Going travelling....

Post by **Footy66** » 05 Dec 2011, 20:14

thinking of going travelling for 2 months after xmas.

anyone been travelling, anyone know how to get really cheap flights without sucking off richard branson?

Post by **Ashers** » 05 Dec 2011, 20:19

Footy66 wrote:thinking of going travelling for 2 months after xmas.

anyone been travelling, anyone know how to get really cheap flights without sucking off richard branson?

Ryanair.

Post by **Groomyd** » 05 Dec 2011, 20:22

You can get some great deals to Syria

Post by **the dude abides** » 05 Dec 2011, 20:30

I travelled al around Asia 20 odd years ago for 9 months...Go for it...Dont know how old you are ,but there are great deals with Sta travel and other online deals where you can get open tickets, help with visas etc... Rough guide books are fantastic source of info. Good luck..

Post by **Footy66** » 05 Dec 2011, 20:45

the dude abides wrote:I travelled al around Asia 20 odd years ago for 9 months...Go for it...Dont know how old you are ,but there are great deals with Sta travel and other online deals where you can get open tickets, help with visas etc... Rough guide books are fantastic source of info. Good luck..

cheers mate, i'm 26.

Im just trying to gage how much it would cost and how to get the best deals. I would like to go to Australia but it costs an absolute tonne to fly there and back. Is it cheaper to fly to some other european country first and then fly onto Australia for cheap?

Post by **marc09** » 05 Dec 2011, 20:54

i am going travelling around a golf course in majorca for 5 days in april.

will let you know how it goes..

Post by **marc09** » 05 Dec 2011, 20:56

Footy66 wrote:thinking of going travelling for 2 months after xmas.

anyone been travelling, anyone know how to get really cheap flights without sucking off richard branson?

me and a few mates had a month in the usa about 4 years ago .

well worth the flight money ...

Post by **llama** » 05 Dec 2011, 21:04

I did 2 months traveling round Asia last year, it was fantastic and relatively cheap.

Footy - Not only is it expensive to travel to Australia, everything costs a fortune once you are there. I wouldn't recommend it if you are trying to do it on the cheap.

Post by **Footy66** » 05 Dec 2011, 22:20

llama wrote:I did 2 months traveling round Asia last year, it was fantastic and relatively cheap.

Footy - Not only is it expensive to travel to Australia, everything costs a fortune once you are there. I wouldn't recommend it if you are trying to do it on the cheap.

stuff australia then,

not sure i wanna go to asia, china and japan dont appeal to me i am not keen on thai ladyboys nor does iran or iraq float my boat, im sure singapores nice though.

Post by **Zimmerman** » 06 Dec 2011, 07:42

Singapore is amazing, but can be expensive;

Also possible to live VERY cheaply, but some aspects can be pricey.

What about the States (as someone mentioned) travel around in the Greyhound. Fill your boots. If going on your own, at least there won't be any language barrier to overcome.

Post by **sleuth** » 06 Dec 2011, 08:55

Footy66 wrote:
llama wrote:I did 2 months traveling round Asia last year, it was fantastic and relatively cheap.

Footy - Not only is it expensive to travel to Australia, everything costs a fortune once you are there. I wouldn't recommend it if you are trying to do it on the cheap.
stuff australia then,

not sure i wanna go to asia, china and japan dont appeal to me i am not keen on thai ladyboys nor does iran or iraq float my boat, im sure singapores nice though.

London's very cosmopolitan nowdays- if your lucky you might even come across some English natives

. Very pricey so dont forget your gold Amex.

Post by **unc.si.** » 06 Dec 2011, 10:25

Round the World flights used to be cheaper than return flights to Oz. Also, the UK used to be just about the cheapest place to fly to Oz from Europe so prob no benefit to flying somewhere else to get a cheaper flight down under.

I didn't find it expensive at all when I went, although that was a while ago (and me and 'auntie' had enough overtime that we got paid for the whole 13 week duration of the trip

). McCafferty buses are great. Oz experience buses appalling. Cheap accom's generally OK, although not as good as NZ

RTW flights are probably your best bet wherever you go long haul. Try STA travel.

We did Hawaii, Fiji, New Zealand, Australia, Bali, Singapore. You can do most places on the cheap if you really want to - depends how fussy you are about accommodation.

