Advice on travelling the world

Hi all, I know there are alot of people in this community who have been away, or are currently away travelling the world. I was hoping that people could maybe give me some advice, where to go, what to see etc.

I'm leaving in august for six months, returning to England in January so i can start work again in February. My very simple itinerary so far is;
England-California (maybe spend a month here)
-the far east(I'm open to suggestions of whereabouts to go, although I definitely want to experience a full moon party in Thailand)
-New Zealand (I'll be spending the bulk of my time here, around 3 months I reckon, probably spending Christmas here too)
-Australia (I may fly here for new year to experience the party at Sydney harbour)
-home to England.

I will add that I'm not the adventure type, I don't want to bungee jump or skydive, I don't want to scuba dive the great barrier reef (mainly as I cant do the whole breathing underwater thing!!) and I don't want to climb a mountain. I just want six months of relaxing, sightseeing, cultural fun!

Thanks in advance for any advice folks!

well Im certainly not going to be any help, those things are really all ive done in those places.

In NZ the lord of the rings tour is really pretty; though highly cliched.(pretend there is a squiggle above the e)

In Thailand, it depends on what your after - the south end is touristy and beachy, the north is more cultural and mountainy. I found I got to spend more time just being in thailand up north in Shangmai, while in the south I was inundated with tourist crap. But that might be what your after.

Australia is a very big place so if your flying into Sydney and only staying for a small amount of time then dont make too many plans outside of the coastal region. North of Sydney people tend to do Byron Bay-Brisbane-townsville.

Hiya Mods

I'm currently in Thailand and i have to agree with WoodlandApple about the touristy thing. I'm in the south and and the beaches are one endless parade of internet shops, travel agencies, schlocky shops and tourist oriented restaurants. It's all money money money, gimme gimme gimme.

Maybe that is what your interested in if so the full moon party might be something you want to attend. But seriously, it's nothing more than 10 000 tourists drunk on the beach, there's nothing cultural about. It's one big cash grab, nothing n\more. You'll find more than enough beach bar action on a regular night on that beach without committing to outrageous bungalow prices ( most places have a five day minimum stay ) and taxi fares when you want to go back "home"

I came here for scuba diving, but I got attacked by a dog three nights ago, so now I'm a medical tourist. I can still spin poi on the beach as long as I take enough painkillers but other than that, the southern scene is pretty boring. It's lay on the beach all day, get hammered at night. Nothing 'cultural" about it. They don't even play Thai music in the bars, last night i was spinning to ACDC.

There's tours worth doing, like the karst formations in the Andaman sea ( James Bond island ) check out Thorntree for recommendations.



Go to Angkor Wat, you'll be seeing that on Discovery channel for the rest of your life and you'll be able to say "I've been there..." Do the trekking thing in northern Thailand. It's not streneous

that sucks dude I hope you bit it back

I suggest not to do the touristy things. I've been to Germany and all the tourist stuff is boring and really expensive and they make it look like fun, but it's not.

If you can get any connections where you're going, stay with them if you can, at least for a while. Living with another family can be fun in its own.

Also, the locals know what the actual fun things are and also know what you would actually want to see. Being a part of their culture is amazing and eye opening and I'd suggest to do that as I've never had more fun, or more a more life changing time in my entire life than actually living with the Germans.

I'm not sure about those places, but in the Alps, of course this was the Germans' idea and not our teacher's, but we went hiking up to a hostel in the mountains. We stayed there a day and if you're with a group (always try to be, it makes it much more fun) just see what they do for fun and you'll probably love it.

I overall would suggest to try getting as much connections as possible in those places, so not only do you not always have to stay in a hotel, but you always have what becomes your family if you stay with them. Also, when you get away from the touristy places, things become much much much less expensive.

If you do make connections, I think the best thing to do would be to ask them what to do when you're their, because I'm just basing it off my experiences, and that's only in Germany and a little into Austria.

