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First Iteration of Planning The first iteration of planning essentially involves determining what stops you would like to make on your overall RTW airline ticket. As I mentioned before, this first step is intended to help you plan on a “broad” level so you can focus your planning and research efforts at a more detailed level later.
Before going through the First Iteration of Planning, check out the Passports and Visas web page. Before anything else, you will want to make sure your passport has plenty of time before it expires and, if not, you should start the ball rolling on a new one immediately.
STEP 1: Get a laminated or otherwise strong-fiber fold out map of the world.
STEP 2: Without doing any research, decide on some preliminary destinations. This will give you a framework for further research and decision making. If you have decided on some sort of theme, then circle relevant destinations on your map. If, instead of a theme, you are planning to travel to places which have always interested you, circle those. Or, choose a combination of both. Where have you always wanted to go? What places have piqued your interest? Where have friends or family gone which have intrigued you?
STEP 3: Starting with your home city, draw a single line connecting the places you have circled going either primarily East -> West or West -> East. You may have to zigzag between the northern and southern hemispheres.
STEP 4: See how well your Level 1 destinations fit with regard to the RTW ticket rules you have researched in your preplanning. Are you limited to a certain number of stops per continent or a certain number of stops overall? Are you within the mileage restrictions for the ticket you are most interested in? If your Level 1 destinations need to be adjusted because there are too many stops or too many flight miles in total, then start narrowing down your choices by eliminating some of them or perhaps expanding your choices by adding others. If you are allowed one more stop in, say, Asia, then perhaps add another city that interests you where the RTW alliance flies.
STEP 5: Do basic research on your Level 1 destinations (some research sources are shown further down this web page). Given your expected initial departure date, and “loosely” estimating when you will be at each stop (give or take a month), research the following information for each destination to determine whether it fits well with your overall plan:
Seasonal weather patterns - For example, it is not practical to go to Mount Everest except from June to September. Also, many countries have typhoon or rainy seasons which can impede travel.
Seasonal access restrictions - Some countries or provinces have seasonal restrictions on when tourists are allowed to visit.
Daylight Hours - If you plan to go very far north or south, daylight can be limited during certain times of the year.
Citizenship Issues - U.S. citizens are not permitted by their government to go to certain countries. U.K. citizens will have problems getting into Zimbabwe. And Israeli citizens face many restrictions, primarily in the Middle East.
Issues with Past Places Visited - Some countries will deny you entry if you have a stamp from Israel anywhere in your passport.
Political Unrest - You should carefully consider all relevant facts and circumstances if you are interested in traveling to a place with an unstable political environment. Try to get information about such a place from current travelers via blogs or other travel forums. If political unrest seems to be increasing, as opposed to being sorted out, keep in mind that you will not be arriving there until perhaps months in the future. Political circumstances could change for better or worse by then. Ultimately, it is up to you to decide who much risk you want to take.
STEP 6: If your RTW ticket requires you to head in a constant east or west direction, decide which direction you will choose.
Sources of Information for RTW Research The following should provide good starting points for gathering information about your Level 1 destinations:
- Information profided by a travel specialist (such as a travel agent) - Government Travel Advice Bulletins (see column to the right) - Various Travel Guides: (Rough Guides, Lonely Planet, Fodor’s, and Michelin Travel Guides ) - Economist Magazine archives (search for articles about your destinations) - New York Times archives (search for articles about your destinations) - Using online search engines and resources at your local library.
Based on your research, you may have added or dropped destinations from your RTW plan. Now, hopefully, you have a basic framework to build your more detailed plans around, and can proceed to the Second Iteration of Planning. |
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Government Travel Advice Services Many governments offer travel advisory services to their nationals. Travel advisories offer advice on getting visas, problems which may be encountered by travelers, and (if needed) emergency services provided by embassies and consulates throughout the world. I would caution you to read these with a conservative eye - they are most certainly useful, but at times may recommend more caution than may be needed for a given area of a country. It is important to understand the details of what is happening. In recent years, some of the southern provinces of Thailand had been affected by bombings and insurrections; while it would be inadvisable to travel to those provinces, it would in all likelihood still be fine to travel to Bangkok or Chiang Mai (in northern Thailand). Some governments will even offer to email an advisory to you when any of the details change. Following are some links to the advisory services concerned. If you see your country on the list, be sure the check out the advice provided and feel free to check out some of the others. If you do not see your country on the list, try a Google search or use one of the ones below:
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EXAMPLE of LEVEL 1 DESTINATIONS
World Political Map as of 2008, courtesy of One World - Nations Online. |
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HOW MANY MILES WAS THAT?! There are a number of resources on the web to help you calculate the miles flown for itineraries you specify. One that I have used quite frequently is the WebFlyer MileMarker, which you can find via this link: |
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In the example above, our traveler is starting in New York and has selected the following places to visit:
Santiago, Buenos Aires, Rio, Lisbon, London, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Stone Town, Mumbai, Kathmandu, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Melbourne, Christchurch, Vancouver, the Grand Canyon, and finally back to New York.
He then connected them on a map going from west to east to facilitate his Level 1 research. |
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Tips and tricks for dealing with RTW ticket restrictions and how to find “loopholes” are provided on the RTW Ticket Primer page. |
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