Anyone traveled around the world?

[usmccharles]

Always been a dream of mine to travel around the world, so im putting a plan in place to do so, hopefully in the next  year around this time maybe a bit later.  First im going to be working on paying off some bills, hence waiting till next year, at that time I will be debt free.  Also need to plan my destinations and do my research, have found numerous blogs and websites to learn from.  I don't have a set amount of time I plan on being gone for, or the amount of money I need to save so those two things are still in debate.  

I am going to get a TEFL degree (teaching English as a foreign language) so that way I can teach in another country.  I thought it would be a fun thing to do and also a way to replenish savings while on the road. 

Now, I'm not sure if I want to just pick a starting point and fly there and slowly travel by foot (or bus) where I can, or go with an 'around the world' ticket from companies such as http://www.statravel.com/round-the-world.htm                  I haven't received a reply back from them but I am very interested in doing something to that extent but just have some questions for them, Ie the base price covers all airfare. 

So who all has been around the world? Who wants to? where are some of your places you are determined to go to before its too late?  Any stories to share about can't miss places?

My number one spot is Peru, I think seeing Machu Picchu would be an amazing site. 

[darklight1216]

I've never been ATW, but I have a lot of countries on my list.

I really like nomadicmatt.com and fluentin3months.com for travel tips, saving advice, etc.

You might have already come across them though.

Machu Picchu looks like something you wouldn't want to miss, but if ruins are your thing, don't forget Egypt. Their tourism industry took a hit with the revolution a few years back and the plane crash more recently. I hear prices are low but that won't last forever. 

[Steve0x]

What id love to do is travel around Europe. 

 

Edited March 15, 2016 by Moderator 3
Unnecessary video removed

[usmccharles]

17 hours ago, darklight1216 said:

I've never been ATW, but I have a lot of countries on my list.

I really like nomadicmatt.com and fluentin3months.com for travel tips, saving advice, etc.

You might have already come across them though.

Machu Picchu looks like something you wouldn't want to miss, but if ruins are your thing, don't forget Egypt. Their tourism industry took a hit with the revolution a few years back and the plane crash more recently. I hear prices are low but that won't last forever. 

nomadicmatt is an awesome read, he has done very well at pointing things out and giving tips.  Ill have to check out the other one.  Egypt is at the top of the list as well, but hitting the Asian countries are a little easier on the budget.  Where was your favorite spot you went to?

[52520Andrew]

Right now I am hoping to see more of the U.S. before I go abroad but there are a few places I definitely want to see.

[usmccharles]

8 hours ago, 52520Andrew said:

Right now I am hoping to see more of the U.S. before I go abroad but there are a few places I definitely want to see.

Whats on your list? 

[52520Andrew]

9 hours ago, usmccharles said:

Whats on your list? 

At minimum I want to go to Englabd, Japan, and Australia but if I find myself with enough time to see more, the list grows quite a bit to places like New Zealand, The Himilayas(not climbing anything, I just want to see them in person), South America, France, Italy, Dubai, and potentially Egypt. Gotta reign on that section of the list a bit lol

As for the U.S. I have been really wanting to hit Yellowstone and Yosemite along with Colorado, L.A., San Fran, Alaska, and am doing research about Hawaii. 

[usmccharles]

7 minutes ago, 52520Andrew said:

At minimum I want to go to Englabd, Japan, and Australia but if I find myself with enough time to see more, the list grows quite a bit to places like New Zealand, The Himilayas(not climbing anything, I just want to see them in person), South America, France, Italy, Dubai, and potentially Egypt. Gotta reign on that section of the list a bit lol

As for the U.S. I have been really wanting to hit Yellowstone and Yosemite along with Colorado, L.A., San Fran, Alaska, and am doing research about Hawaii. 

