Round The World Backpackers Not Who You Think They Are

Contrary to popular belief most round the world backpackers are aged 23-30 they make up over 50% of the travellers. And nearly 25% are aged over 30 which is not the usual stereotype teenage university student image.

The reasons for this may be the availability of time and money, a real round the world trip can not be completed in the summer break and even a gap year is not sufficient to see “everything” There are more countries than there are days in the year so choosing and planning would take up a huge amount of time.

The first thing to decide is will you start in Europe or have you already spent a lot of time visiting counties on the continent. Most round the world trippers are by no means first timers so they have properly earned their stripes by travelling within Europe.

Assuming you are skipping Europe the next thing to decide is which way round and how far north and south do you want to go. The possibilities really are endless so a good place to start is with a list of must see country’s and sights. Many people will list the world’s great sights the pyramids, Machu Picchu, Ankor Wat exotic destinations such as Bali, Rio, Bohol, Chiang Mai.

Again there are thousands of such enticing locations, it would take many years to enjoy them all, so start with a huge list that is broken down into continent, region and country. And gradually break it down to a manageable list, remember that visiting Ankor Wat may be a must do, but if you then have no time to experience Cambodia and it people and other interesting sights are you getting the full experience.

You need to allow plenty of time to experience each place you visit and you also need time for travel. Backpackers tend to take cheaper transportation, cheap is usually slow, so it takes time.

Now that you have your final list you need to plan a viable route, it is very obvious that a route should be as practical as possible following a clear and simple path that is basically only in one direction. This is where you can meet your first problems, is one place you want to visit way off the path of all your other locations, if so is it still high on the agenda.

Another problem is flights, a round the world ticket that is highly flexible is the best option, unless you have a huge amount of time to take boats it is often the only way to jump for example from South America to Asia, boats are not also the cheapest option unless you are able to work your passage.

Booking flights as you go could be expensive although with clever planning and making use of “no frills” airlines around the world it is now possible without breaking the bank.

Flexibility is also essential in flights and other travel plans is also essential because your plans will change, nothing is more certain. You decide to spend a month in the country of your dreams only to find after a week that you hate the place. You need to be in a position to move on to another country that you thought would just be a passing through experience and ends up being the best place on your trip and you spend six weeks there.

Planning and flexibility are the keys to a successful round the world backpacking trip, a reasonable amount of cash is also helpful but as most travellers are experienced and older so should be in a position to have an educated guess as to the amount need for the trip of a lifetime.