PREPARE FOR A LONG ROUND THE WORLD TRIP (PART 2: CONSTRAINTS)
By: Sergey Lovchev
Tags: Travel, Planning, World

Every trip is unique. We all travel with different limitations and goals. I have no doubts that for some readers this article is useless or even detrimental. Let’s start with the list of our constraints, that way you can decide whether it is a good idea to proceed.

General

Live on wage, not savings

To be honest, it is possible to travel on any budget, including zero. We decided to spend monthly the same amount of money as we do in Sydney where we live. This way we can have a decent dwelling, high quality food, comfortable flights, and some money for living and local expenses. One important conclusion here is that we can afford only one long flight a month, and ideally inline with the “general” direction (East to West).

Also, I don’t want to quit Software Development for a long period. I love what I do, and I am working for great customers. Being a professional developer for more than 20 years I know that in order to keep up with the industry, new things must be regularly studied. One year off is deadly in regards to professional growth. All in all, I will work as usual.

Don’t research everything

I admit, thanks to other travellers and Internet now it is fairly possible to prepare to virtually everything at every destination. We didn’t do that. Only the important things were investigated (like where to buy SIMs on arrival, how to get from the airport to the dwelling). This is for two reasons:

Such investigations are rather tiresome and time consuming. Therefore, instead of enjoying the current destination time is spent in a rather boring way;

Obstacles are also part of ‘fun’. It is ok to spend more money, or waste some time. This way, quite often, it is necessary to seek help from locals, which is a great way to explore.

28 nights or more per country

That turned out to be one of the best ideas:

Enough time to explore. Normally the first week for us was to settle and investigate surroundings (shops, public transport etc). The second one is to prepare for the next country. The third and fourth weeks are to relax and explore further.

AirBnB monthly discount. Did you know that long-term reservations (28 nights or more) are often provided with 30 to 60% discount? Not in every property, of course. Take into account that cancellation of such booking is free for 48 hours only.

Not interested in typical tourist attractions

We travel to meet other people, experience an ordinary lifestyle and try new activities. Museums, exhibitions and other cultural and historical attractions are not the main reasons for our trip.

Countries

To form a list of countries to visit we applied the following criteria:

Don’t risk lives and goods

That’s subjective, of course. For example, some think that Brasilia is a safe country, some would never go there. Luckily, having Russian life experience not many places on the planet may be considered as really dangerous. We consider wildlife risks, and avoid countries in political and/or financial difficulty. We thoroughly investigated the most recent World Happiness Report, Country Risk Outlook and OECD Better Life Index.

Later on one more crucial filter appeared: the list of countries not covered by our health insurance.

Easy entry for Russians

We are Russian citizens, therefore not really welcome in the half of the world (https://www.travelfreedom.io/passport/russia). Therefore in order to save preparation time, money and nerves it was a good idea to focus on the countries that grant visa-free entry for 30+ days or at least allow online application.

15C <= temperature <= 30C and precipitation < 100 mm/month

Just a matter of personal climate preferences. Additionally, “endless summer” allows to carry only light clothing. Don’t underestimate the importance of precipitation. 100- mm/month and 200+ mm/month is a BIG difference in regards to humidity.

This critically affected our route because we had to put countries at appropriate seasons in order.

For general investigations we use https://climatestotravel.com , for pre-booking checks https://accuweather.com . I am not sure “Climes To Travel” provides reliable figures. But this may be related to the global climate change last years.

Beauty of the surroundings is very important (Australia — like)

We prefer to live in green areas, to hear birds and cicadas. No ugly buildings and city landscapes and crowds.

How to check that in the area you have never been to? Luckily, nowadays we have Google Street View. Some countries are not covered, nonetheless so called “Photo Spheres” exist everywhere. They provide good-enough overview.

Transfer

Land during normal business hours

First of all, fresh mind helps to resolve any issues should they appear. Shops are open, no problem to buy local SIMs and get connected. No time pressure to catch a bus, to avoid been ripped off by taxi drivers.

No self-transfer in visa countries

In order to check-out and check-in again checked baggage in an interim airport passenger have to leave transfer area (a special security corridor). But they are not allowed to unless they can enter that interim country (visa-free or the passenger is visa holder)! Depending on circumstances this may result in you flying to the next destination without checked baggage, or denied to board in the first airport (mostly likely).

Dwelling

Bright, clean, warm and quiet

Merely personal preferences.

Aircon if evening temp > 25C

I cannot sleep well when air temperature is above 25C.

Heater if night temp < 15C

We cannot endure indoor temperatures below 18C. Therefore we need a source of heat to warm up the living area (usually after sunset). For the same reason windows facing equator is a good thing in cold countries.

Hey, we were going to stay in summer, right? Well, sometimes the temptation to visit an attractive colder place is stronger :)

Home-like experience

Staying about a month at the same place — it is definitely like a living an ordinary life in a new country. For that we need a kitchen with a relatively good set of cooking things and food basics (such as salt, spices). Ideally equipped by a dishwasher and microwave, not compulsory though. Washing machine is highly desirable. Public laundries are fine, but time consuming and sometimes of mediocre quality.

Suitable for IT work

Internet access, of course. Nothing special, even an ADSL channel is good enough. In our experience, at home we consume at least 5GB/day, that is not less than 150Gb/month.

A table and chair comfortable enough to work for many hours. I’m not talking about sharing a dining table.

Proximity to food markets/shops

Just to save time and/or money for regular shopping. Honestly, that is almost impossible to check in advance.