Traveling 'round the world (RTW) isn't for everybody. A RTW trip takes more time and money than the average traveler might have. But for a fortunate few, it's a great way to explore a range of destinations—new and old, exotic and mundane—that you might not ever be able to visit on individual trips.
My recommendations are based both on my own experience and reports from other travelers. I've done it four times—probably more than most. Two of the trips were for business, but the trips on my own provided great experiences. Here are 10 key lessons I learned while planning RTW travel.
Figure Out the Basics
A good RTW trip requires a lot of planning, starting with making a list of what you really want to see and do. "Around the world" isn't a destination; it's a set of flights. Start by cataloguing your top must-visit places. The most popular RTW trips seem to be limited to North America, Europe, and Asia, although longer trips can also include the South Pacific, Africa, and South America.
Unless you're doing a full year abroad, spring and fall are often the best times to do RTW trips. During transitional seasons, you'll avoid the heat of the summer or the cold of the winter in both the northern and southern hemispheres. Of course, near-equator stops like Bangkok and Singapore are hot all the time.
On my latest RTW trip, I decided to travel in the spring. I started off with interesting places I had never been to, then I ended the journey with a relaxing stop in a longtime-favorite European area. But you could follow special interests, hook up with international friends you've made, visit the "10 most-something-or-other" destinations you saw on an intriguing list, or plan your trip based on just about anything.
Take Enough Time
If you're going to be flying 25,000 miles or more—that's at least 50 hours in the air—you should spread it out a bit. My recommendation is to spend at least a month on the road; any less than that, and you're going to be in a state of perpetual jet lag. The longer the trip, the better you'll feel overall.
Give Each Stop Ample Time
Avoid too many short stops. These days, any single flight takes up most of a day, door to door: packing, checking out of your hotel, schlepping to an airport, going through the airport hassles. I have a tough time thinking of any destination worth visiting that you can cover in a single day. (That's one of the big problems with cruises.) You usually need at least a day to get a feel for a destination, then extra days to visit the sites you want to see and do the things you want to do. Even an itinerary full of one- or two-night stops will yield a trip centered on catching flights and checking in and out of hotels. Overall, my recommendation is a minimum of three nights per stop—or better yet, four.
Move In One Direction
You'll want to keep traveling generally in one direction, east or west. That's a requirement on some RTW tickets, but even if your ticket or tickets do not impose that requirement, you should do it anyway. Doubling back adds time and expense to your trip.
Most reports (and my own experience) show that traveling westward is easier on jet lag than traveling eastward. Extending a day is easier than compressing a day.
For Easy Booking, Get a Single Ticket
The easiest way to arrange a RTW itinerary is to buy a single-price RTW ticket. Only one airline, Air New Zealand, can fly RTW entirely on its own routes. But the itinerary is so limited that it's virtually worthless.
Each of the three big alliances, Oneworld, Skyteam, and Star Alliance, offers RTW tickets, and they provide user-friendly (if tedious) online RTW planners. Fares typically start at about $4,500 for up to 29,000 miles and limit you to Asia, Europe, and North America, with maybe a dip into North Africa or Central America. Expect to pay up to $7,000 for the 39,000 miles you'd need for an extensive trip that covers the South Pacific, South Africa, and South America.
RTW tickets typically require voyagers to complete travel within a year and are limited to 15 or 16 stops or flight segments. They also limit the number of stops or flights in any given region, and most RTW tickets limit you to a single stop in any city (unless you're making a connection).
Several less-inclusive airline partnerships also sell RTW tickets. Prices are somewhat lower than alliance tickets, but stops and routes are more limited.
To Save Money, Get Individual Tickets
For most RTW trips in economy class, you can cut the total cost a lot by buying individual tickets for each flight. Customizing a set of individual tickets is the cheapest way to do a RTW trip. You can arrange those flights through a specialist travel agency, or you can book them yourself through one of the big online metasearch systems. Individual tickets also provide ultimate flexibility on routes and stops—something you don't get when you have to confine yourself to the airlines in a single alliance.
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