Planning you trip—what countries to visit, what attractions to see, and what local cuisine to try—generates euphoria that extends to all other pre-trip activities.
When planning an around the world travel route, figure out the destinations YOU (that’s a quadruple emphasis on you) want to visit. Go to the places you have always wanted to visit, not places that have been extremely photoshopped or receive more press recognition. If China is the place you have always wanted to visit—go to China. If Western Africa or the historic Silk Route has always piqued your interest—go there. Don’t fall into a trap of basing your trip itinerary on guidebook suggestions or Instagram filtered inspirations.
Locations rolled around inside my head for years and when I started adding destinations to my itinerary, I reflected how the interest in those locations originated. I always wanted to visit Calcutta and am indifferent towards Mumbai and Delhi. My grandfather’s favorite location was Calcutta (it was my grandmother’s least favorite). I knew Calcutta would be one of my first destinations. Planning the route brought back travel memories.
In devising an overarching route there are four factors to consider: Seasons. Weather. Equipment. Visit your most anticipated location first or last?
When planning an around the world travel route, figure out the destinations YOU (that’s a quadruple emphasis on you) want to visit. Go to the places you have always wanted to visit, not places that have been extremely photoshopped or receive more press recognition. If China is the place you have always wanted to visit—go to China. If Western Africa or the historic Silk Route has always piqued your interest—go there. Don’t fall into a trap of basing your trip itinerary on guidebook suggestions or Instagram filtered inspirations.
Locations rolled around inside my head for years and when I started adding destinations to my itinerary, I reflected how the interest in those locations originated. I always wanted to visit Calcutta and am indifferent towards Mumbai and Delhi. My grandfather’s favorite location was Calcutta (it was my grandmother’s least favorite). I knew Calcutta would be one of my first destinations. Planning the route brought back travel memories.
In devising an overarching route there are four factors to consider: Seasons. Weather. Equipment. Visit your most anticipated location first or last?
SEASONS
Up is down and down is up. It’s traditionally considered better to visit the Southern Hemisphere December through February and the Northern Hemisphere June through August. There is a practical reason for this—more sunlight equates to more time outside. Museums and restaurants remain open later. Another practical reason is that if you plan on trekking in Patagonia, the trails may be closed or covered in unpassable snow and there will be limited public transport available. There are tradeoffs. There are more crowds when the weather is better. If you visit Scandinavia during the summer, constant sunlight means you won’t be able to see the Aurora Borealis. Although it would be literally cool to visit Iceland during the darkness of January. There are strong arguments to be made about visiting a popular location out-of-season. Going out of season means you may have the location to yourself. Your costs will be lower. Fewer travelers, less hassle, and it’s easier to move around.
Holidays and festivals are a subcategory of seasons, and like seasons, timing your visit to coincide with a holiday has its advantages and disadvantages. An entire trip could be planned around Holi, Songkran, Running of the Bulls, and Oktoberfest. Whatever you decide, make sure it is an informed decision. It’s nearly impossible to catch a ferry in the Philippines between Christmas and New Year’s. The same for trains in China during Chinese New Year and National Day Golden Week. On a side note, don’t assume that holidays are celebrated in the same manner throughout the world. Chinese New Year starts at midnight—that is when Hong Kongers head to the flower markets. If you start drinking at a bar in advance of midnight in anticipation of a countdown, you will be disappointed and miss out on the actual Chinese New Year’s experience.
Visiting a location after a holiday can be a liberating travel experience. One of the best weeks to travel in the U.S. is the week after Labor Day. Children have returned to school, so there’s no family vacations. The retirees haven’t gassed up their RVs and hit the road. It’s only you out there roaming between national parks.
WEATHER
In certain parts of the world, like India and Thailand, the weather is a fifth or sixth season. While I can make plenty of arguments for visiting a location out of season, I can’t think of a practical reason to visit a country during a monsoon. Unless you’ve done everything else in the world and want to say you traveled through India during monsoon season. I caught the tail end of monsoon season during a business trip to India and it’s flooding normalized. Not fun.