Have also done a big road trip around America. Did auto-driveaway from Boston to LA, hired a car from LA to drive up to SF, Yosemite, Death Valley, LA, then got another driveaway car from LA back to New York (you basically deliver a car for someone - we got an Acura stick shift to deliver to LA and a big 7 litre Oldsmobile to deliver back to NY - well New London actually, but then just got the train back to NY). You get about 9 days and a certain mileage to deliver the car in and can do what you want in between, subject to agreeing a rough route in advance). Fuel's a bit more expensive these days, but motels still dirt cheap (esp if you sleep on the outskirts of the cities. The Olds was so big that we slept in it a few nights as well.

Also done a trip from Israel (where I'd been working for 4 months) round Egypt (which cost about £80 for 4 weeks, and £20 of that was the bus back to Jerusalem, expensive because it needed an armed IDF escort at the time), then up to Haifa for the ferry to Greece, stopping at a few Islands on the way then working back through Europe back home. Pretty good if you don't want to go long haul and spend lots of cash on flights, although the bus journeys can be pretty grim.

Just do it.

Organise it yourself, travel independently and go with the flow. Nothing better than arriving in a new place with nothing booked in advance and finding a place to eat and sleep. Beats an organised trip any day.

hardest part is making the decision to actually do it. Once you're on the plane it's all easy.

Post by **Footy66** » 06 Dec 2011, 13:55

Thats what id be worried about, finding places to stay, going into dodgy areas where theres a lot of crime.

I might just go on three two week holidays, get some bargain deals, or will that be more expensive / less fun I guess? I just like the fact I will have all the food I want as Id go all inclusive, and a hotel bed to sleep in, nothing to worry about.

If people think this is an ok way of doing a bit of travelling let me know, and I will find 3 locations and try to find me some deals.

Or just get a flight to the nice bits of asia ie Singapore, Thailand stay there until I get bored, fly on to Australia stay there until I am bored, fly to America stay there until I am bored, come home.

Anyone wanna guestimate how much it would cost for say 10 days in each country just for flights, accomodation and food?

Post by **murf** » 06 Dec 2011, 14:00

I'm not sure you are cut out to be a "traveller" footy - no harm doing an extended holiday staying at half decent places and moving around rather than staying in flea pits and begging for rice.

I'd pick one country / area and do that. You don't need to go far, plenty of Europe that is sufficiently exotic. Even the UK is and I bet you haven't seen much of that. Weather may be an issue if you can't wait 6 months....

Post by **Footy66** » 06 Dec 2011, 21:09

murf wrote:Even the UK is (nice) and I bet you haven't seen much of that.

The UK is pretty poo, mainly cos of the weather, and when you live here and see it everyday you don't really want to see anymore.

Places I have been:

Surrey/Hampshire (Live here)
Bournemouth (went to uni there) Good night life, The new forrest is nice, Swanage is cool, Brownsea Island.
Luton (went to a footy match here) its a dump
Milton Keynes (tested some wood for moistness here) concrete jungle
Bath (very nice) Had a tour of Bath rugby stadium and the Baths
Bristol (stayed in a hostel found some rotten boxers down side of my bed, went to Longleat)
Windsor (very nice)
Stonehenge (cool stones in a field)
Dover (to get the ferry to France)
Canterbury (Nice)
Cornwall/Devon (surfed in Newquay, been to Bodmin, I remember the Beast that lives there scared the crap outta me)
York (very nice)
Isle of Wight (Nice)
London (worked here and tripped here) would not mind staying up there for a weekend, id love to get a taxi round london at night to see everything lit up, amazing.

Been to all 4 main Theme Parks:
Alton Towers
Thorpe Park
Chessington
Legoland Windsor

Sport:
Wembley (To see England play many times.)
Twickenham (England v Argies + Harlequins v someone)
The Oval (Tour)
Huddersfield (Galpharm Stadium, Huddersfield v someone)
Aldershot (Aldershot v Man United this season)
Wimbledon (Tennis several times)
Portsmouth (Pompey v Man United + Pompey v Liverpool)
Emirates Stadium (Liverpool v Arsenal Carling Cup)
Silverstone (British Grand Prix this year)

So been to a lot of places although mainly in the south. Scotland, Wales and Ireland do not interest me. I am also not a festival go-er that does not really interest me as something to do.

