For some travelers, the holy grail of vacations is the round-the-world trip. There’s a certain romance to it, but it can be difficult to plan. You need to consider time off from work, finances, logistics, and more. If you’re thinking about circumnavigating the globe, take the following steps when planning your trip:
– Start with a plane ticket. While you could theoretically see the world through a variety of transportation methods, the cheapest and easiest way to travel the globe is to purchase a round-the-world ticket from a commercial airline. Airlines band together in coalitions like the Star Alliance to make the tickets possible, and while they have rules requiring you to do things like fly in one direction and book every flight before you leave, they are still the simplest way to travel.
– Plan for time off. Many round-the-world tickets require you to take at least 10 days to use them, but to take so little time off would usually be a waste. If you can, plan to spend at least two months traveling so that you can make the most of the opportunity. Depending on your job, you may need to save up days off, plan to travel over the holidays, or even ask for a sabbatical.
– Budget. Before you can start plotting out destinations, you’ll need to figure out how much you have available to spend. Take into consideration things like storing your belongings while you’re gone, as well as what you’ll spend at your destinations. Depending on your circumstances and how advanced you want to get with visas, you may be able to plan on working in some countries to boost your budget.
– Plan your route. Map out all the destinations you want to see on your trip, taking your budget into account as you go. After you figure out whether you want to go east to west or west to east, you can get into the nitty-gritty of how long you plan to spend in each place and how much it will cost you to do so.
