STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

Mandy · Kate Spade

RTW travel - starting in SE Asia

Hermes

my husband flies around the world three times a year - but he has been starting in India lately. he's also been to all the places you mention - let me talk to him tonight, and we'll whip up a response for you.

gingembre1 · Kate Spade

I'd also be interested in what airline you plan on using...Are you going to buy a RTW ticket? What are the rules on your ticket?

Mandy · Kate Spade

We haven't bought tickets yet because we don't have a definite start date (need to sell/rent house), but we are just going to be single tickets rather than a RTW thing. I looked into it a little but a lot of them want you to lock in destinations and you can't backtrack. I don't really mind, but BF really wants to plan as little possible and just decide things as we go. Because of that mindset, we don't want to be locked into specific cities. The RTW section at Lonely Planet's thorntree forum has some good info if its something you are interested in.

Our rough plan is to first fly into Singapore or Kuala Lumpur (Singapore flights seem to be cheaper), then once we are done in SE Asia get a flight out of India to the next region we pick.

D-Thanks! I was hoping you'd respond because you seem pretty familiar with that area.

kahluamilk · Dooney & Bourke

If you're flying from KL- check out AirAsia- their budget airlines kinda like Southwest over here.. There are some killer deals if you book a little ahead of time and they run deals all the time.

http://www.airasia.com/

Maddie · Coach

I've never been to South East Asia, but South Asia is kind of my specialty. I've been to India, lived in Sri Lanka and just know a lot about the region in general. Sri Lanka is getting a little dangerous right now (civil war) so I can't in good faith recommend you go there (though if things cool down it is an AMAZING country--I'm trying to move back regardless). India, however, is great.

I have to ask though--do you and your boyfriend have a lot of experience with this kind of travel? Because liking to go on vacation is very different from liking to travel for extended periods of time on a strict budget. If you guys are total experts then just ignore me. But if not, I have to say that it can be incredibly tiring and unexpectedly expensive and avoiding those expenses can be incredibly tiring. Also, even if you're someone who's not that attached to the American lifestyle (me), a year is a really long time to be away. Six months is a long time to be away. Just sayin.

Anyway, India. What exactly do you want to know? I'm off to watch Project Runway, but I can write up something more detailed later. Just quickly off the top of my head, some places I'd recommend/I want to visit: Delhi, Agra, Amritsar, Varanasi, Mumbai, Goa, Kerala, and Madurai.

Mandy · Kate Spade

I've done some backpacking on a tight budget for short trips but never anything like this. I'm sure there will be plenty of surprises but we've done our research and are as prepared as I think we can be. I've read tons of blogs, watched documentaries, and talked to others who have done this. It's totally gonna suck to go without so much for so long but thats part of what the trip is about is shedding some of the "American" stuff we are so used to. A year is a really long time to be away and thats why I'm glad I'm traveling with my BF. He's my connection to my "real" world. We are bringing a laptop and a local radio station is going to give us phones so they can keep up with our trip so I think we will stay somewhat connected.

As far as information I'm looking for any info on small must see towns, tips on places that are overrated and should be skipped. I love all things animal so we were thinking about going to Sri Lanka to go to the elephant orphanage depending on the how safe it is. I'd love any money saving tips we may not have thought of.

gingembre1 · Kate Spade

Mandy- During my travels I've met A LOT of people traveling for a year, or more, but never any Americans, so I'm glad to hear that you'll be doing this. As Maddie mentioned, it does get really tiring, and it's stressful avoiding expenses. One thing that really helped for the people I've met, and for me when I was traveling for long stretches, was settling in one place for at least a month. It gives you time to make some friends, really get to know a place, and recharge the batteries.

Let me know if you guys plan on hitting up South America.

lynnie · Chanel

I have a friend that did this! She ended up getting a flesh eating bacteria on a remote beach in Thailand and had to cut her trip short (Very scary- disappeared in hospitals for 3 weeks and no one knew where she was). But I think she was gone for at least a year. She ended up starting in Israeal, then went to India for a while, then was in Thailand, and then Japan to teach, and then maybe back to Thailand? I should email her- she is in San Francisco now.

