensive activities eg white water rafting, sky diving and bungee jumping. Well worth doing.
ATFC Seagull
Aberystwyth Town FC
See I make that budget 6k (50 quid per day * 4 months)! I could personally never have raised that sort of money in 3 months work, or even 6 months really - let alone when paying for living on top of it!
Not a dig, just incredibly jealous! Spose its something you gotta do before you get too stuck into rent/bills etc...
Mendoza
NSC's Most Stalked
The way I did it was that I moved back to my mums house, and all the money a month I was spending on rent and bills, I put away for this. I also got a £2k credit card to help the travelling- though it went wrong cause it was hard to pay it whilst abroad.
If you want to do something, there is always a way to do it. It maybe harder now with the £ so piss poor at the moment. I.e. A $25 dollar room in America was about £10 back in 2002, but now it would be more like £25
If I could recommend anything to anyone, it would be a stint travelling abroad, it completely changes your outlook on life for the good
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Banned
If I ever managed to save up to 5 grand, which is more then I've ever had in my life especially with my booze and drug habits, I'd blow the lot on cosmetic surgery anyway.
Franks Wild Years
New member
I want to travel through Cambodia on the top of a train. That sounds bloody marvelous.
coventrygull
the right one
Living in Coventry changed mine
Trufflehound
Re-enfranchised
The Cambodian train system is delightfully shite. This is the main (only) station in Battambang - Cambodia's second city - taken in 2007, and those are cows on the line in the distance:
herecomesaregular
We're in the pipe, 5 by 5
i've done two round the world trips: would recommend India and then overland to Nepal from Varanasi for great (cheap) adventure!
Trufflehound
Re-enfranchised
Judging by their smug attitudes, I get the impression many of the younger ones have rich mummies and daddies ("Here's £5,000 and a plane ticket Tarquin. Now f**k off to Australia and don't come back until you've learned how to be a human being.").
The first time I went I was lucky on my timing, and sold my half of a house in Hove at the peak of the 80s property boom. That paid for a year around the world without me having to work. (The owner of the other half of the house was less lucky - he invested his in another house in Hove and was in negative equity by the time I got back, leaving me broke and homeless, but still better off than him, and with a wealth of unforgettable memories.)
The second time a few years later, I was living with Mrs Trufflehound and we simply adjusted our lifestyle downwards so that we lived within her salary. Every penny that I earned then went into our travel fund. Two years of doing that saved us enough for 29 months in Asia without having to work along the way, including flights and everything - although we did have to learn how to be extreme cheapskates to eke it out...
I recommend it to anyone.
Nottseagull
Well-known member
Make that "more like £20" - it's not quite that bad (yet).
Scotty Mac
New member
- Jul 13, 2003
- 24,405
i decided to do it before all the debt that university brings - with the added bonus that i could then use some of my student loan to pay off the remainder of my credit card bill