GoRoundTheWorld.com - RTW Travel for the RTW Traveler

Examples of RTW Travel

This page will detail some actual RTW trips taken by people I know. For now, I will start with own, first RTW trip. I will add the itineraries and personal thoughts of some friends I have met along the way in the coming months.

I had known about RTW airline tickets for quite a few years, and assumed that such a trip was only a dream. It was by happenstance I found out that such a trip was within my grasp.

I had resigned from my job as a Vice President at Sony Music Entertainment and was taking some time to figure out what I would like to do next. During that time, I ran into an acquaintance who was a travel agent. He suggested I look into an RTW trip; after all, I had some time, so why not “carpe diem” and do something I had always wanted to do? He referred me to the Cathay Pacific office on 5th Avenue in Manhattan. From there, I found out that I could travel around the world for a year on a combination of flights on eight different airlines, all for the cost of less than a round-trip or return ticket at full fare to a single destination.

So I set about planning my journey. Following are some facts and figures about my first RTW trip, which lasted for one year:

Time spent planning for departure - 6 months

Departure date - January 4, 2004

Return date - December 29, 2004

Number of countries visited - 22

I visited the following countries and administrative regions (in order of my travels): Ireland, India, Thailand, Laos, Viet Nam, Cambodia, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, China, Tibet, Nepal, China (again), Ireland (again), South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, Zanzibar, South Africa (again), England, Turkey, and Spain.

Highlights of that year include:

- Camping at one of the Mount Everest Base Camps (Base Camp 1).

- Experiencing the sunrise at Angkor Wat.

- Feeling the might of Victoria Falls with its thunderous sound, bigger-than-life presence, and volumes of cool mist.

- Hiking and exploring “not-of-this-world” ice caves in the surreal landscape at the middle of Fox glacier in New Zealand.

- Diving amongst thousands of colorful, teeming fish at the Great Barrier Reef.

- Feeling, not just reading about, the sense that gave way to the end of Apartheid in South Africa.

- The sense of awe inspired by the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland and the Ring of Kerry in Ireland.

- Accompanying a Canadian man who had come to India to have his friend’s ashes ceremoniously placed in the Ganges River near the holy town of Rishikesh.

- White water rafting in the Ganges River (India) during the celebration of the Hindu religious observance known as “Holi”.

- Waking up to a misty horizon full of temples and abandoned civic fortresses at the Unesco World Heritage site Hampi in India.

- Learning to cook Thai food - in Thailand!

- Successfully transporting myself through the time machine that is otherwise known as Laos, where as yet there was not a single ATM to be found anywhere in the country and where the only available alarm clocks were the sounds of roosters crowing just before dawn.

- Soaking up the energy and enthusiasm found only in Viet Nam, where, after more than 150 years of occupation by others and heavy restrictions on one’s ability to travel, the citizens are having a taste of what it feels like to own private businesses, to own land, and to bring what is the true Viet Nam to the world-at-large.

- Experiencing the “can-do” attitude prevalent in the “work-work-work” modern China, enjoying the hospitable nature of the Chinese, and gaining an understanding the confusion, inspiration, pain, and excitement of an ancient country trying to reclaim its understanding of its own culture.

- Circling all of Zanzibar Island under sunny, blue skies on a motorbike.

- Watching the sunrise in Namibia from three-quarters of a mile up - on a sand dune!

- Arising to the sound of morning prayers echoing throughout Istanbul.

- Making many new friends from every corner of the world who I am in touch with to this day.

Some interesting things to note about my travels:

- I was able to successfully adjust my itinerary en route so I could return to a few countries where I felt I had left far too soon.

- I did not follow a strictly east-west or west-east itinerary, which is one of the more daunting restrictions attached to Round-The-World airline tickets. I was able to fly back and forth from a latitudinal standpoint because I exchanged frequent flyer miles for the ticket rather than paying cash (more on that later).

- I am most certainly not a “high roller” - I am somewhat surprised when I look at all I accomplished that year on a modest budget. And if I can do it, so can you!

If you are interested in further information about any aspects of my itinerary or experiences, please feel free to contact me at the email address found at my “About the Author” page. I would be delighted to share some of my experiences with you.

Now, enough about me, let’s starting planning your first RTW trip!