How I did it: I've been around the world twice.  Being an American, the thought of doing this never occurred to me until I meet an Australian friend who was on a year long sabbatical.  I immediately started saving my money.  I was just out of college and lucky enough to have parents willing to let me live with them rent-free.  A year later at the age of 24, I bought an around-the-world ticket and was off on a solo 6-month adventure.  I started in New Zealand and went on to Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and central Europe.  I had always been very shy, but the sight of a young woman traveling alone brought out the friendliness in others and I meet many kind people and had great adventures.  Seven years later I repeated the trip, this time going with my partner and moving in the opposite direction by starting in Europe.  We were away for nearly one year.

Lessons & tips: Around-the-world tickets are the way to go, and aren't that much more expensive than they were 10 years ago.  I actually found better deals out of the London bucket shops, and bought a one-way ticket to London with the around-the-world ticket starting there.  If traveling as a pair in Europe, I would consider camping - it will be about half the price of staying in hostels for two people.  Of course, these days couchsurfing is also a pretty good option and a good way to meet people.

Sep 20, 07:41AM PDT | 0 comments | 1 cheer