Part 2; Final part
5) Money, how much money do you think you would need to travel to several places and have a place to stay with enough money to eat and walk around? I’ve talked to a few people who have went to Hawaii and Germany and they said that it cost them about $1,800 for the plane ticket and a place to stay at a resort that provided 3 meals a day for one week. In your experience how much money did you have on hand and put away in prep for the trip?

6) Exchange rates, I’m from the US and I imagine that going to several places would require at least a few currency changes, should I set a day aside for that? Or is it quick and doesn’t require processing?

7) Times to travel, this is probably going to require personal research since I actually don’t know where I want to go yet but know that I want to see as many places as I can afford. But no matter what all of these trips are going to be happening one after the other with a week in each place, that number was based off of what I heard from my co-workers since they told me the price of the resort was for a week) if you guys have a better idea I’d love to hear them.

That’s all the question I’ve been thinking on for a while now. I apologize that I don’t know much about any of this but I’m still in the beginning planning stages for this trip. I’m still a little over a year off from going anywhere but want to have everything I need to know down pat so I have nothing to worry about. Thank you for your time, I appreciate any help

As one final bonus question, are there any places you think everyone should see in their lives? Some place you've been that was amazing? I'd love to hear some stories of places you guys have been.

8/10

1 and 6 are mildly amusing, the rest needs work. B- for the effort.

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As much as I'd like to accept these half complements, I'm seriously looking for advice on this subject. I'm not testing a bait post although I appreciate the critique

I guess I know so little about travel that this post came off as a joke.

>>1132648
Anon, have you thought about starting small, like, say, travelling the nearby states? I'm afraid your kidneys are almost in as big a danger as your sanity if you go through with that globetrotting idea right off the bat.

>>1132649
I'd prefer not to lose my kidneys doing this trip. But to what you said about traveling to nearby states, I can't really do that because I work a few jobs and the way the hours work out, I'm working 7 days a week every week. So I don't have any time off. This is why, in a little over or a little under a year from now I was going to go see a bunch of places around the world for a few weeks or months or something.

I'm thinking about also getting a workers visa in case I should come across a job while I'm there but that's not really my main plan which is just to see a lot of places.

IMO there are two types of "travel":

1. Vaction travel - going to some sort of all-inclusive resort in a tropical place. Nothing wrong with this, but this is just vacation. Your goal here is to relax and unwind.

2. Actual Travel. If you want to actually travel, my assumption is that you are looking to experience different places, cultures, peoples, foods, etc. on a genuine level. And in that case, you are ruining your experience by staying in 4-5 star hotels. Stay in HOSTELS. Here you will meet fellow travelers and get a real feel for the place you are residing. If you stay in a HOSTEL you are more likely to be a 'traveler' as opposed to a tourist.

>>1132624
holy shit pls show us ur face

>>1132653
Your number 2 is exactly what I'm going for. My goal here is to go to as many places as I can afford and essentially live like the people in the area for a week or so. I didn't know about Hostels before but I'll look into them now because that sounds really interesting.

>>1132661
why?

>>1132756
Although 'live like them' is kind of broad and not all I want to do, I also want to go all over the place in the area and see whatever is worth seeing there and eat at what ever places the people of the area would say have nice food and things, not necessarily high end expensive food, because I can't really afford that and have tried it once and wasn't a fan, but the kind of food that are usually family owned. Like a really good burger or something (Just as an example though, a cheese burger would be one of the last things I'd go for on this trip unless the locals told me it's the best in the world or something)

Damn son, most of your questions can be answered by doing a bit more research and lurking more (also, read the sticky).

I'll answer what an from my point of view.

1) yes, as long as you have the money to be spending on international flights every week. Most countries allow you to stay around 90 days anyway.

2) this varies. But the earlier the better. I regret not getting mine like a year in advance

3) go with a backpack. Travel light. Essentials only.

4) as another anon said, hostels are the way to go. How old are you anyway? Hostels are usually good for people up until their 30s (maybe 40s but you might look creepy, I dunno). Read up on the country you're visiting, for safety, etc. Just don't be stupid

5) only you can answer this. How much money do you have saved now? Which countries are you going to? Go do some more research. Check costs of living in each country you want to go to

6) not much to say here. Just exchange your cash when the rates seem good

7) again, this depends on you and what places you want to see. Summer in Australia is winter in the US. There are more tourists in summer. There are things and events that happen in different times of the year. Research.


Basically you just need to do some more research and/or ask more specific questions.

>>1132767
I really appreciate all the help. I know I have to do a LOT more research before I go anywhere. I wanted to start somewhere and thought that people on this board would be a big help.

My next step is going to be picking a few countries and then picking some spots in each to go to. It's a big world and I don't have all that much money which is what's making this a tough decision. At the moment I have a little under $7,000 if I'm lucky I should have around $14,500 give or take and I'm planning on spending it all for this trip.