EQUIPMENT
Certain activities require specific and/or additional equipment. There’s a big difference between urban trekking and trekking trekking. There’s a big difference between spending a night in a hostel and camping in national parks. If you are planning to do serious trekking and the destination does not have rental equipment readily available, do the trekking part of your trip as one of the trip bookends, first or last, with an equipment related return home after or before. I started my trip trekking through Patagonia. Patagonia trekking requires a sleeping bag, an inflatable mattress, and other camping gear. I returned to Philadelphia after spending November through December in South America, dropped off my trekking specific gear at my parents’ house over Christmas, then continued on my way with a lighter load. Research a location in advance to determine if you can rent equipment on arrival. Kathmandu has an established outfitting community where you can rent anything from a hiking stick to a down jacket to a sleeping bag to gloves. Himalaya treks also start and finish in Kathmandu, so there’s no need to backtrack to return equipment. That rental equipment and round trip convenience is not always the case. Depending upon your route, Patagonia is a south to north (or vice versa) trip.
I don’t scuba dive or ski or golf or have other pursuits that require specialized equipment. But if I did, I would visit those locations first (or last). Go scuba diving in the Galapagos. Play golf in Scotland. Then briefly return home to drop off the activity specific equipment and continue the journey.
COUNTRY ORDER: SAVE THE BEST FOR LAST?
There’s no definitive answer on how to order the countries you plan to visit—visit the best places first or save them for last? I like the standup comedian routine approach where the act starts with the second best joke and finishes with the best joke. I think that approach also works well for ordering countries in an around the world adventure.
Saving the best place for near the end allows you to have a better experience because you will know how to travel better at the end of the trip than the beginning. You are better at arriving in cities. You are better at navigating and walking around cities. Better at spotting tourist traps. Better at spotting popular, local restaurants. Better at wandering off the beaten path. China was the top place I wanted to visit. I know I traveled better through China because I had eight months of prior travel experience. I knew what I liked and what I didn’t. I knew what I wanted to experience. I knew I wanted to visit cities like Shenyang, Tianjin, and Wuhan, places I didn’t consider earlier in my trip. I didn’t become frustrated when it was difficult to reach the hostel. I had been in similar situations before and knew how to navigate a city.
The argument against saving the best for last is nothing but morbid and negative thoughts revolving around your inability to finish the trip: you or someone you love will have health problems or you’ll run out of money. Tweak the comedic approach a little bit and put the best place towards the end but not the last destination to cover yourself against running low on cash.
OTHER THOUGHTS
Countries are different. Obviously. In the way that people have A or B personalities, so do countries. Some people like Brazil and Argentina, the A personalities. Others like Chile and Uruguay, the B personalities. I’m a B personality, I prefer Santiago and Montevideo over Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires. I’d move to Vina del Mar or Manantiales tomorrow if I could. I loved the hustle and grit of Hong Kong over the order and cleanliness of Singapore. Some people love the beaches of Indonesia. Some people like Jakarta. You may prefer Switzerland’s feel over Germany’s. Go with what you like.
TRAVEL QUIRKS
Based upon where you have traveled, there are certain countries that prohibit you from entering if you visited the “wrong” country first. For example, if you plan on traveling through the Middle East there are a handful of countries that won’t allow you to enter if you have an Israeli stamp in your passport. There are similar country order situations in the Caucasus region.
China unofficially closes Tibet in February and March. Research and peruse Wikitravel’s “Getting In” section for the basic information and determine whether a deeper search is warranted before heading to Tibet.
Up is down and down is up. It’s traditionally considered better to visit the Southern Hemisphere December through February and the Northern Hemisphere June through August. There is a practical reason for this—more sunlight equates to more time outside. Museums and restaurants remain open later. Another practical reason is that if you plan on trekking in Patagonia, the trails may be closed or covered in unpassable snow and there will be limited public transport available. There are tradeoffs. There are more crowds when the weather is better. If you visit Scandinavia during the summer, constant sunlight means you won’t be able to see the Aurora Borealis. Although it would be literally cool to visit Iceland during the darkness of January. There are strong arguments to be made about visiting a popular location out-of-season. Going out of season means you may have the location to yourself. Your costs will be lower. Fewer travelers, less hassle, and it’s easier to move around.
Holidays and festivals are a subcategory of seasons, and like seasons, timing your visit to coincide with a holiday has its advantages and disadvantages. An entire trip could be planned around Holi, Songkran, Running of the Bulls, and Oktoberfest. Whatever you decide, make sure it is an informed decision. It’s nearly impossible to catch a ferry in the Philippines between Christmas and New Year’s. The same for trains in China during Chinese New Year and National Day Golden Week. On a side note, don’t assume that holidays are celebrated in the same manner throughout the world. Chinese New Year starts at midnight—that is when Hong Kongers head to the flower markets. If you start drinking at a bar in advance of midnight in anticipation of a countdown, you will be disappointed and miss out on the actual Chinese New Year’s experience.
