2 months travelling

[akaDAVE]

A window of opportunity has cropped up for me. I am coming to the end of my job after contracting for 2 years.
My best mate has just broken up with his girlfriend. We have spoken about going away on a long trip to visit the usual places we have heard of - Thailand, India, Australia, Fiji etc.
I am lucky enough to have a few grand in the bank saved and no debts or commitments other than my rent (and a girlfriend who's encouraged me) here. So really there couldn't be a better time.

Of course we have our worries about getting work when we get back and the overall cost, but those things will never change whenever we do it.

From what we have discussed we think about 2 months would be a good amount of time to get away, probably during the winter here.

I have about 5grand in the bank but will obviously need to account for living costs when I get back. I can see it vanishing faster than my tan!

I think I'd like to do the hard work first, see the cities and a variety of the countries and then end up with more of a holiday, on a beach!

What experience have you guys had? I'd love to hear examples of where you've been, for how long, what you would/wouldn't do again, and of course any advice of budget and overall costs.

Much appreciated!
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GSXR600

[Itchy]

my sister went world tour 2 years ago , went for 9 months and spent 6K (with 2K of this ME putting it into her bank A/C) she still hasn't paid me back most of it,

although not strictly related its good to have somebody back home to do this for you.

Silk route? , northern India hire royal enfield 500 bullets ride over craggy dangerous rocks to the Chinese border.
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Spain 2008France 2007Big one 2009 We all die. The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will. In the end, your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it is worth watching.

[yambabe]

This is where a friend of mine is up to - her trip is for 6 months and she left the UK in April.

https://www.statraveljournals.com/georgie%5Fmonkey/

The statravel general website is a good guide to prices, itineries, stuff to see etc.
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Sod falling in love, I wanna fall in chocolate.

[byke95]

5k in the bank and you only want to go away for 2 months, easy.

The girlfriend and I went away for just under 9 months on a round the world ticket from www.roundtheworldflights.com and managed to keep to a budget of 3k each (2 years ago, excluding flights) and, although we held back on the boozing and meals out, we managed to get in all the excursions we wanted.

Your only difficulty will be the two months: its' a bit long to spend in one country but not long enough to squeeze in a round the world ticket. I mention this as, once you start buying individual flights, your expenses will soon rise. Your best bet may be somewhere like Thailand, if you hop to a few of the outer islands your money will go far and you'll get that 'travelled' feeling.

Important note here is that I actually haven't been to Thailand (on our travels we chose Africa instead on Asia) but I'm planning a trip similar to what you going to be doing (but shorter, 2-3 weeks) for next month. So far Thailand seems the best bet - I've been told to not stay in Bangkok longer than a few days and to avoid Phuket as there are much nicer (and cheaper) islands. I'm currently trying to find cheap flights, I'll post again once I know some more...

[TOM M]

Go do it, youll never have a better oppouttunity to go.
If you dont youll regret it later on in life
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Now owner of a 1200 Bandit

[Kaben]

I did 3 months and spent 5 grand. This was because i was being quite extravagant in Tokyo, which is an expensive place to be anyway! (i spent £800 on a weeks 5 * hotel for example - a good friend of mine came out for that week and we decided to live it up a bit!)

5 grand should get you a long way,especially if you stay away from the expensive ready made tours. If ever there is a tour or organised trip, you will DEFINITELY be able to do the same thing yourself, for less money. (gives a small sense of achievement too if its in a country where they dont speak engerish)
You will also avoid the gift store/restaurant stops that are sponsoring the trip organisers and thus save yourself time and potential money on things you dont really need.

Id say you should extend the trip, at two months you are just getting into your travelling stride. 3 months is about right, but 4 would have been perfect for me.

I myself am going to take a year out after i have paid off my debts and worked on my CV a bit.

Keep us informed on how your planning goes, would be keen to know how you go about it.

Kaben
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Its Not a Melon, Its Clearly a Lime!!
Yamaha Fazer 600Now dead, MZ 125 SM
My Deviant Art homepage https://robabloke.deviantart.com/

[Mary Jane]

do it.

go and don't look back. When are you going to have this opportunity again?

[Silver]

In 1999 I went for three months to:

Mexico
Hawaii
Fiji
New Zealand
Australia
Indonesia
Singapore
Malaysia
Thailand
Hong Kong
China

And then a couple of years ago I went for two months back to Thailand and Oz.

Personally, my highlights would be:
Fiji: Simple way of life, cheap, incredibly friendly people, excellent diving, picturesque.
New Zealand: Amazing variety; beaches, mountains, glaciers, adrenaline sports, excellent roads.
Australia: Getting battered (!), excellent diving, weather, culture (Ularu etc).
Thailand: Cheap, weather, excellent diving, chilled out!

I was dubious about going the first time (talked into it by my then girlfriend) and I can say, without hesitation, that is was the best thing I ever did. Can't say much more than that. You will learn so much! Do it!

[Kaben]

Another thing.
STA travel are very good for your flights.,but Make sure you go see a consultant. They will be able to shave some extra pennies of the costs and talk you through the details etc -perhaps give some location ideas you hadnt thought of.

They will try to convince you to go on their organised tours, again see the above post. The Thing they are excellent for however is booking your first place of accomodation.
There is nothing worse than pitching up after your 14 hour flight to realise you have nowhere to stay. If you can get STA (or search on the web) to sort that out for you before you leave, it will save alot of stress.

I highly reccomend China if you destination list is not set yet.
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Its Not a Melon, Its Clearly a Lime!!
Yamaha Fazer 600Now dead, MZ 125 SM
My Deviant Art homepage https://robabloke.deviantart.com/