Nice choices.  For some odd reason i have no urge to visit anywhere in the US

[52520Andrew]

20 minutes ago, usmccharles said:

Nice choices.  For some odd reason i have no urge to visit anywhere in the US

I have kinda come around recently on there being a lot of cool places to visit in the U.S. Places like Vegas are kinda overrated but the Grand Canyon for instance is something you have to see for yourself as the photos don't really do it justice. 

[usmccharles]

4 minutes ago, 52520Andrew said:

I have kinda come around recently on there being a lot of cool places to visit in the U.S. Places like Vegas are kinda overrated but the Grand Canyon for instance is something you have to see for yourself as the photos don't really do it justice. 

Only place i have really been to in the stats (technically) was Niagra Falls, was a blast.  Vegas is boring and over-rated to me honestly

[52520Andrew]

14 minutes ago, usmccharles said:

Only place i have really been to in the stats (technically) was Niagra Falls, was a blast.  Vegas is boring and over-rated to me honestly

Yeah Niagara Falls is pretty cool. I agree on Vegas, if you want to party and gamble a ton then I guess it is okay but you don't need to go all the way over there to do it. 

[1/28/01]

Lets see, outside the US, I've been to:

Italy (a few times) 

England

Scotland 

Ireland 

France 

Croatia

Fiji

Japan

Philippines 

Greece

Bahamas

Russia

Mexico

 

Seems I need to visit Africa and S America a little more. 

[52520Andrew]

15 minutes ago, 1/28/01 said:

Lets see, outside the US, I've been to:

Italy (a few times) 

England

Scotland 

Ireland 

France 

Croatia

Fiji

Japan

Philippines 

Greece

Bahamas

Russia

Mexico

 

Seems I need to visit Africa and S America a little more. 

What are your thoughts on the places you visited? Which ones were spectacular and were there any places that didn't quite do it for you?

[1/28/01]

1 hour ago, 52520Andrew said:

What are your thoughts on the places you visited? Which ones were spectacular and were there any places that didn't quite do it for you?

Fiji was utterly amazing and gorgeous.  We stayed at the Taveuni Island Resort for our honeymoon back in 2006. It was like 10 staff members to each guest.  Unreal.  Surprisingly, Scotlands food was amazing and the castle at Edinburgh was awesome.  The Guinness tour was legit in Ireland and Tokyo was exactly like you'd think.  NYC on crack.  Santorini is probably a top 3 prettiest places on earth to me.  Mexico is eh.  Bahamas are also eh, but a nice getaway. 

[1/28/01]

Oh yeah, Venice's waterways are cleaner than I would have ever imagined.  One of the locals said they have almost a natural toilet bowl effect that washes the water out to sea each night.  Cool but also gross to think about.  The Amalfi Coast is spectacular and by far my favorite place to eat. 

[cobrajet]

16 hours ago, 1/28/01 said:

Fiji was utterly amazing and gorgeous.  We stayed at the Taveuni Island Resort for our honeymoon back in 2006. It was like 10 staff members to each guest.  Unreal.  Surprisingly, Scotlands food was amazing and the castle at Edinburgh was awesome.  The Guinness tour was legit in Ireland and Tokyo was exactly like you'd think.  NYC on crack.  Santorini is probably a top 3 prettiest places on earth to me.  Mexico is eh.  Bahamas are also eh, but a nice getaway. 

Wow I am impressed. I have been to Ireland and did the Guinness and Jameson tours, but I absolutely loved touring the history and the cathedrals. You have to be careful, the exchange rate on the Euro was not in our favor and I am glad I checked my balance the last day on my card because I only had enough left to buy a pizza Europe is expensive! I would really love to see Italy and their beautiful cathedrals one day.

[Tank 92]

On 3/17/2016 at 0:26 PM, usmccharles said:

Nice choices.  For some odd reason i have no urge to visit anywhere in the US

If you don't visit the US National Parks at some point you are cheating yourself. Yosemite, Sequoia, Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Glacier, Zion, Archs, etc. are some of the most amazing places in the world, especially if you enjoy hiking. 

