Round The World Tickets
RTW Travel Articles from February, 2008
Onward-ticket requirements can create a problem for RTW travelers
Tuesday, February 26th, 2008
This is something can comes as a surprise to many a RTW traveler, but quite a few countries theoretically won’t let you in unless you already have your onward ticket out of the country. And one of the things that makes it trickier is that enforcement tends to be like enforcement of speeding laws on highways. In other words, you can often get away with ignoring the rule, but in some cases doing so will turn into a huge problem. There are ways around it, but they are a big hassle so most people tend to ignore the rules until they suddenly are being enforced.
The rules exist mainly so countries can easily stop just anyone from arriving with very little money and with the intention of entering the underground labor market as a new illegal alien. Having a blanket rule allows authorities to “profile” people and enforce this selectively, which means that most travelers will not have a problem. But recently we’ve heard that Thailand, and perhaps a few other neighboring countries, are enforcing the rule very strictly as of 2007.
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Radio Nowhere?
Tuesday, February 19th, 2008
Obviously the common advice of bringing the absolute minimum you can get away with on your RTW is valuable and important. When you’ll be carry every single thing on your back for months or even years, you should carefully consider each and every item before you commit to bringing it with you. Some things are cheap enough (like, say, a Frisbee) that you could just leave them behind if you decide you made a mistake by bringing them. But other items (like, say, iPod speakers) would be a bit harder to ditch part way into your journey.
But having said that, one item that deserves a bit of consideration for some of us is a radio of some kind. You won’t find radios on too many “suggested RTW packing lists,” but you might still think about it. Even if you don’t listen to much radio at home, you might find it fascinating to hear local broadcasts while abroad. I brought one that is about the size of 4 packs of cigarettes taped together, and I’m really glad I did. But there are tiny versions with fewer features you might also look into.
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The RTW ticket versus point-to-point debate, continued
Tuesday, February 12th, 2008
This is well-trodden territory for many people, but I wanted to mention one aspect that some people fail to consider when deciding whether or not to buy one ticket ahead of time or separate tickets as you go. The point-to-point style is definitely the best choice for many people, but I’ve seen that some of the folks leaning toward that strategy either don’t realize all of what’s involved, or they don’t want to know because they’ve made up their mind anyway.
We live in an age that, with very few exceptions, no matter where you are there are many cheap flights to be found. And I’ve seen people who notice this phenomenon and then make the assumption that buying individual tickets around the world will be cheap and easy as long as their schedule remains flexible. It does work out that way in most places, but not everywhere, and those exceptions can be budget killers if you aren’t careful.
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Learn some Spanish at some point
Tuesday, February 5th, 2008
While it’s definitely true that you can go round the world speaking only English, knowing more than a few words in Spanish can really enhance your trip in quite a few ways. And I’m saying this as someone who didn’t realize this before he left, but really wished someone had told him about this earlier. So I’m telling you now.
I didn’t really even figure this out until it was way too late anyway, but basically, in all countries where Spanish is the first language, very few people speak English. It feels a bit ironic that everyone on the small resort island of Ko Samui in Thailand speaks a reasonable amount of English, but once you get south of Tijuana or other border towns like it, you are mostly in the “no comprende” zone. And this definitely isn’t a complaint because if I tour their country I can’t expect them to learn my language in advance to make it a bit easier. This situation surprised me, but it was my fault, not theirs.
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