Your Round the World Trip Planner: How To Plan The Trip Of A Lifetime

Your Round the World Trip Planner

How to plan the trip of a lifetime

Macca Sherifi

Smashwords Edition

Copyright © 2014 Macca Sherifi

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the permission of the author or publisher.

The author and publisher of this book have done their utmost to ensure the accuracy of all information contained within these pages. However, they cannot be made responsible for any loss, injury or inconvenience caused to any persons as a result of the information contained within this travel advice guide. Please also note that this book may make you want to drop everything and leave the country.

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www.maccasherifi.com

@backpackermacca

Dedication:

To Tom Griffiths - For showing me the path and encouraging me to take the first step. None of this would have been possible without you.

Table of Contents

How to use this book

Be Inspired

Introduction - Loving Life in Laos

Chapter One - Why Should You Travel?

Chapter Two - Planning Your Round the World Trip

Chapter Three - How to Budget for Your Round the World Trip

Chapter Four - Booking a Round the World Ticket

Chapter Five - Buying Travel Insurance

Chapter Six - How to Stay Healthy on Your Round the World Trip

Chapter Seven - What are Visas?

Chapter Eight - Essential Travel Kit for Your Round the World Trip

Chapter Nine - A Handy Packing List

Chapter Ten - How to Stay Safe on Your Round the World Trip

Chapter Eleven - How to Meet People on Your Round the World Trip

Chapter Twelve - Top Travel Tips (by some of my favourite travellers)

Chapter Thirteen - How to Hitchhike

Chapter Fourteen - How to Travel Blog on Your Round the World Trip

Chapter Fifteen - Top Travel Bloggers

Chapter Sixteen - Top Travel Books

Chapter Seventeen - Top Travel Apps

Chapter Eighteen - How to Beat Those Post-travel Blues

Acknowledgments

How to use this book

Your Round the World Trip Planner is not a guide book; it is a book to read before you go, a planning handbook. It is designed to provide all the information you need to turn your travel dreams into concrete plans. It starts with why you should travel, guides you through to how to plan your round the world trip, and finishes by helping you beat those post-travel blues. The structure of this book follows a logical fashion because this is exactly how you will plan your trip.

Everything within these pages is geared towards you, the traveller. All the advice and information in this book is to help you, as I myself have been helped over the years. You can take it or leave it, but it will get you started, give you ideas, and help you make some firm decisions.

Your Round the World Trip Planner is as up-to-date as it can be, but remember that prices do go up and down, economic and political situations can change, and a million and one other things can happen by the time you have finished reading this book. It is important to remember the secret of travelling - stay flexible and stay up-to-date. If you remember those two things you will be well prepare for any trip.

N.B - The terms backpacking, gap years, round the world trips and travelling will be used interchangeably throughout this book. I see them all as one and the same thing.

Be Inspired

If you are planning your first round the world trip, which I presume you are, then you are in for one the ride of a lifetime. There is nothing quite like planning your first trip, and the things you will learn in this book and on the road will stick with you for the rest of your life, because let me tell you know, your journey is just beginning. You have opened up Pandora's Box, and you are about to learn all about a world that is very different to the one you know.

But first, be inspired. Impossible is nothing.

Jump out of a plane at 15,000ft

Come face to face with the locals at Machu Picchu

See Antarctica with your own eyes

Volunteer and make a real difference to other people's lives

Discover the wonderful wildlife in Southern Africa

Walk along the greatest wall in China

Lie on a deserted beach and call it your own

Conquer a mountain

Explore an underwater world at the Great Barrier Reef

And smile like you have never smiled before

Introduction

Loving Life in Laos

"He is the sun, but not the only son,

his rays shine brightly, warming, illuminating whatever they touch.

He knows this but uses discretion about when to use it to his advantage.

There is always room to grow he knows,

and continues on his path,

upwards,

outwards,

onwards,

into greatness.

He sparkles with life, infectious."

- Mimosa Andre, 14th May, 2010

~

I woke up to the sun rising on my left, and to three incredibly curious kids staring at me on my right.

I have to admit, I would have done exactly the same if I was in their shoes; it's not every day that you see a bok see dah, a traveller, sleeping in an abandoned rice hut, wearing an assortment of clothes, a motorbike helmet, and covered in palm leaves.

The shock on their faces was priceless, and I couldn't help but laugh. With the silence broken, I invited them into what was my home for the night to share my breakfast; a packet of Oreos and a bottle of water. I tried to explain to them that I was travelling around Laos on my own, and that I slept in the rice hut as I couldn't find anywhere else to stay. When they pointed to the palm leaves, I showed them I used the leaves as a blanket to keep me warm. All of a sudden, the three children burst out laughing simultaneously, rolling around the hut with laughter.

After they managed to compose themselves, one of the kids showed me that there was a fire pit at the other end of the hut. It was with a wry smile that I watched him collect kindling and spark up a fire with consummate ease; I very much doubt I could have done the same even if I knew the fire pit existed.

Despite having hardly any sleep, I couldn't have been happier. My plan of hiring a motorbike and driving deep into the Laotian countryside had worked. Admittedly, I wished I had warmer clothes, especially as I wanted to camp most nights, but that's travelling; mistakes are there to be made and you learn on the road.

With breakfast done, I could tell that the kids were anxious to get to school. I calculated it was about a mile to the next village, but as it was in the direction I was going in I thought I would join them for the morning stroll; it is not like I had many other plans that day.

