Looking at traveling within the next year or so

G'day guys,

Let me start off by saying that I'm pretty keen on travelling sometime either late next year or beginning of 2011. So I have ages to prepare myself for this.

I've had a quick browse through soe backpacking sites so I know basics of what to bring along, what not to bring along etcetera. What I'm after, I suppose is some advice from people who've had first hand experience in backpacking.

Other than seeing NZ twice and living in Tassie for a while, I've only really hopped around WA, moving around mining towns and complete woop woop rural areas. So I dont have a whole lot of experience in overseas travel.

So far I'm interested in visiting the UK (Scotland, Ireland, London mainly). I also want to go to Springfield and Inman to visit a few friends, and I wouldn't mind seeing Bali/Phuket, Italy or France either.

How did you prepare yourselves for travel?

I want to travel on my own. Is finding a guide worth it or would just meeting people at hostels be better?

How much cash do you think I should save up before I decide to do this? How should I carry said cash? I want to be traveling as light as possible.

How long should I/can I stay in one place? I've met a young Irish backpacker from this cherry tomato farm my mum works at, and he's been around Perth for a good three months on a working visa. Would that be a something I could consider? 'Cause I wouldn't mind that.

That's all the questions I can think of right now. How do I do all of this??

Cheers in advance :cheers2:

EDIT: I should probably mention that I take Lamogine. Would I be able to buy that in the UK with my script? Ya get about four weeks worth in the packet.

 

Allright, visas first of all. You're Australian, you can get a working holiday visa for Canada, NZ, UK, and another few countries, I believe. Your Irish friend has one of these, almost guaranteed. Google it for more info.

Otherwise, visas will vary from country to country. Just do a bit of Internet research before you go. Also make sure you do research on currency and exchange rates when you go to a new country.

How to prepare? Well, saving up a lot of money and buying a flight ticket is a good place to start. If you know what to bring, there's not much else to prepare for, apart from saving up.

No matter where you go, you will always meet people. Travelers of all ages abound all over the world. I always travel alone, but I'm never on my own unless I want to be. Don't spend money on a guide, and hell, probably not even a guide book. Tends to be a bit of a waste.

How much money you should bring depends on where you want to go and for how long. You can stay in one place as long as you want, but it's a good idea to pay attention to your visa so you don't have to pay fines. All over South East Asia, for example, you can just jump a border to get a fresh visa. As for bringing cash, only keep an emergency reserve of it. A few hundred bucks at most. I usually stash my emergency cash in my first aid kit, but anywhere sneaky and hard-to-reach is good.

The places you want to visit are really varied. What are you after? I'd avoid both Bali and Phuket if you're going to Asia, and if you're going to Europe I wouldn't spend too much time in the UK.

How to do it? Buy a ticket, don't miss your flight.
And don't worry! The biggest thing I've learned is not to worry so much, things always work out. Even when the world kicks you in the face, people rip you off and you're alone in a foreign country in some shitty situation or other, things are going to brighten up soon enough.

 

yea..... sorry I dont got a lot of advice for ya.... but I will be goin to phucket to teach diving around december so I can let ya know how that goes when im there..... my only advice would be to scavenge the lonely planet forums....