Gap year trips?

Rich1988

Rich1988

Rich1988

Soldato
Joined
8 Jan 2005
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Location
wiltshire
Bit of a vague title I know but I am looking at going travelling for at least a couple of months and just totally unsure of where to go, Im just wondering how people decided where to go and a start and end point and roughly how much such a trip cost, did anyone go on their own and if so how did that work out with being lonely etc.

(I dont want to go alone but most of my friends dont have the cash for such a trip)

Thanks:)
 
I got back from 3 months travelling a couple weeks ago. Went by myself and wasnt alone for a single day. Meeting people isnt a problem at all. I was supposed to be travelling Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam but when i got to thailand that all changed. I ended up spending most of my time training to become a divemaster on Koh Tao then went to burma and cambodia. Total cost of my trip was about £3500 though £1200 was on dive courses and about £400 on dive gear.
 
thats not a lot at all when you think about how long you spent out there, also sounds awesome bet you enjoyed yourself.

The problem is I dont have any long term 'goal' to achieve with the trip I just want to go off and see some sights, the problem is with so much to see I have no idea where to start :p
 
Rich1988 said:
thats not a lot at all when you think about how long you spent out there, also sounds awesome bet you enjoyed yourself.

The problem is I dont have any long term 'goal' to achieve with the trip I just want to go off and see some sights, the problem is with so much to see I have no idea where to start :p
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I was the same when i went out had just planned to see the sights around different countries but gave diving a try and got addicted to it.
Budget all depends where you go, southeast asia is pretty cheap, where as Oz would cost at least double that probably.
You could always just buy a one way ticket to someone with no plans and see where you end up. Met a few people that had done this and they were having an amazing time.
 
I would love to buy a one way ticket to oz or somewhere just dont think I would be brave enough!, I'll look into it some more though my companys going down the Pan at the moment so now seems like the best time to sort out a trip as any (still live with parents) because with no job or commitments I may as well go off somewhere
 
If you're just thinking of doing the normal tourist route (Cambodia/Rhailand etc. to OZ) then just google to see how much others have spent. If you are wanting to do something a bit more original then it'll be a bit harder.

I suggest looking to see how much flights will cost first (most likely to be the biggest cost), maybe one of those "round the world" tickets? Then do some research on the areas you will be staying in to see how much an average room per night is and how much food/transport costs (should just be able to use normal tourist sites). Add on any extra things you want to do (diving/trekking/skydiving etc.) and then jot up the cost. Then add another 50%. :p
 
i just got back from four months in the USA. although we didn't really stick to our budget, it cost an absolute fortune - beware! it was a lot of fun though.
 
I actually had a fantastic summer. I did a summer course in Hong Kong, so had flights to HK and accommodation there paid for by my uni. From there we travelled to other countries and spent 4 days there at a time. It was costing me around £200 for 4 days including flights, accommodation, food, transport, souvenirs etc.

Probably not a great deal of help as I think I was very lucky to get the chance from my uni :p

You could always look at some kind of flight package like so, a few other people I met were doing things like this, or you can customise your own.
 
[TW]Fox;14737726 said:
Seriously, they are not everywhere.
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where abouts did you stay ? I mean were you in a city or more... like "outback" *shudders* for a 6ft 6 brick out house, bug put the fear of god into me :(
 
Tummy said:
where abouts did you stay ? I mean were you in a city or more... like "outback" *shudders* for a 6ft 6 brick out house, bug put the fear of god into me :(
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Melbourne, camped for 5 days on the way to Adelaide, then Hay, Bathurst, Sydney, Newcastle, Coffs Harbour, Byron Bay, Surfers Paradise, Brisbane, Hervey Bay, Rockhampton, Mackay, Arlie Beach, Townsville, Cairns.
 
[TW]Fox;14737742 said:
Melbourne, camped for 5 days on the way to Adelaide, then Hay, Bathurst, Sydney, Newcastle, Coffs Harbour, Byron Bay, Surfers Paradise, Brisbane, Hervey Bay, Rockhampton, Mackay, Arlie Beach, Townsville, Cairns.
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woah ! and you really saw nothing with more then 4 legs ?

I'm thinking of seeing if I could get out there for a while, I'm not a fan of the weather, but I adore seeing different cultures and I'd love to see Oz :)

Might even take the lady with me, I imagine the entire trip was fantastic ?

Cheers Foxxy !
 
Tummy said:
woah ! and you really saw nothing with more then 4 legs ?
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The most 'creepy' thing I saw was lizards, and they were pretty cool.

I'm thinking of seeing if I could get out there for a while, I'm not a fan of the weather, but I adore seeing different cultures and I'd love to see Oz :)
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The weather isnt that bad if you go in their winter. Infact, it can be the other way and pretty cold especially down South.

Might even take the lady with me, I imagine the entire trip was fantastic ?
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It was beyond fantastic - loved every minute of it and wish I was still there :)
 
I also did the SE Asia thing, Thailand > Cambodia > Vietnam. I mean to go to Laos, especially as my girlfriend's half Lao, but I got a beatdown in Vietnam and ended up in China instead. I didn't really have any goals, plans or anything, just let things happen. For example, I met a bunch of people in Phnom Penh and ended up travelling with them on and off for the next month, did a load of things I wouldn't have bothered with otherwise - keep your itinerary fairly open :) That applies to travelling in general really, when I was going around China earlier this year I kept meeting people and being dragged off to sights and places I'd never heard of, can find some fantastic things that way.

As for budget...I think I spent about 2500 in total, over the course of 4 1/2 months, but I'm not entirely sure. My 6 month open return to Bangkok was 440, as I'd planned to do a loop and end up there, but as things panned out I bought a flight to Shanghai and another direct from there back to London, so things don't always go as planned - leave enough spare cash for that sort of thing. Or, in my case, stick it all on a credit card, because that extra high interest debt is exactly what you need going in to uni...A lot of my time in Thailand was free, as I ended up working on a bar in Koh Samui in exchange for free board, food and drinks, which was a pretty awesome deal, but things can add up easily if you don't pay attention.

Other places to go...I've always wanted to head down to Oz, but not found time/money yet. China's amazing, but I appreciate it can be difficult without speaking the language. That said, the first time I went, I didn't speak a word of it, and survived for a month. So much to explore, even after living over there for a year I hardly touched the surface. India's awesome too, the standard tourist visa is 6 months, so you can properly explore the place if you've got the stamina to deal with it. I was there for 5 weeks or so, and the transport network really can be exhausting. Still, there are so many amazing places to see that it makes up for the nightmares in between. Well, just about. and you come back with a lot of stories :p
 
I went to Vancouver as a working holiday for 3 months if that applies - I picked Vancouver as it is one of the biggest cities in Canada, one of my mates suggested that he'd be out there (what he actually meant was I'll be in Canada but over the other side of the country entirely) and basically I just felt like it. Time was roughly dictated by university holidays but because I was working while I was there the trip itself cost me next to nothing, I can't remember which but I either broke even or paid for everything apart from the initial visa.

I went on my own, I did expect to be able to meet up with my mate but that didn't happen until the very last week of my trip. I didn't find loneliness a particular problem although I'd guess that will depend somewhat on your personality - if you go out there and just try to get involved then you'll make friends or at least acquaintances to go out with fairly easily. Staying in youth hostels will give you a headstart on that as you'll be in a group of people who are probably in a very similar situation. Working of course meant that I had to meet people as part of the job, I got very lucky in that as I was working with some lovely people.
 
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