speye91

Has anyone travelled the world? House will soon be on the market leaving me about 60k to play with.Basically i want to go travelling i know where im going to start and all the places im going to go ,but has anyone on SN actually done it? Just need a bit advise on how to start? Is it just a case of jumping on a plane to the first destination then on from there?I will be finishing the trip in Thailand as i will be doing the full Masters course in Diving lasting about 6 months, then taking up a post either in Singapore or Australia,so i know i will need a visa for Thailand whilst doing my training is there any other places that you need special visa's for if you are just travelling through?

Cheers Mick

speye91

BOING

Lee247

Good Luck
Can't give any advice, sorry

SlimJ_2005

Cant give too much advice, but...

I have spent a year backpacking around Australia and can say it's one of the best things I have EVER done and has changed my outlook on life completely!

Sounds like you want to do a fair bit of diving and use that to support you right? Well in Australia you will need a working holiday visa which is valid for a year, if you can do 3 months agriculture type work that year gets extended to 2 years... 3 months for that extra year sounds good to me! If only we had known we would have worked for a bit longer then stayed out there!

Diving is great round most parts of Australia, in particularly Western Australia (Ningaloo Reef - Coral Bay, Exmouth region), if you cant do diving due to no positions, you maybe able to do the annual Whale Shark tours which go from about April to June. Then theres the East Coast, theres tons of places to get some work at for diving, but bare in mind lots of other backpackers are trying to do the same thing!

So where are you planning to go, and what timescales? £60k could last you a long time if managed well.

Jaems

speye91

Cheers Slimj i wont be using the fulll 60k going to put 30k in a high intrest account whilst im travelling,if something goes **** up i will have that to fall back on.So i will be using 30k for about 1/2 years .

cheers Mick

Hi lesley, TY

davegtt

That 1 or 2 years or half a year...lol 30k is alot either way

Im tempted to go and do something like this soon, all depends on a few akward circumstances at the moment but its something Ive always wanted to do, cant understand how people want to be tied to the same boring town or city for the rest of their lifes when there is such a big world to explore. unfortunately my budget would be no where near 30k half of that at best I think for me

super slider

Hi. One website to visit for advice is lonelyplanet.com and go to the Thorntree forum for travelers experiences. Things/countries not to miss. New Zealand-awesome. Vietnam, Cambodia and the fantastic Angkor wat, Laos-must go to Luang Prabang and a boat trip on the Mekong, India(prepare to be shocked)-Taj Mahal, Varanasi etc, Hong Kong, Peru (south America difficult if you do not speak spanish) and the fab Machu Picchu and Cuzco, an unforgettable boat trip down the amazon, Mexico, Guatemala and Belize to visit the fabulous temples eg Tikal\Chichen Itza\Tulum and do not miss the Grand Canyon(for once the Americans are correct in their use of the word awesome). Get a brochure from somewhere like Explore Worldwide(search on internet) for ideas. Sorry that this was not your main question but there are so many Fantastic places to visit, i envy you. Thailand is my favourite country, it is awesome, i could stay there a year, i would say treat yourself in fantastic Bangkok to one night in the Oriental hotel, a fabulous hotel, once the best in the world (cheapest room about £150 a night or maybe the authors wing, Somerset Maugham or Noel Coward suites for $1100 per night ! hehe ), then go to the River View Hotel in China town, £7 for a large clean room hehe. Dont forget Chang Mai in the north, i liked the island Ko Tao (i believe its also good for diving) near Ko Sumui in the south and Ko Jam on the west coast (for a quiet and quite nice and isolated island) too many places to name. Happy travels
Michael

dowser

I did it when I was younger, spent just under 2 years in Oz and then SE Asia. I didn't have 30k to play with though.....left UK with 1800! Worked my way around.

Should be compulsory. One thing you will realise - England is a ****e country to live in. Couldn't settle when I got back. I now have 3 passports

Richard

WHEELSHOP0_0

Sorry not to be of more help, A mate of mine (when his dad died) spent 18 months going around the world, and he raved about New Zealand, Iceland, And Phuket. Also some places that with the current situation politically may not be the best but were stunning at the time. Good luck (jealous).

SlimJ_2005

Exactly my thoughts, travelling should be compulsory before you get a mortgage/woman/dog and all that, it opens your eyes to so much and really does make you realise how small, overcrowded, ****e this country this is!

My next plans are Canada, Thailand and New Zealand next, but as I'm at uni studying as a mature student, it will have to wait till next summer or when it's all finished... oh well, good things come to those that wait I guess.

BTW, try www.gapyear.com, its a great useful site, theres a message board but they have redesigned there site and buried it somewhere...

lordharding

iTrader: (1)

Hi Spey

just came back from cebu phillpines which will be a must for you for cheap diving either lapu lapu or even down to minadnow /davro next island along

cebu is great and i can recomend some great places as its now my 2nd home cheap too 30p-65p a bottle women are crazy over you and hotels from as little as £2 15 a nite you would struggel to spend a £100 a week there

will help you on tuesday nite with some hot places !!!and tips for cheap flights who knows if reduncacy hits me soon i might even join you for a few weeks

no scoobys though ,maybe mustangs and EVOs !!

The Chief

I have always wanted to buuger off to the US and Canada for 6 months.

i really wish i had the bollocks that you have to do this.

go for it and good luck

SlimJ_2005

I have to ask as many people say what you say....

Whats stopping you?

A lot of people make up many excuses as they are just scared I guess, a friend of mine really wanted to do the travelling malarkey but said he couldn't as his girlfriend didnt want to (I said, split up, you can always get back together when you come home) and he has a house (rent it out), he has a dog (rehome it)... plenty of excuses...

I just say what have you really got to lose at the end of the day, you only live once an all that...

speye91

Nothing is going to stop m, i have a good job,my own house,Daughter that does not live with me, but see all the time,and the girlfriend she wants to come with me.It's one of those things that has to be done,i may never get another chance.

Mick

brumdaisy

its my plan too - but for me its permanent, trouble is i cant sell the house for another 18 months so got to work out how I can earn enough money that still gives me the time to get qualified (diving)

speye91

hi,brumdaisey.Hopefully i wont be coming back either,maybe our paths will cross underwater some time.Do you reckon webby will do some special waterproof sn stickers to stick on the bottom of our Fins??

mrtheedge2u2

I would recommend sorting a multi-stop airline ticket before you leave. Basically this gives you a timeline for each country you visit for your flights and what you do inbetween is your choice.

speye91

Will look into that.