moved from Other Destinations. Hopefully more members will view and be able to help

I think there is a topic in the airlines forum on RTW flights, which you may find useful.

It is such a huge topic that it would be helpful to know some specifics e.g. countries etc. RTW plane tickets offer different options, with different stopovers and dependant on the countries depends on which plane ticket to get.

http://www.gapyear.com is a great website (UK based) for hostel advice etc. Obviously prices fluctuate dependant on the exchange rate, so at the moment everything is more expensive than it was this time last year.

My husband and I are actually embarking on out RTW trip in 3 weeks, although we have a one way ticket as we are staying in Australia on a WHV once we finish our travels, so will try to help out as much as possible

You really need to decide which countries you want to visit as the airlines charge for their RTW flights based on the number of miles you travel, so more detours from the basic RTW will cost more. You need to decide how long you want to travel for, then start planning. Girlingreens tip to look at the Gap year site should be a help. Do lots of research, if you are planning to make your main stopover in Australia or New Zealand you can find loads of info on backpacker sites and websites such as Thorn Tree. If you are under thirty you can apply for a WHV which will allow you to work in these countries.

I did a RTW a few years ago stopped at Singapore, Sydney, Auckland, Hawaii and California. I can't be much help with the price though as it was a special birthday trip and cost a fortune as we travelled Business class.

Girlingreen, I hope you are going to keep us up to date with your travels over the next year.

Have a great time, wish I had had the opportunity to do what you are doing when I was young.

Thanks for your replies

I'm trying to get together exactly where I want to go and keep adding and deleting!

I'm fortunate as I know people in Australia and also have an Uncle in New Zealand so thats a good start. I'm going to be taking a career break and got a good book yesterday by Lonely Planet about doing just that. (Although my friends and family don't think I'll come back!)

All the advice has been great and has spurred me on even more. i know its going to take some planning and lots and lots of overtime but to me its going to be worth it. I'm reasonably lucky about work as I'm a nurse and I'm also enrolling on a TEFL course. (Unfortunatley I'm not under 30 but in my 40's )

Girlingreen...
Are you going to be doing a travel blog as I would love to follow it and look forward to hearing all your experiences

Oooh I hadn't thought about doing a travel blog, but would certainly love to do that!! Mods can I do that on this site?

Yes really looking forward to it!! Re - RTW flights, we have gone on a BA/Qantas One World ticket, which cost approx £1,000 each which included all surcharges etc. For that price we are stopping in Hong Kong, Thailand several times and NZ. Unfortunately that ticket didn't get us as far as Oz so I registered with the Virgin Blue website and got some very cheap tickets from NZ to Sydney in their sale (approx £40 all in!).

A career break is a great idea - I was concerned about being too old for the typical travelling lifestyle (we are both 28) but having read up a lot in the past few months I have found that most people over the age of 25 have concerns about it, but that the careergappers market is the biggest growing travel market at the moment - the recession has contributed to this greatly.

And you never know whether you will come back, with your qualifications you would be eligible for a longer term visa in Oz or NZ, or could use your TEFL in Asia - the world is your oyster!!!

Hi Girlingreen

I wouldn't think it would be a problem, the mods will let you know.
A couple of years ago there was a poster named gillsmudge who did a RTW trip, she asked for lots of advice on HT before the trip and then posted a blog as she was travelling around.
It would be really interesting to hear of your experiences as they will be quite different from a normal holiday blog.

Judith

I can confirm that there is no problem making daily or regular postings in a specific topic to update us on your travelling. Great idea and I look forward to reading all about it.

Mark

girlingreen you will love it my son is 6 months into his travelling now he is loving it he started in perth australia onto broome darwin then worked on a ranch to extend his visa the people who he worked for treated him like there own son he got paid well too with free food and accomodation.hes just been to fraser island and said hes had the best 3 days of his life now hes heading to brisbane and hoping to spend christmas in sydney.he has seen that much wildlife and had that many adventures he said age doesnt matter out there and the hostels are fab.the ressession has hit australia and it is difficult to get work but go for it and enjoy he really doesnt want to come home.enjoy your travels

Aw fab guys ! so glad you are doing this experience, eee, when I were a lass we never got the chance yada yada .... blimey , must remember i'm only 42 !! so, anyway, thats me and hubbys plan when our nearly 9 yr old is 16 or so, we are going to take a gap year out of work and do all that, yep, gotta be done, cram it all in while you can !!
good luck guys !!
cheers,
juby

So many positive replies

Going to open new account on Monday and the saving starts here! Wish I had decided to do this sooner but maybe the time wasn't right.

Girlingreen

Look at travelpod.com you can post blogs on there and all your friends and family can follow your travels as well.

Excellent will do!!

Glad you made the decision to go for it. Once the decision is made the hard part is over!! We decided back in February and then just went for it with the saving. It is really surprising how much you can save, we have been surprised at the amount we have achieved. Admittedly we moved in with my mother in law to save even more money, but even if we haven't I think we would have been ok.

We have become very aquainted with the local library and hiring dvds and watching tv for the past few months!! Nights out became a rarity, except in the last couple of weeks where we have been going on our leaving dos!