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Posts Tagged ‘around the world travel’

Traveling around the world doesn’t have to be a hard task - in fact, most people don’t know that a RTW trip is doable on almost any income level. No matter what you make right now, you have the ability to save up for a major trip and travel round the world for any length of your choosing.

It’s actually sad to say that one of the biggest reasons that round the world travel is out of the question for many dreamers is because of a Western obsession with materialism. As a society we buy so many products and services that it’s crazy to consider how much money is spent on material goods instead of on the memories that are created from treasured experiences. Many travelers only dream of these amazing spots all over the world because they are busy spending their cash instead of socking it away in savings.

The “gimme” syndrome is huge in children, they want all of the latest toys and gadgets, that sticks with us as adults and we buy materialistic goods instead of funneling money into our true goals and dreams. All of the materialistic goods are hindering the ability to put a consistent amount of money into your travel savings fund - stopping the constant acquisition of new products is a key part of initially prepping for round the world travel.

Downsizing your current life is also incredibly important - RTW travelers don’t own a lot of furniture, knickknacks and clothes, because they then have to pay for storage for these belongings. Instead, taking an accurate inventory of what you need to actually enjoy your lifestyle allows you to massively purge the material possessions that accumulate over time.

It would be remiss to omit the fact that it can take several years to save up for a long-term round the world trip. Although RTW travel is so much cheaper than you can imagine, most travelers save up for between two and three years. That time is spending aggressively saving while also plotting out dream travel spots, planning, packing, and prepping your life so that it can be easily put on hold for a year or two once you set out to explore.

Want to find out more about saving for round the world travel, then visit Shannon O’s site on how to effectivelybudget for RTW travel and inspiration for planning your travels.

I always wanted to travel the world from the age of eighteen onwards. The only problem I had was gathering enough money for the trip, without a full time job and heading for college it just wasn’t really an option.

After finishing university I found myself with 4 years worth of debt and bank overdrafts. It often amazes me to think where people find the money to travel the world before university, they must have some very generous parents.

After college I went on to university where there were many distractions to stop me from traveling, although in all honesty I probably didn’t want to go enough at this stage. When I had finished I found myself with some debt to pay off.

Here are 5 reasons to consider traveling the world:

- Experience The Culture Shock - A great character building experience can come from traveling, especially if you find yourself in a situation where the culture is completely different to back home. You find challenging situations where you’ll have to think on your feet and react in ways that you wouldn’t need to in your own comfort zone back home.

- Likes and Dislikes - Traveling is a great test of what you really like or dislike. Food, music, places, sights, language, people it really can be an eye opener into who you really are as a person. If you are traveling solo you will quickly get to know just what type of people you get along with and the type of people you don’t.

- Build Confidence - Traveling can have a great effect on your confidence as you have to rely on yourself to organise where you are going and what you’re doing. Often you’ll have to think on your feet in some interesting situations when the culture shock is pretty high. Once you return home, everything will seem like a breeze.

- Taste New Food - Try snake in China or Kangaroo in Australia, traveling the world you’ll have the opportunity to throw yourself in the deep end and taste new cuisines. If you want to get the most out of this you really do have to be as open minded as possible.

- Break The Stereotypes - Get out into the world, see and experience cultures for yourself rather than just relying on stereotypes. You’ll often find that countries are very different to your original impressions before you traveled.

Paul Dow is currently recovering in London after traveling solo for 22 months through Asia, Australia, New Zealand and South America. He writes advice and tips for those that want to backpack for TravMonkey.com an online world travel magazine.