The only things in the UK that I have yet to do that I would like to is:

Watch Federer or Nadal at Wimbledon in maybe a final.
Watch an ashes series or any England test match.
Have a weekend in London.

Post by **golden bear** » 06 Dec 2011, 21:16

Have you ever been to Manchester?

Post by **Footy66** » 06 Dec 2011, 21:16

murf wrote:I'm not sure you are cut out to be a "traveller" footy - no harm doing an extended holiday staying at half decent places and moving around rather than staying in flea pits and begging for rice.

I probably am not cut out for it I'd get lost or raped.

I don't really wanna spend more than £1500, whats the max I can do with that, probably not much.

Post by **Footy66** » 06 Dec 2011, 21:19

golden bear wrote:Have you ever been to Manchester?

I dont think Manchester appeals to me, I know what you will say next I am a Man U fan thats never been to Manchester. Well thats a pretty common thing.

Manchester is miles away and has nothing going for it, same with Liverpool.

Post by **llama** » 06 Dec 2011, 21:20

The Isle Of Wight is nice.

Post by **Footy66** » 06 Dec 2011, 21:24

llama wrote:The Isle Of Wight is nice.

Oh yeah, been there too. Need to add a few more to my list as just thought of other places.

Post by **golden bear** » 06 Dec 2011, 21:29

Go to Thailand or India. Loads of people who support your club out there.

Post by **Footy66** » 06 Dec 2011, 21:38

golden bear wrote:Go to Thailand or India. Loads of people who support your club out there.

Phuket

Post by **The Elkmaster** » 06 Dec 2011, 21:39

Footy66 wrote:
golden bear wrote:Go to Thailand or India. Loads of people who support your club out there.
Phuket

Agreed, stay away from them

Post by **murf** » 06 Dec 2011, 21:55

Never been north of Watford and you don't want to!

Britain is truly beautiful. You need to get out more.... but I get the feeling it would be wasted on you.

Post by **Footy66** » 06 Dec 2011, 22:36

murf wrote:Never been north of Watford and you don't want to!

Britain is truly beautiful. You need to get out more.... but I get the feeling it would be wasted on you.

ive been to york, thats north of watford. As well as the many places I listed.

Britain beautiful? some places yes - the natural places, the man-made places built in the last 50 years - definately not, badly designed cities, buildings, council tower blocks, sometime I wish I could just knock it all clean down and start again.

I am guessing you are 50+ if you like Britain so much. Which beautiful places are you talking about anyway. I have named the new forrest, stonehenge, bath, windsor, canterbury, york, ive seen the white cliffs of dover, Chedder Gorge, Isle of Wight, Brownsea Island, the countryside, the south coast, many castles and cathedrals.

I doubt anything you come up with will be much different from what I have already seen apart from a few mountains, lochs and the lake district, I am not 50 I am 26 so of course I am not interested in trekking around the hills of wales. And I have been to the alps and I dont think British mountains compare to the alps.

There is one place that when I see it on the TV I am like wow thats a very pretty place.....Loch Lomond - when they have the golf on TV, very nice.

Post by **murf** » 06 Dec 2011, 22:52

I'm not 50 and I loved walking in the mountains when I was 26. People are different.

Loch Lomond is nice but only really a gentle introduction to the true beauties of Scotland. The alps may be bigger and really are beautiful but there is something special about the West coast of Scotland, the Hebrides, the Highlands, the Lake District, Snowdonia, Peak District etc. I think it is more to do with the closer contrasts between valleys/lakes and peaks. Glad I've seen them all, far nicer than towns (old or new) IMO.

Each to their own.

Post by **sted** » 06 Dec 2011, 22:59

I'd start small mate.

How about the Isle of Man?

Post by **Footy66** » 06 Dec 2011, 23:06

People my age tend to go to faliraki these days.

I went to a place called Kandersteg in Switzerland (the alps of course) a while back:

Immense:

Post by **unc.si.** » 07 Dec 2011, 09:13

Not sure you're ready for the big wide world yet mate.

Spain's nice.

Post by **Flyman** » 07 Dec 2011, 11:55

Footy66 wrote:Thats what id be worried about, finding places to stay, going into dodgy areas where theres a lot of crime.

