An Intro Guide to Backpacking Around the World
Going to one place isn’t enough? Want to take on the world? Get ready to spend the next year or so living out of a backpack, perpetually hungover and carting around baby wipes for those dreaded hell holes people call public toilets. Let’s get one thing straight this will be the time of your life, if you do it right. Be ready to change course, re-route and mingle with the best and worst of humanity. It’s going be a wild, around the world ride.
Plan Ahead
Assuming you’re not a millionaire, you should probably pay close attention to airfares and timing. While trying to plan out everything is useless, buying all of your intercontinental airfare tickets before departure will save you the heartache of waking up in Mumbai, broke and without a phone card to call home for airfare. It will also help you pace yourself. Let’s say you drink Soju in Seoul, a few Bitbergers (for the amateur German beer drinker) in Munich, couple shots of basement-distilled potato vodka in Russia; few rounds bought here and there. By the time you peel yourself off the hostel floor, only 2 months have passed and half your money is down the booze drain (no plunger around to suck your money back out either).
Airfare & Transportation Options
To avoid these wonderful, yet regretful moments, browse www.roundtheworldticket.com or www.airtrek.com where you can plan your airfare budget from start to finish. Since peak seasons vary by region, planning ahead can cut frivolous costs. We suggest 1-2 airplane trips per continent. If you want to hit six continents, you’re looking at roughly $7-9K (as a comparison, that’s about one semester at a university). You can start at STA Travel, and if you have a student e-mail account or a military ID, use it to get an average discount of 15%. By not checking in any luggage, you will save an average $20 per flight in additional fees (practice hand-washing your underwear, its the way to go if you want more space in your bag).
Intercontinental travel is by far the most interesting and even the unluckiest travelers find a ride. If its your first time traveling anywhere (i.e. you have never been to Canada, Mexico or your even neighboring state) and you feel intimidated, you can hook up with the slightly over-priced, but still affordable, Overland Tours. For around $500-$1000 you can toss your pack under their truck, travel somewhat comfortably across four-five countries for two months and barbecue every night.
Ryanair in Europe will get you practically anywhere in Europe for an average 15-50. Check out our Fly for Free Article for more insight. Outside of Europe, Copa Airlines in South America, Kenya Airways in Africa, Jetstar airways in Australia and Air Asia offer flights as little as $20; just make sure you check for taxes. For the true adventurer, your best bet is to play it by ear and look for the deals: buses, trains and ferries. If you’re on a strict time line, most countries offer night buses and trains to cut down on lost daylight. Otherwise sign up for the Eurorail youth pass (to cover you in Western Europe) before you leave and opt for the local buses in South America, Africa and Asia. Plan to spend at least $40-70 for trips between countries and no more than $5-10 in country. Local buses are key in Africa and South America where paved roads and rental cars are far and few.
A Taste of the World: Off-the-Track Destinations
Each continent has its own tourist traps so we offer just a few sites that are definitely off the beaten trail.
Say you start in South America
After trekking Peru and Chile, hit up the famed Patagonia Route 40 starting from the northern Argentinian plateau down to the Tiera del Fuega and Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world. The Patagnoia is vast, spanning five territories and 20 national parks. One look at the El Calafate glaciers will make you thank your preferred All-Mighty you saw them before global warming really hit.
Catch your breath and head to Nyiragongo Volcano in the Democratic Republic of Congo (political and security conditions permitting) to see a rare active lava lake in its crater. Hakuna Matata Tours offers a safer and more comfortable ride to the base of the 11,380 foot volcano and for an extra few days, you can visit the Rwanda memorials, hunt with Mbuti pygmies and track gorillas in the lush Kahuzi Beiga National Park. Better than sitting on your ass watching the Discovery Chanel, right?
Why Not Stop in the Middle East?
Because its ridden with war you say? Well, that’s not always the case. Visit bustling Tel Aviv, one of the oldest port cities in the world will school you in a way no classroom setting can. Atheist, Agnostic, Wickan, Mormon or what not, a trip to the Holy Land will not disappoint. Since you’re already in the Middle East, a serious off-trail destination is Yemen’s capital Sana’a, a World Heritage Site. It has a picturesque harbor and its infrastructure is over 2,000 years old (dinosaurs took naps there). Drawback: no booze, they’re Muslim.
To get a buzz going again, move over to Sydney, Australia.
The Australian dollar is always weaker than the American, so beer is cheap. Getting a beer gut? Hike through the Blue Mountains, which has koala bears (saving you a trip to the overpriced Sydney Zoo) and abundant eucalyptus plants that give off their blue hazy gas. 
As a treat for making it so far, island hop your way up north…
via the spectacular Southeast Asian islands and relax your tired feet in pristine turquoise oceans. Stop off in super-cheap Phuket (Foo-ket, but the other way is fun too), Thailand where locals walk around with coolers on their backs selling Singha beer and offering $2-4 massages that rival anything the Swiss can do. Since you’re eeking your way into Asia, might as well go to China. Beijing’s imperial palaces and the Great Wall will make modern achievements seem terribly insignificant. China’s big brother feeling is no joke, but don’t let tour guides bully you into early evenings, get out and see China’s vibrant night life. Karaoke bars, hip-hop clubs and rock shows will amaze you, as well as the eager and friendly locals.
This is just a taste of what you may encounter on a trip around the world. You will stumble upon your own world wonders. For about $15-20K you can get a mini-Cooper or you can travel the world fairly extensively and leave yourself with enough funds for serious flexibility. You make the choice (we say travel!)
Written By: Sandra Nurse
Head Writer/Editor-in-Chief of Off Track Planet. Pescatarians are not just cheating vegetarians; we're our own breed and the extra protein makes us more feisty! Rawr
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Such a helpful guide…Thanks for offering so many airlines and “secret sites.” Very well done. Funny too!
Thanks Chipmunk, glad we could be of service
Hello there, just stopped by doing some research for my Patagonia site. Lots of information out there. Looking for something else, but great site. Have a good day.
Good article