Also what you said about the hostels, that works for me because I'm in my early 20's so maybe I can meet some interesting people along the way.

Are the prices all that different when you buy a ticket (or in my case several tickets) a year in advance? Or is it just a few dollars difference?

The main thing that gets me about packing light is that I won't have many clothes. To me, light is one backpack of average size and that can fit maybe 5 sets of clothes, maybe more if you pack military style. But then I'm going to have to find laundry mats and things to do all my laundry every few days. That'd also mean I'd have to carry around dirty clothes in between laundry days... I have a lot more research to do.

As an update on my learning about things, I've picked seven places to go visit. Two out of the seven don't allow for travel from the US (Finland and Iceland) so that's kinda sad, I'll have to map out all these places in order of which lets me fly from one to the next. I had already planned on doing that but for my estimations on cost I wanted to have it all mapped out, I still will, but it will just take a bit longer.

Anyway, after picking these 7 places and putting the two that I can't travel to from the US at 1,500 as a place holder the cost came to around $11,000. Now this is all from where I'm from to the location, in my actual trip I won't be coming back and leaving again so I assume that has to lower the cost a decent amount.

For the estimation, lets say it doesn't. This means that if my estimation with how much money I'll have saved up to that point is 15,000. That means I'll have $4,000 for an estimate of 49 days of food and board.

I haven't looked into places to stay / hostels yet but I'm not too confident that around $4,000 can get me a place to stay every time I change locations and food for 49 days. Maybe it could, I'm not sure.

I'm also not sure how long I'll be staying in each place now, I chose a week because I thought that would give me enough time to learn about the culture of the area and check out all the scenery but depending on how much money I can make this year I'm not sure what I can actually do in these areas. The extent of what I can do may just be walks in local parks and McDonalds for all meals. That's kinda sad...

1) yes, a shitload of people do this for work reasons
2) common sense, yes. earlier the better
3) take a good number of clothes to wear and use laundry places in the country you're at, helps save space and you have clean shit
4) go travel in safer countries first, hotels are usually fine, check out guest reviews beforehand online
5) completely varies depending on the place, suggest $100/day as a safe guess
6) search for the best places for currency rate changes, airport will be superpriced-up. it's quick anyway, like a bank transaction
7) pick whatever times you want, obviously public transport to/from airports will be limited/not running in the early hours of the night in places but there's always a taxi. I go for cheapest times desu

1. I don't know the rules for Americans sorry. If you're in Europe, you can move freely within the Schengen area.

2. Yes, booking in advance can be cheaper, but always look at alternative transport too. For instance, there's a sleeper train that goes from Venice to Vienna overnight, so you save on booking a room. Ferries are usually expensive, Uber is iffy in Europe since some countries have banned it.

3. As light a backpack as possible, some backpacks have compartments where you can put dirty laundry but otherwise you may like to take a few big freezer bags with clips. Many hostels in Europe and America have washing machines you can rent cheaply, can't speak for other nations yet. Being able to keep your bag with you affords great flexibility, no rushing back to a hotel to get a bag then rushing again to catch a train.

4. This is difficult to answer because it depends on precisely where you're staying. It's possible to find really good hostels in areas you'd be unsure about, and shitty hotels in places you thought were civilised. Ultimately, you're paying, so you're the only one who can put a price on feeling secure. As others have said mind, hostels are great for meeting other people and will add to the experience.

5. If you know someone you trust implicitly, you could get a FairFX card (a currency converting debit card) and transfer a sum of money over to their account before you leave. They can send more money to the FFX card when you need it. If you want to really experience a country, avoid resorts like the plague.

6. In small countries with a lot of tourism going on, the hotels and hostels may accept payment in USD, Euros etc. Otherwise, get your currency before you leave. Major currencies like GBP will probably be in stock, smaller ones like DKK (Danish) may need a week or so.

7. I usually travel in Aug-Oct, weathers usually nice but tourist season is ending. Cheaper rooms, fewer crowds.

>>1132915
>Two out of the seven don't allow for travel from the US (Finland and Iceland)
What.

>>1133082
As a price reference point I was using American Airlines to see how much the cost would be for all these flights. And for those two locations it said there was an error and that I'd have to find a place that can fly to the location. Like I said before, I won't be going to one place and coming back and leaving again, it'll all be a succession of trips. So finding what places allow for travel from others places and setting up the order of them all will be easy and my next step.

>>1133049
thanks man, that's a lot of really good information that really helps me out.

About the currency changes especially because my original idea was going to be to just have all of the money in my bank account and upon arriving at each location I was going to convert some as I went. But if it can take up to a week or so to get some currencies then I'm glad I found that out now and not once I arrived in a place.

The more I'm looking into all of this the more complicated it has become. One of you said earlier in this post that I should start with a nearby state to keep it simple and now I'm understanding why.

