I know it has been a while since I updated my blog. Ok I’ll be honest, since I returned to Europe. Why? Because I had suddenly all my friends and family around me again and the original thought and reason for this blog was to keep exactly those people updated on my travels. But it seems some people are interested in further details, so I keep posting, especially since some new trips are planned in the upcoming time.
I will start this time with my last promise, a collection of links I used to prepare for my trips. I know it can be a bit overwhelming looking at things that needs to be done for a long term trip, but you will be glad you did it once you stand at the airport ready for your trip. Researching information is very important before starting the trip, so I just tell you what I did first:
1 First preparation
I decided on places I want to go, timeframe, budget and approximately route. It is not very easy to find the perfect place to visit in this huge world of options. Go with your feelings, what is it that you always wanted to see? What is it that you always wanted to experience? If you now say EVERYTHING like I did, I guess you have to cut down and make a start somewhere. You might live in Europe, the States, Asia or Antarctica, so the easiest would be to figure out for you what is the easiest/cheapest way to get to another destination and where do you want to go from there.
Since me and my friend knew that we wanted to make a round trip in Asia first it was fairly easy to decide to start from Bangkok and continue with AirAsia www.airasia.com. Be aware that it is always worth to compare prices, you could check www.skyscanner.com for that. It is usually cheaper to book on the airlines websites directly.
In total we needed 6 months to plan our 6 weeks trip and had some hick ups in between, but as you can see we survived and had the time of our life’s.
I started reading the following link:
Here you will find a vast amount of information on what to do and where to go! I found it to be the perfect starting point for my own journey.
And of course I read a lot of other blogs, one in particular inspired me:
http://eye-in-the-blue-sky.blogspot.co.uk/
2. Continuing alone to Australia
I had to prepare for my single trip to Australia and plan the route accordingly myself. I admit I was scared because I had no idea what to expect upon arrival, so again, I did a lot of research and was good prepared to attack things such as working holiday visa, Tax file number, bank account, phone number, accommodation and such.
I used the following links:
www.hostelworld.com (if you book regularly via this site, make sure you get the Gold Card, totally value for money)
Of course a popular search engine website helped me a lot with information I needed.
3. Continue back to Asia
Similar to the first part I wrote down the route I wanted to travel first and then did the research accordingly. I only started to book once I had all the information I needed, however certain parts of the journey I left unbooked since it sometimes cheaper to book locally and not via an agency or online. I mainly used Lonely Planet Forum for that. I tried not to buy a tour guide and relied on fellow travellers feedback; however in case I don’t have internet access I did buy one just in case I needed emergency numbers and accommodation.
I learned very quickly not to stay too central, because first it is cheaper a bit further out and second a lot more quiet. Depending on what kind of traveller you are, you might enjoy the Party life more than me, of course everyone is different and is looking for different things and most importantly, you will only learn from your own experience.
This should give you a good idea on how I approached the trip planning phase, for details on what I did exactly in each place you will need to the section I wrote previously while being on the trip.
Would I do such trip again? OF COURSE, I admit I miss the traveling part already and look very much forward to future trips and will keep you posted.
My next entry will be about getting back into a normal life and settling with a job after over 15 months of just enjoying the best time of my life.
Welcome back home!
