Special Travellers
SPECIAL TRAVELLERS
One way to get an idea of some trips around the world is to read different stories from others. More and more travellers are posting their stories on the Internet. Have a look at the following selected websites and blogs. You'll find many kinds of trips.
Note that most travelogues emphasize the experience they had, rather than the places they visit. Also, many are out of date. So generally, I don't suggest taking these blogs as a point of reference for fresh information on where to go.
That was true in 2010 and it's truer now. Three of the ten sites on the original list no longer load. Here are the best of the ones still online, plus two worth adding.
Still online from the 2010 list
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Marie's World Tour. Marie Javins, an ex-New Yorker who started blogging in Uganda and Namibia in 2005, went round the world for the second time in 2011, by plane, bus and ship, including the Aranui out to the Marquesas.
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LLworldtour. Lisa Lubin quit her job as a broadcast TV producer in 2006 to travel around the world, and spent about four years living out of a suitcase. She has been to more than 60 countries and still writes about slow travel and eating local.
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Ultimate Journey. Two BMW motorcycles, from 20 May 1999 to 3 August 2003: 50 countries on six continents and 101,322 miles, enough for a Guinness World Record for the longest motorcycle ride by a team.
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Celia and David's Round the World Trip. They took a break from work, let out the flat, fed the fish and travelled around the world in 2003 and 2004. The maps, logs and list of agents and resources they used are all still there.
Two you shouldn't miss
Michael Palin's Around the World in 80 Days was the first of his journeys: 25 September to 12 December 1988, 14 countries and 28,000 miles, and no planes allowed. He made it back in 79 days and 7 hours. His site has highlights from the trip, day by day. A version of the route with flights is on our page about travel around the world in 80 days.
A century before Palin, Nellie Bly set off on 14 November 1889 to beat Phileas Fogg's 80 days, and was back in New York on 25 January 1890, 72 days later. She travelled alone almost the whole way. Her book, Around the World in Seventy-Two Days, is public domain and free as an audiobook on Project Gutenberg.
Real people, real budgets
For real routes and real budgets, the best source is BootsnAll's RTW Traveler Profiles. BootsnAll has interviewed round-the-world travellers since 1999, and each profile gives the route, the budget and the traveller's advice. There are 296 of them, and you can filter by age, savings, trip length and country. The rest of BootsnAll's round the world section covers planning, packing and budgeting.
What their ages, savings and trip lengths add up to is on the WHO travels around the world? page.
Tags: RTW travelers, Special Travellers that went Around, travelers around the world, world travelers
Planning a round-the-world trip? AirTreks has built multi-stop itineraries since 1987. See sample routes or ask a specialist.