From: gilbert@esd.dl.nec.com (Russell Gilbert)
Subject: Re: World Travel
Organization: NEC America, Engineering & Support
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1992 20:34:06 GMT

From article <1992Oct30.200454.2169@knight.vf.ge.com>, by connolly@sde.mdso.vf.ge.com (Connolly Sean):
>
> ... I met a number of travelers (not 
> tourists!) who had been on the road for 6 months to two years.
> 
> 	If any of you are out there reading this, I would like to get some 
> advice on how you did it.  I am considering working here for a couple more 
> years, saving every cent I can, then packing off to see as much of the world
> as I can for a couple of years.  I survived the summer on about US$24 a day, 
> but that would break me over two years, plus airfare.  I have an EC passport, 
> so work in Europe is possible and I am ready and willing to do just about any
> menial (or even technical) work to get by.  What I would like, if possible, 
> is some facts about how you did it: costs, job recommendations (types of work,
> not employer data), the way you handled the actual travel (airfare, train,
> etc), vacationing from travel.

I recently returned from a 10 month trip around the world (And BTW, I'm
American - hard to believe huh?).  I could probably type for the next few days
straight explaining everything that went into the planning and actual
traveling, but I'll spare you and try to answer just a few questions.  Feel
free to ask for more if I don't answer everything you want.

As for the money deal, there seem to be two methods.  One is to save *some*
money and work as you go for the rest.  The other is to save it all before you
go, then come home when you spend it all.  I chose the latter.  I saw a lot of
people that did the save/work thing, but it always seemed to me that their
costs of living while they worked didn't leave much to be saved.  It's hard to
find a job in a foreign country that pays well, is temporary, and that you can 
find quickly.  Even if you have a professional skill.  Because the more
professional it is, the more they'll want you for long-term (and you'll have to
wear *nice* clothes - hard to do when you're backpacking).  But, of course, it
can be done.  

Anyway, we (my wife and I) saved about US$11,000 each over the course of 
several years.  That amount covered everything for the actual trip - including
a 'Round the World air ticket, all ground transportation, all food, all
housing, all entertainment, all emergencies, etc...  The ground transport. was
a 3-week bus/train pass in New Zealand, a Eurail Pass for Europe, trains,
buses, and boats in Asia, and miscellaneous things like subways and taxis.  The
cost of food, housing, and entertainment was of course dependent on the country
we were in.  Asia was very cheap, Australia was a little more expensive than
the US, and you know about Europe.

The catch:  I said it covered everything for the trip.  But there's also a few
more things to consider if you're going away for that long.  Where will you
live when you get back?  Will you need money saved to get back on your feet?
Where will you put all your stuff?  What about medical insurance - *can* be
very important.  Are you selling your car etc. to get the money?  Will you need
to buy another one when you get back?  If not, where will you put your car
while you're gone?  You get the idea.

We saved an extra $2,000 each to get back on our feet, and that was close to
being not enough.  We put everything into storage, and paid for medical
insurance.  We didn't sell our cars, and were able to find people to use/store
them while we were gone.

As for the air tickets, there again seem to be two methods.  One is to buy them
as you go, maybe 3 or 4 or at a time, and the other is to buy the all-inclusive
'Round the World (RTW) ticket and pay for it all up front.  Both ways work, 
but I loved not having to worry about whether or not I'd have enough money for 
air tickets later.  You'll spend enough time worrying about money for everything
else, it's nice to have *something* paid for ahead of time.

I found that travel agents knew nothing about RTW tickets, so I just spent
hours and hours on the phone with airline companies, asking questions, and then
just doing it myself.  We ended up spending about $3,400 each for the tickets.
So, now you're doing a little adding and finding out that there's not a lot
left for food and housing after you subtract the $3400 for the tickets and the
$1000 or so for the passes.  You're right, but you *can* do it on that amount
of money.  I'm proof.  And we didn't go days at a time without food, or spend
the night on the streets - not even once.  But, we also hardly bought *any*
souvenirs, and we kept the entertainment (drinking) to a minimum.

To give you some reference, we travelled quite a bit with a Swedish couple.
They had started with the same amount we did, but were only going for 6
months.  Needless to say, they spent quite a bit more on "non-travelling"
things.  Our philosophy was, "Be reasonably comfortable, but try to see as many
places as possible", whereas there's was more, "This is a vacation".  Also,
their trip length was pre-planned, so the closer they got to the end, the
more money they started spending.  For us it was just go as long as you can
with the money you've got.

As for where we actually went...  The RTW ticket covered the following:

Dallas to Los Angeles, Hawaii, Fiji, Auckland (NZ), Cairns (Aus.), Brisbane,
Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok, Kathmandu
(Nepal), Delhi (India), London, Athens, London, Dallas.

In addition, we also used ground transport to go to:

All over New Zealand, two cities in Malaysia, several islands and cities in
Thailand, another city in Nepal, another in India, Wales, Scotland, Ireland,
Northern Ireland, France, Switzerland, Italy, Greece, Austria, Germany, 
Czechoslovakia, Poland, Sweden, Denmark, Holland, and Belgium.

The ticket was a pre-set deal with QANTAS (great for Australia and SE Asia 
travel), British Air (for into and out of Europe), and United (for the US
sectors).  Basically there are only a few rules for RTW tickets. First, you
can only go one direction - west or east, and can never backtrack.  Second,
you can go anywhere the airlines go, so get their routing maps and start
planning.  Third, the price is a flat rate, independent of where you go.  It's
hard to get many cities in Europe or Africa - mostly it's just a drop-off and a
pick-up.  There are lots of RTW airline combinations, but QANTAS is the easiest
to deal with - all their agents can answer questions, as opposed to having a
special "RTW desk" that sometimes has to call you back.

Well, as I said, I could go for days...  I'd love to answer any other specific
questions - let me know.

Hope this helps,


Russell     (gilbert@esd.dl.nec.com)

P.S.  I guess I never did say, but the trip was fantastic!