I think it depends on whether you want the contiki experience, or the living experience or the backpackers drunk experience.

Hummm, Mods hasn't returnd to thread.Oh well, Knowing the budget always helps in these types of threads, for all I know Mods could be planning a string of five star resorts.



No, i was tempted to..

It's long and complicated but yesterday I gave the dog a stay of execution as it's become widely known I've been looking for him and wanting to take him for a walk in the jungle. Luckily I'm in perfect tropical beach paradise and the only time I run into the touristy schlockfest is when I go into town for a rabies shot.

I can spin though, and I even pulled off a five beat weave last night, something I didn't think possible when I was practicing yesterday. Maybe it's the painkillers

Thailand is OK if you want somewhere 'done' to death already. Try Indonesia. It's large, fascinating and in many places very untouristed. I live in Bali which is small, fascinating and in some places very touristed... but even there, in many places still not.

Can you buy T-Shirts that say:

"My <insert family relative here> went to <insert place here> and all I got was this lousy T-Shirt"?



I like those.

I'm here! I've been lurking! I'm not planning to stay in big luxury places, possibly a motel or two whilst on the road in california, but it's hostels from there on!

I do have a pretty good sum of money saved up (it'll be about £16,000 by the time I leave), but I do not intend to just blow it all, I want to leave most of it so that I have money to put towards a house when I return back to Blighty. I was thinking of working whilst I travel, but I don't think I'll be in one place long enough to make it worth my while getting work. I may get a working holiday visa for New Zealand though, just in case I do find the odd day's work.

What would be even more amusing would be a shirt exactly like that.

16 000 pounds should be more than adequate and that kind of cash won't leave you hamstrung if something happens, like accident or illness. It allows you the ability to choose to be cheap and revel in it rather than having to look for the cheapest digs, the cheapest food.

I second newgabe on Bali. I've never been there, but I've never met anyone whose been disappointed with it. True Thailand is done to death ( especially by Australians and Europeans ) and is in the process of getting more done to death every year.

Curiously enough, I'm meeting lots of English people who are on their way to work in either Australia or new Zealand. Nobody appears to be under any "promised land" illusions and there's degreed people heading over there, willing to take any job they can get. At lest you won't have to count on working, if you find something. great, it'll be a time killer as well as a money earner.

Side note: "I went to Australia and got this T-shirt for my wife. Good swap eh?"

Like I said, I really dont intend to spend a large amount of that £16,000. I'd like to come back and still have around £10,000, although i'm not sure if that'll happen!

Bali sounds interesting though, is there alot to do there? or is it more a relaxed, chilled out place?

Yeah, that is quite good!

I enjoyed Thailand more than Bali, But in Thailand I was up north the majority working. I really liked hanging out at the triangle and doing trips into Laos and Burma. I hired a moped and braved the street. It was cool.

If you do hire a moped or anything DO NOT USE YOUR PASSPORT AS GARANTEE, you will get screwed.

Ja..I have an expired passport with me just for renting motorbikes. There sure are a lot of people wandering around here on crutches though...Hail fellow medical tourists.

So the Haiti thread..black bagged huh ? Damn, looks like SD is doomed to music threads.

Hey yall, i was just wondering if anybody has found a good way to clean the white pvc LED poi balls without messing them up. Cuz, anybody that has these, knows that they end up gettin a lil dirty and faded....my balls r filthy lol. -Beefcake (the girl)

I have same problem, but wrong thread my lady

*UPDATE*

I have pretty much decided to cut out the far east from my travels as six months is really not a long enough time to enjoy as much as I want to. This means I will be spending more time in Australia and New Zealand. Approximately 2 months and 2.5 months respectively.

I'm not too sure if I'll be in one place long enough to do any work, but I'm still thinking of getting working holiday visas for both, just in case I do find short term work.

So, suggestions of places to go see in Australia and New Zealand would be awesome please folks!