Around the World Travel Ideas-XP from TN

lavet22

DH and I are in the beginning planning stages of an "Around the World" vacation.  It will be around 2-3mths long.  Not sure the time of year, but we are thinking early spring or late fall as we would like to ski the Alps.  We are looking for places to visit.  Places where we can spend a minimum of 5 days and we want "leisure" spots worked in as well, like the beaches in southern spain or GBR off Northern Australia, then maybe a cruise to Hawaii to hit islands like Fiji.  We have been to Europe a few times, but plan on at least 2-3 countries there again.  What we really need help with, is Asian and middle eastern countries as we have never really explored them as travel options.  We have been thinking Dubai and Hong Kong, but not sure of others (like Vietnam or Tokyo or maybe even Egypt/African countries, or Moscow).  We need places to get us from Europe to Australia.  Any help with this would be much appreciated!!!

Jells2dot0

Are you looking to absolutely splurge or are you on more of a backpacker's budget? Just wondering from the standpoint of some destinations will be easier on the wallet than others.

lavet22

Either way.  We are budgeting around $100K for the entire trip.  That is estimating Hotels to be about $30K and Airfare/transportation $10K each.  That will leave $50K or so for food, sightseeing and other *extras* that may come up.

jenna8984

I think you should definitely see a travel agent. That is so much time and money, it sounds very scary to piece together on your own. You will want airport transfer in some countries and possibly English speaking tour guides. I just went to Tokyo and it was absolutely amazing but there was no way I could have gotten around without my friend who lives there and speaks English. A lot of the business men know English but the people you be interacting with like taxi drivers, store clerks, waitresses don't know any which made it very difficult for us.

 I always wanted to go to Dubai but then I read a story where a girl from the Netherlands was raped in her hotel room and instead of arresting the man they arrested HER for having sex while not married. Their muslim laws are insane like that and made me change my mind about ever wanting to go there. I've also had friends who said how terrible India was. They would go out to eat and the locals would ask the man "what does she want to drink" they would never address her or even look at her. I don't want to generalize, I'm sure there are plenty of tourists who love it in these places, but just things to really consider.

Machu Piccu was amazing, I loved it, but I HATED Lima. It was dangerous. I've been to 23 countries and 5 continents and I'd say my favorite places were Greece/Greek islands, Barcelona, Estonia, Machu Piccu and Cuzco Peru, and Kyoto Japan.

lyndausvi

If you have been to Europe then I would go south to Egypt or Morocco (haven't been to either, but my parents have and liked it).  Then I would go farther south and take a safari.  I loved going on Safari.   One of the top things I've done.

I really liked China, Japan, Hong Kong and Thailand. Unlike Jenna I had no problem getting around Tokyo not knowing Japanese.  Thailand or Vietnam will be good for the wallet.  

Never been to Australia or New Zealand or South  America to comment.

When I went around the world many moons ago (did it over a month or so) it was cheaper if you kept going in one direction without back tracking.  Then take side flights from one place.  For example, I flew to Tokyo (parent's lived there) on KLM.  Then we went to Hong Kong on KLM with a long stayover.   During the stayover we had RT tickets to take us to China and then back to Hong Kong (this was pre-1997).   Then hopped back on KLM to Amsterdam for a stayover.  Shot up to Sweden, then back to Amsterdam.  Then off to Paris on KLM.  Drove around France Belgium, Luxembourg, then back to Paris to fly back to the states.   My parents brothers stayed in he states and then flew back to Japan.

Not sure if they do the same now, but it's worth looking into.

JoanE2012

I have no specific advice....I just wanted to say that I'm extremely jealous!

Jells2dot0

I could literally spend the entire 2-3 months in the South Pacific. LOL Australia and NZ are great options, but you could easily spend 2 weeks in each locale. I spent 2.5 weeks just in Queensland and didn't even scratch the surface. We stayed in Brisbane and Cairns (which is the perfect GBR jumping off point) as well as Heron Island, Wilson Island, and Lizard Island. 

What airline alliance are you working with? There are some destinations that are much easily accessed via certain alliances. Example- Fiji and One World or The Cook Islands and Star Alliance. I've been to Tahiti, Fiji, The Cooks, Australia, Hawaii,and am heading to other smaller islands this fall, so I've done a bit of research on this area of the world. 

As far as the middle east, both the Seychelles and Maldives are easily accessed from Abu Dhabi. I believe Dubai as well, but the Seychelles may be a bit more difficult from there. Johannesburg is also a great jumping off point to the Seychelles. When we went to that region, we flew to Mauritius from J'burg and then Mauritius to Seychelles then from Seychelles to Qatar.

WinstonsGirl

I know Star Alliance offers Around the World tickets, though there are some restrictions obviously.  You have to travel in 1 direction, land and take off from the same city (I think), etc.  It might be something to look at too