[darklight1216]

On 17/3/2016 at 0:26 PM, usmccharles said:

Nice choices.  For some odd reason i have no urge to visit anywhere in the US

Same here, but I can easily explain my reasons.

It's just not exotic enough for me. I don't want to travel to any country where everyone speaks English (unless someone else wants to pay for it).Yes, that means England too. Plus American destinations just feel like they'll always be there if I change my mind. To me, a place like Egypt seems like it could quickly become unstable (again) so I'd like to get there before that happens. I also have to think about the value of the US dollar. When it's doing well against the Euro that is obviously a good time to visit Europe; NYC can wait.

Plus, since I live here I can't help but think "been there; done that."

On 16/3/2016 at 3:44 AM, usmccharles said:

nomadicmatt is an awesome read, he has done very well at pointing things out and giving tips.  Ill have to check out the other one.  Egypt is at the top of the list as well, but hitting the Asian countries are a little easier on the budget.  Where was your favorite spot you went to?

Can you guess?

 

[1/28/01]

On Friday, March 18, 2016 at 1:10 PM, cobrajet said:

Wow I am impressed. I have been to Ireland and did the Guinness and Jameson tours, but I absolutely loved touring the history and the cathedrals. You have to be careful, the exchange rate on the Euro was not in our favor and I am glad I checked my balance the last day on my card because I only had enough left to buy a pizza Europe is expensive! I would really love to see Italy and their beautiful cathedrals one day.

Yeah, we've done our fair share of traveling.  The Amalfi Coast is unbelievably gorgeous and the food (having loved Italian food my whole life) was amazing.  Scary roads, though.  And Italian drivers...

[GrimCoconut]

On 3/18/2016 at 9:01 PM, 1/28/01 said:

Oh yeah, Venice's waterways are cleaner than I would have ever imagined.  One of the locals said they have almost a natural toilet bowl effect that washes the water out to sea each night.  Cool but also gross to think about.  The Amalfi Coast is spectacular and by far my favorite place to eat. 

The Amalfi Coast is beautiful.

[ALPHA]

Hawaii, Japan, South Korea, Fiji, Australia, New Zealand

[1/28/01]

37 minutes ago, ALPHA said:

Hawaii, Japan, South Korea, Fiji, Australia, New Zealand

Spot the not?  Ha. 

What was your experience like in Fiji? 

[usmccharles]

On 3/19/2016 at 5:20 AM, Tank 92 said:

If you don't visit the US National Parks at some point you are cheating yourself. Yosemite, Sequoia, Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Glacier, Zion, Archs, etc. are some of the most amazing places in the world, especially if you enjoy hiking. 

I love hiking.  My thing is that i feel like i can always check out US places. 

21 hours ago, darklight1216 said:

Same here, but I can easily explain my reasons.

It's just not exotic enough for me. I don't want to travel to any country where everyone speaks English (unless someone else wants to pay for it).Yes, that means England too. Plus American destinations just feel like they'll always be there if I change my mind. To me, a place like Egypt seems like it could quickly become unstable (again) so I'd like to get there before that happens. I also have to think about the value of the US dollar. When it's doing well against the Euro that is obviously a good time to visit Europe; NYC can wait.

Plus, since I live here I can't help but think "been there; done that."

Can you guess?

 

No clue where the pic is?

I agree, i want exotic places.  I want my dollar to stretch as far as possible and that is the best in Asian and South American countries.  I really want want to check out Ireland as i feel thats my family's background, but im not a 100% sure on that.  I recently did a DNA ancestry test, just waiting on the results. 

[ALPHA]

3 hours ago, 1/28/01 said:

Spot the not?  Ha. 

What was your experience like in Fiji? 

Friendly people but the beaches aren't all that different to Oahu, theres flies everywhere though.

 

[Tank 92]

5 hours ago, usmccharles said:

I love hiking.  My thing is that i feel like i can always check out US places. 

No clue where the pic is?

