The World is Your Oyster: Planning Ongoing Travel

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Worldwide travel appeals to most people. The vast majority would rather see more of the world than not. This is for good reason. The world has a lot to offer. There’s a lot to see. There’s a lot to do. There’s a lot to experience. Truth be told, you could travel the world for an entire life time and you still wouldn’t see or experience half of the things that are out there. This huge scope of opportunity means that many of us dream about travelling the world one day. In particular, many of us want to engage in ongoing travel. Sure, a week long holiday here and there is great. But often, these trips have the purpose of rest, relaxation and winding down. You don’t have enough time to really explore a place and you’re worn out from all of the work you’re doing around the trip, so want to simply unwind. Instead, ongoing, long term travel gives a different perspective. It allows you to immerse yourself in the palace you’re visiting. It gives you time to do everything you want to do in a specific area. You can hop from one country to another. From urban to rural. From seaside to rainforest. Of course, this takes a lot of planning. Here are some areas to focus on if you’re trying to bring this kind of vision to life.

Life Practicalities

Of course, long term travel isn’t suited to everybody. There are all sorts of practicalities that come into play when deciding whether this kind of trip is feasible for you. Think about your personal responsibilities. Do you have dependents? Can they come with you on the trip? Is it in their best interest to come with you on this trip? If you have children or pets and they can’t travel the world with you without being disrupted or experiencing serious upheaval that could have long lasting implications in terms of their own wellbeing, world travel for an extended period of time might not be for you. You may need to reconsider how you’re going to do this and break your experiences up into shorter trip around term times or around when you can get a pet sitter while you’re away.

Money

Next up, let’s consider money and how you plan to finance your trip. Worldwide travel doesn’t always come cheap. You need to consider the cost of flights, accommodation, transport in your location, activities and more. Plus, general living costs while you’re away like food, drink, laundry costs and more. How are you going to finance all of this? Most people choose one of two options. They either save a lot of money before they go away, then stick to a budget that allows this to stretch out the duration of their trip. Or, they decide to work while they’re away to fund their travels in a similar way to how they fund life back home – earning money and spending it as you go. You need to make an informed choice here based on you and your individual situation. Regardless of the option that you choose, it’s highly advisable that you have some sort of savings in the bank before you go. This will ensure that you have a means to return home, to extend accommodation, or to pay for anything else that you might need, regardless of what happens while you’re away.

Destinations and Activities

Where are you considering going? Most people have some sort of travel bucket list. It will feature different places based on your personal interests and what you want to experience. It could be Disneyland Florida, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Machu Pichu in Peru, ScubaWorld Sunshine Coast or anything else. Only you can determine where you want to go. Do some research and once you’ve chosen a destination, start arranging your travel around the seasons. You may want to try to miss rainy seasons, monsoon seasons, hurricane seasons or other seasons that could impact your time in your chosen destination. You can then also start to look into creating some sort of plan or schedule, which maps out the best route to take between the places you’re visiting. You can also come up with a budget that will allow you to do everything you want to do in each place.

Travel Practicalities

Next up, travel practicalities. Once you know where you want to go, it’s time to look into how you’re going to get there and what you need to do to make the journey and stay as comfortable and as streamlined as possible. What visa will you need to visit the country? How long can you stay? Do you need to apply for it, or will you be looking for a visa on arrival? What travel vaccinations do you need? Do you need to book in for them? Do you need them a certain amount of time before entering your destination? Will you use public transport or something like PCO car hire to get around? Do you require medication or sprays while you’re there, such as bug spray? Do you need travel adapters? Do you need to do Covid tests predeparture or on arrival in the country? Do you need a sim card for the country you’re visiting so you can get signal? Or to turn on a roaming package on your own phone? The list goes on. Only thorough research can determine exactly what you will and won’t need when travelling.

Preparing Emotionally

Remember that travel can be fun but it can also take its toll. You may need some time to prepare emotionally for what you’re about to face – being away from home for long periods of time, homesickness, feeling lonely or lost in new places and other challenges. But everything can be worth it in the end.

Travel really does require a lot of organisation. You’re going to need to start thinking, researching and planning sooner rather than later if you want this to work. Hopefully, some of the information outlined above will help you to get this journey started in the right direction.