After a few failed attempts at starting a conversation, I was happy and content to walk alongside them in silence, taking in the beauty around me. There is no doubt about it, walking a new path every day really opens your eyes up to the world around you, and Laos was fast becoming one of my favourite countries in the world.

After about half an hour, the kids left me in the middle of Kong Lo Village.

The village itself was tiny, a scattering of huts, but it seemed to have its own music, its own melody. It was still very early, around 7am, but there was already a hive of activity. Chickens could be heard clucking, in the distance a fire still crackled to ward off any remnants of the night time chill.

Old women were milling around, huddled together and holding counsel like a gaggle of geese, and all of this was going on while a soft tpppt tpppt tppt could be heard as rice was being grinded in giant stone mortars.

This was local life in Laos, life at its simplest.

I was here to see Tham Lot Kong Lo, one of the longest caves in the world. After a quick coffee to wake me up, I was almost ready to start the day; next on my list of duties was a shower.

For that I hopped on my motorbike and drove down to the cave. The first thing you note when you arrive is a jade green pool; calm, deep and still, with mountains casting long shadows and light glittering through the trees. It was here, armed with my soap, that I was to have my shower. If there was ever a place for a wakeup call, this was it. I was now ready for what lay ahead; 7km of caves.

At Tham Lot Kong Lo there were a few locals with long-boats to take the slow trickle of tourists through these remote caves. After a lazy chat with one or two of the guys, I decided to go with the one who seemed the friendliest.

With a huge grin on his face he led me down to his boat, helped me get in, and lazily paddled over to the mouth of the cave. We were about to enter a world of darkness, and with it another new experience.

Only a few hours had passed since I woke up to the inquisitive and questioning faces of three children. Only a few hours had passed one what was one of the most memorable days of my round the world trip. And this was just an average day on the road.

Now just image what yours is going to be like...

Chapter One

Why Should You Travel?

"Travelling is more than just going from place to place;

it becomes a mantra, a philosophy to live by..."

~

Travelling is going to change you; it is going to change the way you see things, the way you think, the way you act. And the best thing is this is the first step, your journey is just beginning.

It seems like an obvious statement to make, but travelling really is one of the most amazing things you can do with your life and it can bring you so much happiness. It will make you see your life through new eyes, look at the world with a new perspective; it might just be the best decision you ever make.

First of all, think about the hundreds of thousands of people from the UK who go backpacking and travelling each year. Or the millions of people around the world who do it. Why do they travel? Because they believe what I believe, that it can bring you so much enjoyment.

Ask anyone who has a job, or even anyone who is around you right now, what they look forward to most in the year. The majority of people will say taking time off or a holiday. People work as hard as they possibly can for a two week holiday. For them, it is the highlight of their year, it is what makes working worthwhile. Well, imagine that feeling for two months, or two years, because if you travel that is what it is like every single day you are on the road.

The greatest thing about travelling is you really open yourself up to new cultures and societies. Every country you visit gives you the possibility to learn something new, whether that is a few words of the local language, the geography and population of the local area, or even one or two things about yourself that you didn't know.

I travelled for nearly two years and I can honestly say that I learned more in my first month travelling than I did in three years at university.

I first arrived in New Delhi, it was about 35oC, and absolute chaos. I was sweltering in the heat and there were millions of people everywhere I turned. I was constantly being stopped in the street by the locals and told this, that and the other; what to buy, where to go, and that I had to immediately spend £500 to visit Kashmir before they closed the borders - yes, I nearly got scammed on my first day in India. To make matters even more confusing, I was then given conflicting advice from other backpackers who were 'experts' on how to deal with the locals, telling me to ignore everything they said. All in all I didn't know who or what to believe and I felt completely out of my depth.

I realised that if I was to survive in India I was going to have to grow a very thick skin. And fast. Also, I realised I had to leave any pre-conceptions of my round the world trip at the airport if I was going to truly enjoy myself.

In that first month I started to learn what it was going to take to be a backpacker, developing a number of skills that formed the foundations of my round the world trip. From simple things like running a tight budget to the ability to make a plan in seconds. I grew in confidence feeling that I could handle any situation that was put in front of me. Everything I saw and experienced in that first month helped give me a better understanding of myself; it made me a better, more mature person.

I was the happiest I had ever been in my life. I felt like I understood everything going on around me, as if everything made sense. Don't get me wrong, I loved university to bits, but this was the real world, this was living, and I loved every second of it.

People say that college or university are your formative years, the stepping stone to the big wide world, but for me that wasn't true. Travelling will make you a better person, a more rounded individual who is aware of a life and a world away from home. Travelling opens you up to a life that you didn't think existed before; all you have got to do is go and do it.

Who travels?

Everyone. It is as simple as that. It doesn't matter whether you are 17 or 70, if you have got the desire to see the world and do something different then you can do it.

Today, millions of people are going on their own epic adventures all around the world. Some last more than a year, some less, but they are all about taking a break that is much more than a holiday. Many travel to places such as Australia, New Zealand and Thailand for months on end, travelling in relative comfort and ease, while many test themselves in countries such as China, India and Mexico. But what is the one thing that all these people have in common? They want to see the world.

Backpacking and travelling is now as common as going on holiday, and people are treating it as such. People are no longer content with sitting on a beach for two weeks. They want to sit on a few beaches on a few different continents and travel around. With cheap flights and countries opening their doors to tourism, travelling has never been so easy, and with regards to the work place, taking time off can now be seen as a positive step to further your career.

I don't know if you have noticed this, but in today's society people are constantly talking about travelling. Spend five minutes in a coffee shop and listen in on someone's conversation. You will quickly find the conversation steers