I agree, i want exotic places.  I want my dollar to stretch as far as possible and that is the best in Asian and South American countries.  I really want want to check out Ireland as i feel thats my family's background, but im not a 100% sure on that.  I recently did a DNA ancestry test, just waiting on the results. 

That's cool, sounds like an interesting plan. Although you better go to Yellowstone before the eruption.  haha

http://www.latimes.com/tn-dpt-me-0701-jim-carnett-column-20150630-story.html 

[descent into the maelstrom]

I'm an avid traveler and cannot recommend highly enough traveling as much as you can.  A couple of thoughts: Learn to scuba dive because what is underwater in some places is at least as interesting as what's above it.  Also, while you said the U.S. holds little interest for you, I suggest you are doing yourself a disservice if you don't at least explore the National Parks of Utah, Alaska and California.

These are some of my highlights as ideas for you.  I'd be happy to provide more details, but it'd take way to long and way too much space, so I'll just basically list.

African Safaris.  Pricey, but I've done them all over Africa and have never been let down.  And while on the subject of Africa and because others brought up Egypt, I'll strongly agree with that suggetion.  In addition to the pyramids, etc., I recommend diving the Red Sea and Alexandria for completely different reasons.  I also recommend going into the Sahara with nomads as sleeping under the stars there is a rewarding experience.  I did it from Timbuktu, which is likely no longer safe but going in from Morocco can be done.

Get in the water with big marine life.  Near Capetown, South Africa, there is a place where you can get into cages to watch Great White sharks.  One even hit the cage when I was in it.  Near the southern end of Cebu island, Philippines (and maybe other places), you can get into the water with numerous Whale sharks.  Stunning to look into the eye, from less than arm's length, of fish that seem to be about the size of submarines.

Norway is spectacular for the fjords, but I also suggest Spitzbergen Island.  There are regular flights there and we kayaked across an Arctic Ocean inlet and climbed a mountain.  It is halfway to the North Pole from the Arctic Circle, so the sun still doesn't set thru pretty much all of the summer months.  It is also home to a lot of polar bears.  It is also pricey.  I've enjoyed the other parts of Europe that I've gone to, but I'll skip that since there's a ton of info and recommendations from others about that.

The mountains of Patagonia are ridiculously impressive.  Torre del Paine National Park, Chile is an excellent place to backpack.  Afterwards, a boat ride across the lake provides extraordinary views.

The New Zealand's south island is another great place to backpack.  I avoided the most popular routes, instead opting for others that were still spectacular.

Ayutthaya, Thailand is a short, very inexpensive train ride from Bangkok.  We simply hired a guide at the train station to explore the stunning ancient temples in the area.  As you mentioned, Asia for the most part can be done very inexpensively and it is very rewarding.

Oops - long post.  I'll cut it here, though I could go on and on.  Enjoy your travels!

 

[darklight1216]

On 20/3/2016 at 0:20 PM, usmccharles said:

I love hiking.  My thing is that i feel like i can always check out US places. 

No clue where the pic is?

I agree, i want exotic places.  I want my dollar to stretch as far as possible and that is the best in Asian and South American countries.  I really want want to check out Ireland as i feel thats my family's background, but im not a 100% sure on that.  I recently did a DNA ancestry test, just waiting on the results. 

It was Paris. I have some sweet pics of a pretty famous tower there too, of course, but that would have been a gimme.

1 hour ago, descent into the maelstrom said:

I'm an avid traveler and cannot recommend highly enough traveling as much as you can.  A couple of thoughts: Learn to scuba dive because what is underwater in some places is at least as interesting as what's above it.  Also, while you said the U.S. holds little interest for you, I suggest you are doing yourself a disservice if you don't at least explore the National Parks of Utah, Alaska and California.

These are some of my highlights as ideas for you.  I'd be happy to provide more details, but it'd take way to long and way too much space, so I'll just basically list.

