Where do I even start?! Planning my travel route was probably one of the hardest things because how long is a piece of string! There are so many places I want to visit but sadly I don't have all the time and money in the world. I started by listing the places I really wanted to go, which started with a list of around 25 + countries! I had brochures from several different travel companies and I had read endless travel blogs/books. I then had to compromise about which countries I would need and want to spend more time in and those I could hopefully do as a holiday at a later time, for example I am not going to Europe, living in England we are fortunate enough to be able to do short city breaks without the long haul flights. I wanted to make sure the places and things I really wanted to do and see were covered, so for me the things on the top of my list were Machu Picchu, the Taj Mahal and the Philippines - as you know none of these places are located near each other so that was when the fun really began!
Other things I needed to consider were the seasons, for example spending Monsoon season in Asia isn't particularly great if you're looking to spend a lot of time island hopping, also some parts of South America can be very cold outside of peak Summer months which isn't enjoyable! Of course I am not going to be able to dodge the rain and the cold all the time, but by planning and doing research it certainly can be avoided.
Everyone travels in different ways and on different budgets but for me I wanted to make sure I actually get to spend time in the places I am going rather than just going for a few days to tick it of a list. Spending lots of time on buses and trains and waiting around in airports can be exhausting and not to mention expensive, that combined with potential jet lag - speaking from previous experience my best advice for anyone planning a longer trip would be that less is more! You don't want to leave a country feeling like you'll need to go back and do the things you weren't able to do, of course in some larger countries this is going to be the case as sadly you can't do everything!
So I eventually narrowed my route down to South America and Asia and began planning from there... I am lucky that for both continents all the countries I want to see are very conveniently located near to each other and there are lots of 'standard' backpacker routes making travel a lot easier (well so I've heard!)
So after months of planning I came up with the route below, in order!
South America
Ecuador
Peru
Bolivia
Chile
Argentina
Uruguay
Brazil
Asia
India
Malaysia
Philippines
Hong Kong
Vietnam
Cambodia
Laos
Thailand
I am planning to be away for approximately 7/8 months in total, with a stop over back home in the UK between Brazil and India for 1 week for Christmas. As with any 'backpacker' style trip anything can change and it's always best to not have too many rigid plans, you may arrive somewhere you'd planned to be for a few days and end up falling in love with it and staying 2 weeks, but also the opposite can happen and you really don't want to be stuck somewhere for 2 weeks when you're not enjoying it!
I'm planning to blog at least once a week while away, writing a post for each place I visit. Thank you (in advance) for reading!
(Photo - Google Images)
Other things I needed to consider were the seasons, for example spending Monsoon season in Asia isn't particularly great if you're looking to spend a lot of time island hopping, also some parts of South America can be very cold outside of peak Summer months which isn't enjoyable! Of course I am not going to be able to dodge the rain and the cold all the time, but by planning and doing research it certainly can be avoided.
Everyone travels in different ways and on different budgets but for me I wanted to make sure I actually get to spend time in the places I am going rather than just going for a few days to tick it of a list. Spending lots of time on buses and trains and waiting around in airports can be exhausting and not to mention expensive, that combined with potential jet lag - speaking from previous experience my best advice for anyone planning a longer trip would be that less is more! You don't want to leave a country feeling like you'll need to go back and do the things you weren't able to do, of course in some larger countries this is going to be the case as sadly you can't do everything!
So I eventually narrowed my route down to South America and Asia and began planning from there... I am lucky that for both continents all the countries I want to see are very conveniently located near to each other and there are lots of 'standard' backpacker routes making travel a lot easier (well so I've heard!)
So after months of planning I came up with the route below, in order!
South America
Ecuador
Peru
Bolivia
Chile
Argentina
Uruguay
Brazil
Asia
India
Malaysia
Philippines
Hong Kong
Vietnam
Cambodia
Laos
Thailand
I am planning to be away for approximately 7/8 months in total, with a stop over back home in the UK between Brazil and India for 1 week for Christmas. As with any 'backpacker' style trip anything can change and it's always best to not have too many rigid plans, you may arrive somewhere you'd planned to be for a few days and end up falling in love with it and staying 2 weeks, but also the opposite can happen and you really don't want to be stuck somewhere for 2 weeks when you're not enjoying it!
I'm planning to blog at least once a week while away, writing a post for each place I visit. Thank you (in advance) for reading!
(Photo - Google Images)
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