How to Plan a Trip around the World
A trip around the world is a grand undertaking that everyone should try once in their lives. Exciting as it is challenging, here are some of our Travel Managers’ best tips for how to plan an amazing trip around the world.
Pick Your Stops
When presented with the entire world, coming up with a workable shortlist of destinations to visit can be very overwhelming. It will be impossible to see everything you want to see in one trip, so you need to think about what matters most to you, as well as what is practical.
Once you have made your shortlist, it can be a great strategy to break the world up into clusters of close-together destinations and choose which few of those you would most like to see. For example, the Amazon rainforest, Rio de Janeiro and Montevideo are a ready-made cluster of South American destinations. You may not get to see Patagonia, but at least you will have a good amount of time to experience the other places in their entirety.
Another good tactic is to thematically link your destinations. This will help make some hard decisions for you. For example, if you decide on the grand theme of visiting the sites of ancient cultures, you can narrow down your destinations to Mediterranean Europe, the Middle East and Eastern Asia.
Transport Options
When it comes to travelling around the world, flying is the only real option. Aside from hiring your own private jet – which our Travel Managers are only too willing to assist you with – there are two main ways to circumnavigate the globe by air.
An around the world (ATW) ticket is a way of getting around the world without booking individual flights. They are often sold by class and by how many stops you are allowed. For example, you might get a first class ATW ticket that permits 15 stops to your journey, or a business class ATW ticket that gives 12 legs to your journey.
ATW tickets work by giving you the freedom to fly with any member of a given airline alliance, are usually valid for a year, and often require you to end your voyage in the same city you started in.
The other option is simply to book individual tickets. This can be a great option if you plan on taking other forms of transport along the way. Maybe part of your trip involves a coast-to-coast road trip in the States, or sailing the Indian Ocean. In these cases, around the world tickets may just not be suitable.
Prepare for Entry
Around the world trips last a lot longer than your usual holiday, and you will probably enter a wide range of climates: political and ecological. This means you will have to do a lot more planning than you may think.
The first thing to make sure is that you are able to enter any country you plan on visiting. The British passport allows visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to the vast majority of the world’s states, but if you are planning on visiting nations where a visa is required, you will need to contact the relevant embassies well before you travel. See the Foreign Office page for which countries and territories require a visa.
Many global destinations require you to take precautionary health measures before you travel. This can include vaccinations and anti-malarial treatments which must be started weeks before you reach your destination. Take a look at our previous blog post for the most common medical measures required, and links to more information.
Of course, if all this planning sounds like getting in the way of your big adventure, get in touch with Simplexity’s London Travel Managers today. We can assist with every part of your journey, from helping you choose where to go, offering exclusive experiences along the way and staying on top of the dozens of bookings and tickets you will need to keep track of.
Why not choose the simple, stress free option? Call us today on 0203 535 9290 or email info@simplexitytravel.com.