African Safaris.  Pricey, but I've done them all over Africa and have never been let down.  And while on the subject of Africa and because others brought up Egypt, I'll strongly agree with that suggetion.  In addition to the pyramids, etc., I recommend diving the Red Sea and Alexandria for completely different reasons.  I also recommend going into the Sahara with nomads as sleeping under the stars there is a rewarding experience.  I did it from Timbuktu, which is likely no longer safe but going in from Morocco can be done.

Please tell us more about Egypt. How long did you stay? Did you see the white and black deserts? Did you travel solo, group, etc? 

 

I just received some pretty bad news. It's not a cancer diagnosis or anything, but I think you guys will be able to sympathize with me.

I planned an overseas trip for this year; I even purchased my plane tickets already. Today I checked my mail and found a jury summons. 

[Moderator 3]

You can probably get your jury duty postponed if you explain nicely and assure them you aren't trying to duck ot altogether.

[Tank 92]

16 minutes ago, darklight1216 said:

It was Paris. I have some sweet pics of a pretty famous tower there too, of course, but that would have been a gimme.

Please tell us more about Egypt. How long did you stay? Did you see the white and black deserts? Did you travel solo, group, etc? 

 

I just received some pretty bad news. It's not a cancer diagnosis or anything, but I think you guys will be able to sympathize with me.

I planned an overseas trip for this year; I even purchased my plane tickets already. Today I checked my mail and found a jury summons. 

Lol.    If you have a verifiable justification to do so the courts will reschedule your jury duty.

Edited March 21, 2016 by Tank 92

[usmccharles]

11 hours ago, descent into the maelstrom said:

 

African Safaris.  Pricey, but I've done them all over Africa and have never been let down.  And while on the subject of Africa and because others brought up Egypt, I'll strongly agree with that suggetion.  In addition to the pyramids, etc., I recommend diving the Red Sea and Alexandria for completely different reasons.  I also recommend going into the Sahara with nomads as sleeping under the stars there is a rewarding experience.  I did it from Timbuktu, which is likely no longer safe but going in from Morocco can be done.  *** Safaris are for sure on my list, no trip would be complete without one in my opinion***

Get in the water with big marine life.  Near Capetown, South Africa, there is a place where you can get into cages to watch Great White sharks.  One even hit the cage when I was in it.  Near the southern end of Cebu island, Philippines (and maybe other places), you can get into the water with numerous Whale sharks.  Stunning to look into the eye, from less than arm's length, of fish that seem to be about the size of submarines.   ***This is something that would take a lot of build up for me, I have a weird phobia when it comes to water, but would not want to miss out on these experiences***

Norway is spectacular for the fjords, but I also suggest Spitzbergen Island.  There are regular flights there and we kayaked across an Arctic Ocean inlet and climbed a mountain.  It is halfway to the North Pole from the Arctic Circle, so the sun still doesn't set thru pretty much all of the summer months.  It is also home to a lot of polar bears.  It is also pricey.  I've enjoyed the other parts of Europe that I've gone to, but I'll skip that since there's a ton of info and recommendations from others about that.  ***Norway sounds amazing from everything ive read and I love learning about the Vikings, easily on my list as well***

The mountains of Patagonia are ridiculously impressive.  Torre del Paine National Park, Chile is an excellent place to backpack.  Afterwards, a boat ride across the lake provides extraordinary views.

The New Zealand's south island is another great place to backpack.  I avoided the most popular routes, instead opting for others that were still spectacular.

Ayutthaya, Thailand is a short, very inexpensive train ride from Bangkok.  We simply hired a guide at the train station to explore the stunning ancient temples in the area.  As you mentioned, Asia for the most part can be done very inexpensively and it is very rewarding.  *** Basically everything you mentioned are places that interest me, New Zealand sounds like such a beautiful country that I have to see***

Oops - long post.  I'll cut it here, though I could go on and on.  Enjoy your travels!

 

I doubt anyone here minded the long post as it was very informative.  I assume you did all these travels over a long period of time through your life opposed to just one long trip?

Edited March 22, 2016 by usmccharles