I agree with gingembre- the best thing I think to do is stay in places for a while. Get jobs, make friends, get to know an area. My friend always worked random jobs and found herself in the most bizarre situations. She left with basically no money. While I don't know if I'm the type to feel comfortable doing that, it definitely adds to the adventure of it! Also, it is nice to look at it as open ended. She didn't know how long she'd be gone, which added meaning to it. If 6 months into it you are ready to come home, then you'll know.

Mandy · Kate Spade

gingembre1- We plan to end in South America because BF wants to study Spanish for a bit. Our original plan was to start there so we researched it a bit, but could always get advice from people who have spent time there.

Lynnie- thats encouraging that your friend was able to get jobs. We'd love to find work in places we like to make so money so sustain us, but I've heard its tough to do that so we aren't counting on it. The flesh eating bacteria is pretty scary though....

Hermes

This post is from my husband - I put him in charge of responding since I've been so busy smile

:

"What a trip! I'm sure that it will change your lives. I think you will find that most people around the world are very caring, welcoming and helpful, but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't be alert to the minority of people who will try to cheat or hurt you. If you are careful, I'm sure you'll be fine.

The parts of the world you are planning on visiting are not the typical places I travel for business. I usually end up in the big cities like Shanghai, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Sao Paulo and after a while I get "city-ed out" and would like to travel somewhere that is small, comfortable, natural and real. It sounds like that is your main target.

I've been to Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaysia, but mainly the big cities. I think that you can gain a lot of information from fellow travelers and locals who can recommend great unknown spots to visit. In Indonesia, a must see is, of course, Bali. In Malaysia, their are some places that feature orangutans (I think it is on the island of Borneo). Not sure of Laos, but in Cambodia, everbody talks about Angkor Wat (which I've never seen, but is supposed to be great). In India there is lots to see and experience of which I've seen little but the poverty and pollution. I'm sure that the Taj Mahal is wonderful and that I will visit it someday.

Hopefully, you've considered that some countries, like Burma/Myanmar, may require a visa to enter. You might be able to buy these at the border, but it may take time, which you will have.

I've only been to the three corners of Africa (Egypt, Morocco & South Africa), so I can't give any recommendations there, but it is a key location for animals. In South America, I've heard that southern Argentina and Chile are great in their summer season (mountainous souther tip of the world). In Brazil, there is a small vacation city east of Rio de Janeiro (no Spanish, Portuguese) called Buzios. I think it was popular in the Bridgette Bardot sixties but has become more of a local Brazilian/Argentine vacation spot now.

Sorry that I've not been much help, but I think the greatest part of your trip will be to discover these places with the help of the people you meet on the way and your natural instinct to explore. I think that you should keep a diary as you go, so that you can write a book to help others that may want to do the same in the future. Have a great trip and be sure to keep us up to date on your progress.

Have fun! Bernie"

-- Edited by D at 21:35, 2008-02-14

Mandy · Kate Spade

We haven't bought tickets yet because we don't have a definite start date (need to sell/rent house), but we are just going to be single tickets rather than a RTW thing. I looked into it a little but a lot of them want you to lock in destinations and you can't backtrack. I don't really mind, but BF really wants to plan as little possible and just decide things as we go. Because of that mindset, we don't want to be locked into specific cities. The RTW section at Lonely Planet's thorntree forum has some good info if its something you are interested in.

Our rough plan is to first fly into Singapore or Kuala Lumpur (Singapore flights seem to be cheaper), then once we are done in SE Asia get a flight out of India to the next region we pick.

D-Thanks! I was hoping you'd respond because you seem pretty familiar with that area.

gingembre1 · Kate Spade

Mandy - it was pretty easy to find jobs in South America. Just ask at the youth hostels you're staying at. Jobs range from working in the hostels (this is kind of fun, you can be an activities organizer), to leading English language conversation groups. It seemed the second option was particularly popular in Chile and Argentina.

If your husband wants to study Spanish, I did that in Buenos Aires through the university, and it was very cheap. Met lots of great people, too. Otherwise, I've heard great things about language schools in Guatemala and Costa Rica (not South America, I know, but thought I'd throw it in there).

ayo · Coach

I have a friend/former co-worker that is currently doing what you plan to do in South East Asia.

Here is her blog, it is very helpful in terms of places to stay, how to get around and what is worth seeing.

http://realtravel.com/member-m5034187-britishjen.html