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Gap year plans - help!!

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
edited January 2023 in General Chat
Hi :wave:

After a lot of deliberating, Ive decided NOT to move straight to London now that Ive graduated, and go travelling for a year :)

My dad (and mum actually) are adamant that I should do - and my dad has even gone as far as to give me 8k (possibly 10 if i need it - but doubtful) in order to do it.

Over the last few days ive been poring over maps and websites trying to find out information on how i should do it - and what route I should take.

And right now - the general idea is that I start out in India and work my way east to beijing - then down aall through malaysia, thailand and indonesia until i evenually get to Aus - NZ - Hawaii, LA - and then hopefully if everything else permits, work my way across US to get NY and then home :) (not particularly interested in Brazil, Europe etc right now)

Here is a rough map I made using a RTW planner on Statravel website -

Attachment not found.


To those that have travelled before - does this seem doable?? and is the route ok? Its still rough and i need to organize a LOT and what places im going to visit, but generally?? Is there a better route i should take? hmm
Oh and id be leaving the end of October/early November time :)


Ohh and also, does anyone know of any good websites that i can try and find someone to travel with?? I dont mind travelling solo and meeting up with people along the way - but for the intial flying out and arriving in India, i really want to be with someone!!I think ill be the sliiightest bit intimidated and scared to start off with!! Im signed up with gapyear.com at the mo - but no responses as yet :(

If i think of any more questions ill post :)
Post edited by JustV on

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Dont go to Hawaii unless you have loads of money to blow.

    Honalulu is a dump, full of horrid American tourists (which is odd because most Americans are lovely) and incredibly rich Japanese tourists. The place is like Margate in the middle of the pacific, its the nastiest place I've ever been with a rotten vibe to it.

    However the rest of the islands are supposed to be really nice, but it costs loads to get to them.

    As for destinations I'd recommend South Africa, its cheap, really interesting and there is loads to do.

    Oh and personally I'd go across Canada rather than the US, but thats just personal taste.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I would say that India is not for the faint hearted and could really freak you out if you've not been to a developing country before. Plus though I've been incredibly lucky travelling in India i know people who have ended up with horific stomach upsets which have lasted for months and meant they've not enjoyed the rest of the trip.

    If you do go i'd say its worth trying to track down an Indian friend to go with - but thats just my advice i've been twice and have mostly been scare to eat - except for when friends have been cooking for me (when I was in the office it was really cool as eveyone brought in lunch and shared it with each other and you got to eat loads of yummy stuff!)

    I would second south africa as well its great and really nice and there are easy routes to do to start you off plus J'berg has pretty good connections to the rest of the world.

    I'm going to go against budda and say that I'd do a cross USA road trip as its uber cheesy and worth doing just to remind yourself how great it is to be european.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    k thanks for the advice :D

    to be honest, I was only thinking of going to Hawaii because it breaks up the massive flight from NZ to La - but if, like you say its a bit shit then ill avoid it!!

    Tho if i DO have money left at that point then i might go see what the islands are like. have a bit of a laze before getting into the hustle and bustle of US


    wyetry -
    yeh ive been to india before :) although admittedly it was to goa on both occasions, with a brief stint in kerala and another briefer stop in mumbai . all of which i loved!!
    I also have 4 friends in mumbai that i met last year in Florida, so im hoping that when it comes to me being there ill have people around me to show me whats what :)
    I know wht you mean when u mention stomach upsets though - my mum got one last time we were there and it didnt look pleasant at all.
    I guess if i stick to bottled water, fruit and 'decent' (as in cooked somewhere hygenic) food itll be ok?
    I guess if worst came to worst and i got ill - i could always delay things and stay in the place until the illness abated .. i have no strict time period in which to travel by so hopefully that will be ok
    hmm..


    noone here by any chance would have travelled across china (inland) by the way?? theres a big chunk of land that im going to have to travel across to get to shanghai with no airports etc. just wandered (if anyone knows!) what transport there is like?!!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Are you just gonna travel, or work/volunteer? It's obviously your own choice, but if you're thinking about future jobs, it may be better to have some ideas other than simply travelling (or going on a long holiday as some employers may see it).
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    katchika wrote: »
    Are you just gonna travel, or work/volunteer? It's obviously your own choice, but if you're thinking about future jobs, it may be better to have some ideas other than simply travelling (or going on a long holiday as some employers may see it).

    work wise, ive been told its quite easy to get work visas in japan, nz and aus - and since im not too keen on working in japan im thinking i may work for a while in aus while im there.
    ive heard that the jobs over there for travellers are usually fruit pickers and bar work - so i may do that :)

    As for working elsewhere.. probably not. just travel for the first part (october to maybe june) and then aus and work.. maybe for another 6 months-year? i dont know!

    The area of work im trying to get into isnt very.. structured though, so i dont think travelling and not working would be a problem. i dont know for sure tho
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    soraliah wrote: »
    work wise, ive been told its quite easy to get work visas in japan, nz and aus - and since im not too keen on working in japan im thinking i may work for a while in aus while im there.
    ive heard that the jobs over there for travellers are usually fruit pickers and bar work - so i may do that :)

    As for working elsewhere.. probably not. just travel for the first part (october to maybe june) and then aus and work.. maybe for another 6 months-year? i dont know!

    I'm flying out to Australia for a year in a few weeks on the working holiday visa that you're talking about.
    The visa is for 12 months but you're only allowed to stay in one job for 6 months at a time, some places don't employ people on these visa's because of that.
    There's shit loads of bar work and cafes/restaurants e.t.c but bare in mind that you need to spend about 100 dollars doing a course (only like a one day thing) to be able to work in a bar in Aus.
    You could maybe look for a job over there that has something to do with your future career? You know, like getting a bit of experience? The working holiday visa only allows you to do 4 months max of training though, which sucks cos I wanted to apply for STA travel in Brisbane, but it's a 9 month training course.
    As for getting the visa, it's pretty simple, you can apply online or just pop down to your local travel agent. It costs about 100 quid and you won't neccesarily be granted one, but everyone always is. You have to fill out a form and they can be picky if you have any serious crinimal convictions or anything.
    The fruit picking you're talking about is very popular amongst travellers, although apparantly the farmers can treat you like shit, it can get very hot and you're not allowed to talk whilst fruit picking. Some farms will provide you and other fruit pickers with free accomodation though, but I've heard it's very hard work. You get paid by how much fruit you pick. If you want to extend your 12 months working holiday visa for another 12 months, then you have to have done at least 3 months of fruit picking with a signed letter from the farmer.
    I'm going to be job hunting as soon as I get out there, I'll let you know how I get on. :thumb:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    If you've been to India before then i wouldn't be too worried then you should be fine! I was just worried that you might end up getting freaked out at the start and its not really a very nice place to travel as a single woman as you get farr to much attention and staring for my liking.
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