Visiting a location after a holiday can be a liberating travel experience. One of the best weeks to travel in the U.S. is the week after Labor Day. Children have returned to school, so there’s no family vacations. The retirees haven’t gassed up their RVs and hit the road. It’s only you out there roaming between national parks.
WEATHER
In certain parts of the world, like India and Thailand, the weather is a fifth or sixth season. While I can make plenty of arguments for visiting a location out of season, I can’t think of a practical reason to visit a country during a monsoon. Unless you’ve done everything else in the world and want to say you traveled through India during monsoon season. I caught the tail end of monsoon season during a business trip to India and it’s flooding normalized. Not fun.
EQUIPMENT
Certain activities require specific and/or additional equipment. There’s a big difference between urban trekking and trekking trekking. There’s a big difference between spending a night in a hostel and camping in national parks. If you are planning to do serious trekking and the destination does not have rental equipment readily available, do the trekking part of your trip as one of the trip bookends, first or last, with an equipment related return home after or before. I started my trip trekking through Patagonia. Patagonia trekking requires a sleeping bag, an inflatable mattress, and other camping gear. I returned to Philadelphia after spending November through December in South America, dropped off my trekking specific gear at my parents’ house over Christmas, then continued on my way with a lighter load. Research a location in advance to determine if you can rent equipment on arrival. Kathmandu has an established outfitting community where you can rent anything from a hiking stick to a down jacket to a sleeping bag to gloves. Himalaya treks also start and finish in Kathmandu, so there’s no need to backtrack to return equipment. That rental equipment and round trip convenience is not always the case. Depending upon your route, Patagonia is a south to north (or vice versa) trip.
I don’t scuba dive or ski or golf or have other pursuits that require specialized equipment. But if I did, I would visit those locations first (or last). Go scuba diving in the Galapagos. Play golf in Scotland. Then briefly return home to drop off the activity specific equipment and continue the journey.
COUNTRY ORDER: SAVE THE BEST FOR LAST?
There’s no definitive answer on how to order the countries you plan to visit—visit the best places first or save them for last? I like the standup comedian routine approach where the act starts with the second best joke and finishes with the best joke. I think that approach also works well for ordering countries in an around the world adventure.
Saving the best place for near the end allows you to have a better experience because you will know how to travel better at the end of the trip than the beginning. You are better at arriving in cities. You are better at navigating and walking around cities. Better at spotting tourist traps. Better at spotting popular, local restaurants. Better at wandering off the beaten path. China was the top place I wanted to visit. I know I traveled better through China because I had eight months of prior travel experience. I knew what I liked and what I didn’t. I knew what I wanted to experience. I knew I wanted to visit cities like Shenyang, Tianjin, and Wuhan, places I didn’t consider earlier in my trip. I didn’t become frustrated when it was difficult to reach the hostel. I had been in similar situations before and knew how to navigate a city.
The argument against saving the best for last is nothing but morbid and negative thoughts revolving around your inability to finish the trip: you or someone you love will have health problems or you’ll run out of money. Tweak the comedic approach a little bit and put the best place towards the end but not the last destination to cover yourself against running low on cash.
OTHER THOUGHTS
Countries are different. Obviously. In the way that people have A or B personalities, so do countries. Some people like Brazil and Argentina, the A personalities. Others like Chile and Uruguay, the B personalities. I’m a B personality, I prefer Santiago and Montevideo over Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires. I’d move to Vina del Mar or Manantiales tomorrow if I could. I loved the hustle and grit of Hong Kong over the order and cleanliness of Singapore. Some people love the beaches of Indonesia. Some people like Jakarta. You may prefer Switzerland’s feel over Germany’s. Go with what you like.
TRAVEL QUIRKS
Based upon where you have traveled, there are certain countries that prohibit you from entering if you visited the “wrong” country first. For example, if you plan on traveling through the Middle East there are a handful of countries that won’t allow you to enter if you have an Israeli stamp in your passport. There are similar country order situations in the Caucasus region.
China unofficially closes Tibet in February and March. Research and peruse Wikitravel’s “Getting In” section for the basic information and determine whether a deeper search is warranted before heading to Tibet.