Letters From Fellow Travelers
Brady From Florida writes:
Hi, my name is Brandy and I am excited
I came across your website. I am 23 years old and excited
to travel the world. I'm originally from Iowa But 2 years
ago up and moved to Florida not knowing a soul. I am
getting Ready to now move to Hawaii in about a month and a half.
My best friend Missy and I have decided that we want to travel
the world for 6 months to a year. The problem is I have no idea
where to start. How much money we will need? How do
we go about making plans? Any info you could give me would
be great!
Hi Brandy,
I’m glad you dropped me a line. It
sounds like you could have some big fun ahead of you. I have met
a lot of people your age that have a great time seeing the
world. Being energetic, enthusiastic and curious are all good
qualities to have for traveling. And traveling with a friend
will help you stay safe.
Map Out Your Route
I put a world map in a large Ziploc bag and use a red grease
pencil to plot a route to take. Simple and easy to make changes
or maybe print out some maps from the internet and draw a route.
Be creative.
Air Transportation
I suggest you give airtreks.com a try for sample world tour
itineraries and costs. They have pre-designed routes you can
choose from which would probably be the cheapest way to go.
How Much Money We Will Need?
Get a passport if you don’t have one. Cheapest if you can wait 6
weeks for it. Excluding airfare and visas if you need them, (you
can check the
U.S. State
Department for that info.) I’d guess you can
travel the world on about what you spend living at home. I get
an idea of a budget after I look thru a let’s go or lonely
planet guidebook (of your destinations) because they list the
costs of things. A room, meals, ground transportation,
attraction admission costs etc.
For Lodgings
I suggest you try
HostelWorld
This is an excellent resource for choosing and
booking inexpensive places to sleep worldwide. Most useful in
the "first worlds" of the U.S.A., Europe, Japan etc. For the
third world your will be able to have your own room for an
average of about $10 a night. You will be able to save a lot by
sharing with a friend.
Be Your Own Travel Agent
Research, Research, Research. Use the internet to find
information you need. Try for two or three different sources of
information to help substantiate what you find.
Let’s Go and
Lonely Planet will
help you a lot. I do all my planning from them. These books will
make it easy to be independent and frugal.
Hope I’ve been of some help
Thanks for writing,
Erik
