OUR BIG TRIP
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RESEARCHING THE TRIP
Some travellers forego the planning process completely, preferring to jump on the first plane or train available and seeing where the road, or their mood takes them. This properly embraces the classical romance of travelling as a truly free spirit. However this vision masks the realities of modern international travel and as onerous a task as it may seem to some, a little planning and research beforehand can save you a lot of time, money and heartache. When you plan to travel as extensively as we do the costs involved will rise and rise. It is inevitable. The more places you want to see, the more days you spend on the road. The more days you spend on the road, the more travelling you need to do. The more travelling you need to do, the more nights you need to sleep. The more nights you need to sleep, the more times you need to eat. The costs keep on spiralling and if your not careful it could spiral out of control.
It is important to keep a check on your costs and to set a realistic budget. Ask yourself if you can afford to spend this amount of money on a trip and be honest as painful as the answer may be. Try not to let your enthusiasm for seeing as many places as possible cloud your judgement. Remember that when you return from travelling you will have to resume your normal life. You need to have some money in reserve to pay for rent, bills and food, especially if you may struggle to rejoin the workforce.
Plan according to that budget and do not exceed it. Make sure that the costings you have calculated err on the side of liberalism. Just because you have a big budget does not mean you have to spend it all. There would be nothing worse than having to cut your trip short because you have overspent. You could end up depriving yourself of memories that you would otherwise cherish for the rest of your life. Having established a budget for the entire trip it is a good idea to determine a timeline. How long do you want to travel for and more importantly how long can you afford to be away for? Money should not be the only variable to factor into this equation. You should also consider what implications the length of time you are travelling will have on your career prospects when you return. Once you have established your budget and the length of time you will be away you can start to plan what places you will to visit. With almost 200 countries available to you this is not as easy as it sounds. One good trick in the interim is to reduce your options by first establishing the places you do not want to visit. If South America or Africa does not take your fancy discount them. This enables you to focus on the areas or continents that you would like to visit. Similarly if you decide that you want to explore a particular continent in detail eliminate the countries within that region that you do not want to see. By doing this you will quickly find that you have drawn up a long list of potential destinations without even trying.
Once you have decided on a macro level which countries you would like to visit it is a good idea to circle them on a map. There are a number of sites on the Internet where you can download them for free, this will give you a good visual appreciation of the spread of your destinations. It will also allow you to start establishing a route from your original starting point and discount further destinations that may be too isolated from the other places you want to visit. With this basic framework outlined the doctrine of knowledge is power rings true. Purchase travel guides for each continent that you want to visit, peruse travel websites and watch as many travel shows as you can. Try to establish what attractions there are to see in each city, the range of places where you could eat and sleep, the options you have for travelling between destinations and whether you would need a visa or injections for certain countries. The more you find out about a place the more you will fall in or out of love with the idea of visiting it. You will establish the cities that you want to visit and can devise an itinerary that would enable you to visit them all. Research takes time, but it is amazing how much time you have at your disposal. Many an hour can be whiled away in pursuit of planning. Be it on the hour long train commute to and from work, an evening in front of the TV, or a lazy Sunday in the garden, there are plenty of spare moments to grasp over the course of a week. The length of time it takes to complete the plan varies between people, it took us over 3 months. With the route planned attention should turn immediately to financing your trip. Some people say the hard work only just begins...
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