For me to buy at least 7 plane tickets, have the money set aside for each week, have places to stay lined up, find places to wash my clothes while also traveling around the areas in between flights and seeing all I can in one week, this i getting pretty complicated. I kinda like how complicated it is though because I'm all about planning things out to the point where something complicated in thought is like clockwork in practice. Although if I mess up on my planning here it'd mean that I could be without money or a place to stay or a missed flight which would throw off all of my flights after that.

This is a little frightening, but I have a year until I have to leave so there is still some time. Although you guys said it's best to buy a ticket asap. So maybe I have no time left. I have to think about this a lot more.

>>1133132
>Using AA
Try Expedia or some other site like that, Delta, Air France and KLM can fly to Reykjavik from JFK for $800. In continental Europe, i.e NOT Britain, taking a train will probably be far easier, quicker and cheaper. In the UK, trains are viable as long as you book well in advance.

>About the currency changes especially because my original idea was going to be to just have all of the money in my bank account and upon arriving at each location I was going to convert some as I went.
Your bank can usually process transactions in foreign currency but you'll probably have a penalty fee. Changing currencies at your destination usually means a hefty commission fee for the supposed ease and convenience. Places that advertise "no commission" make their money by having a shitty exchange rate.

As to the logistics of washing clothes, catching a flight or booking a hostel, travelling light and relying on as few pre-booked events as possible obviously keeps you flexible, though I don't know if that's viable for your trans-continental travel plan.

Many hostels will advertise washing facilities, and in tourist hotspots you can often book a hostel room the day before you arrive at no more cost than if you had booked a month ago. Airbnb is also worthwhile if there aren't any good hostels free.

>>1133854
>In continental Europe, i.e NOT Britain, taking a train will probably be far easier, quicker and cheaper.
Not necessarily. Ryanair and Wizzair fly everywhere and are dirt cheap. Like 20 euro for a flight across the entire Europe. The catch is that you have to book well in advance since the late buyers pay for the dumping prices of the early birds.

>>1133049
>Otherwise, get your currency before you leave
Waste of money when it comes to small currencies if you ask me. The rates are always much worse than what you'd get after arriving there.

>>1133881
Fair point, they are quite cheap, and your mileage varies. It's probably a question of time, length of travel and the arrival/departure times. If you board a flight at 9am and arrive at say 1pm, that's half a day when you might have been able to catch an earlier train.

>Waste of money when it comes to small currencies if you ask me. The rates are always much worse than what you'd get after arriving there

I usually find it's cheaper. Maybe this too varies.

>>1133854
Thank you, this is really helpful information.

I now have to rethink some of the places, or at least get really precise with where I'm going exactly. When I was picking places I was looking at a map and zooming in at pretty much anything that wasn't the US, Canada or Mexico and then googling a place and after that it shows the main locations to check out in that place which I then put into AA. But from what you said I may have to book several flights with all different Airlines and maybe even a few trains.

Other than travel and a place to stay I'm not planning anything else to do in these places other than walk around, maybe go to museums if they're near by and just see what's going on.

I feel like my original thought of one week in each place may be too short since, depending on what I do with the whole currency thing since >>1133854
and
>>1133881
disagree on it I have to look into that more. I'd rather not go into this with a set amount with maybe $4,000 left for this month or so of travel and then after the exchange rate have 20 bucks left. And that price is before I subtract for places to stay.

I'm probably going to have to make several spread sheets for this as I go just to be sure it's all in order. It's just such a daunting task because once I'm out there, I'm out there. And if I messed up in any of my plans months before hand than I'm screwed.

>>1133854
also what you were saying about an $800 plane ticket is amazing to hear because all my my flight checks the cheapest was around $980 and the most expensive was $3900 (and that was even the least traveled of that area so that's pretty insane.) but once I map out all of these other places and plan flights from closer areas to the next I'm sure the price will drop

Also, I found a travel agency in my area that's been around for a while. I'm might stop by tomorrow and probably make an ass of myself. But significantly less of an ass of myself than I would have before making this post so I can't thank you guys enough.

I'm actually not too sure about going, at least at this stage since I'm still not locked in at where I'm going. Think I should wait until all the places are locked in and then go to these guys for the map out of places to stay and where to link the flights to be cheapest?

>>1133132
try ebookers too, best prices for flights, got geneva rio going and coming back for 900 usd

>>1132915
Ok Im not sure if this is some kind of elaborate bait, but your estimate of 11,000$ is absolutely way off. Flights between european cities are like 50-150 bucks. just use google flights or skyscanners btw, obviously there are plenty of flights directly from the US to Iceland or Finland.

>>1133962
why would you go to an agency for that? Once you know where you want to go, literally just google (try expedia or skyscanner to double check) "Flight Boston London" then "Flight London Prague" etc. and look for yourself what exact dates would be optimal. after you know the flights, hit up hostelworld and book the hostels you think look the best for your locations.

>>1132624
god damn, just stay at home. you are obviously not made for traveling.

>>1132624
inside europe easyjet is usually cheapest if you buy early