It begins...

Sun, 03 Jun 2007 21:59:01 GMT

Right, so...

I've decided to go round the world. On my own.

See, although I've been to quite a few places in my 18 years of life, it's almost always been with my parents. In fact, I can't think of anywhere abroad that I've been without my parents. Even on school trips, my mum was the one organising them, so I always had at least her there. It's time to strike out on my own.

Going around the world seems a bit overkill though...

Oh well, i've made a journal and everything so I'm comitted to it now :D

After practising the ancient art of google-fu, I've decided to use a company called STA Travel, and have spent a couple of hours playing around with their Travel planner thingy (with occasional side-trips to wikapedia and the Times Atlas of the World open beside me) and have come up with a game plan:

London (obviously) --> Washington, USA. I've always wanted to go but the closest I got was a 1 hour stopover in the airport en route to Colorado. I'll spend a couple of days taking in all the sights - White House, Smithsonian etc.

Washington --> LA, USA. Probably won't spend much time here. It's more of a quick stopover.

LA --> Auckland, NZ. I've been to NZ twice before with my family, so ideally I'd like to fly into Auckland, and then meander my way down to Christchurch via Wellington (WETA studios, baby!), taking in some cool things on my way.

Christchurch --> Sydney, Aus. Spend a few days here, doing lots of touristy things - Harbour Bridge, the Opera House etc. Have never been to Australia before now really.

Sydney --> Cairns, Aus. It gets a bit murky here. I want to go diving on the Great Barrier Reef, so might do a liveaboard (where you spend a week entirely out on a boat and all you do is dive). Also will possibly visit relatives in Townsville, and fly out to Ayers Rock. Might end up spending a couple of weeks around here.

Cairns --> Tokyo (via Port Moresby). I'd like to visit Mt Fuji, plus maybe ride a bullet train or two. Will probably spend a few days here.

Tokyo --> Beijing (via Kuala Lumpur). Will visit the Great Wall for definite, visit the zoo and see pandas!

Beijing --> Delhi (via Dubai). Visiting the Taj Mahal for definite, will have to research what else there is to do.

Delhi --> Cairo (via Doha). Pyramids!

Cairo --> Athens (via Doha again). Am interested in poking about the Ancient Greek ruins, maybe going down to Delphi.

Athens --> London (via Warsaw). Have no clue why I have to go via Poland to get home, but there you go.

I've skipped out most of Africa even though I've always wanted to go, since my family is tentatively planning a trip to Kenya next Summer, and I'll go then instead.

I've got a tentative quote based on some dates around October - December, and it's £2118 plus taxes etc. I think that's good money for going all round the world. Of course, I'll probably have to spend that much again on accomodation etc; but I've got about £2000 in my bank account at the moment already, and will just have to work my ass off for a few months to get the rest of the money.

roundworldtrip

It begins...