I might just go on three two week holidays, get some bargain deals, or will that be more expensive / less fun I guess? I just like the fact I will have all the food I want as Id go all inclusive, and a hotel bed to sleep in, nothing to worry about.

If people think this is an ok way of doing a bit of travelling let me know, and I will find 3 locations and try to find me some deals.

Or just get a flight to the nice bits of asia ie Singapore, Thailand stay there until I get bored, fly on to Australia stay there until I am bored, fly to America stay there until I am bored, come home.

Anyone wanna guestimate how much it would cost for say 10 days in each country just for flights, accomodation and food?

Hi, Footy66. I spent 11 month travelling around the world from 8/09 to 7/10 so feel I might be able to help.

The first thing that strikes me is your time limit of 2 months. It's enough to travel a bit, spend a week in just one place, travel a bit more then settle again to relax and recuperate. Travelling is demanding mentally and physically. Sometimes you get ill. Sometimes its good just to stop and get to know a place/people well.

The second is your lack of objectives. Do you want beach parties and bungee jumping? Ancient monuments? Wildlife? Stunning scenery? A bit of everything, possibly? Let us know what interests you.

On £1500 I reckon you could do well enough in India, South East Asia or Bolivia and Peru, from my experience. I can't help with the big return flight - I went with STA (I was 47 but there are no age/student restrictions despite their name) on a competitively priced RTW ticket. I can tell you, though, that flights in S.E. Asia were very cheap. I flew from Bangkok to Saigon for £30! AirAsia, I think?

Are you travelling alone? This makes a big difference to your budget and, to a lesser extent, your safety. Double rooms are always proportionally cheaper than singles, there's someone to leave your bags with when you need info/a bog/etc. rather than having to lug your stuff everywhere.
I was solo, but did team up with others at times when our routes/interests matched. Most were your age but, despite my extra years, I found making friends easy. Almost everyone has the same agenda so initial conversation was simple - Where have you been? Where are you going? Where's best to stay? Etc.
Being solo gave me great freedom and I was never lonely or homesick, but they are things to consider.

Do you only speak English? How's your sign language.

Tbh, I never found myself stuck for lack of language. Almost every other traveller spoke English to some degree, locals on the tourist trail all have basic English, though less so in S. America. Try to learn basic politeness, 'yes' and 'no' and numbers in the native language. You'll get better prices if you do.

As for room costs, that depends totally on what standards you'll put up with!

For 40p a night I got stained sheets, a sweat-soaked mattress, a noisy, useless ceiling fan, a massive cockroach and credit-card-eating monkeys in Omkareshwa, India.
I stayed one night.

Hostels are cheapest, packed with other young travellers and multiple ways of separating you from your cash, but you seldom get a good night's sleep when room sharing. The further you are from the well-trod track the cheaper things will be. I used TripAdvisor most often when travelling, and the Lonely Planet's forum, ThornTree, for room recommendations and travel advice.

I took thousands of photos during my trip. Here's a link to my Flickr site. Have a look at a few locations and see if anywhere appeals to you.

If I were to do another S.E. Asia trip I think it would be this:
Fly to Bangkok - 5 days off the Koh San Road to acclimatise, sight-see and eat Tom Yam Kung. Pre-booked hotel.
Head north for a few days by train then bus - bit of history, nature and smaller towns. Say, 2 weeks in Thailand.
Move into Laos and head east. By now I'll have talked to other travellers and heard of somewhere 'new' I fancy seeing. I'd have a plotted a basic course but kept things flexible. Say, three weeks in Laos.
From Laos I'd either
1) head into Vietnam and Hannoi, then to the coast and move south, bit by bit, to the Mekong Delta (I've seen Saigon already) then finish the holiday on Phu Quoc, cheap flight back to Bangkok after a night in Saigon or
2) try to get down the Mekong River (white-water rafting and/or freshwater dolphins) to the Delta, then a) onto Phu Quoc to chill for a bit before flying out or b) heading to Phnom Penh and Angkor Wat in Cambodia, then a long bus ride back to Bangkok to finish.

Got to recommend Chile, Bolivia and Peru, too, though ..... and Easter Island!

Hope there's something of use in that lot!

FISO