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Hey guys 
I recently made up my mind to quit my job and start traveling the world for about 2 years starting Monday, September 1st, 2014!
The following first Draft shows the route I'd like to take but it will change a lot while I start to actually plan it - not even sure if I will go East or West bound yet, but it will probably be west so the arrows might actually turn out wrong in the end.
I will document the planning process and of course the trip itself on my Blog!
Whoever wants to virtually follow me on that journey should do that via Facebook :-)
![[image loading]](http://chrisontour84.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/2014-2016-around-the-world_klein.jpg)
Greetings
Chris
  
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Damn son you going to some sketchy-ass countries.
Also, how do you plan to get around? Your route has you going through Northern Iran, the steppes, and Mongolia...
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Sounds amazing! What made you choose each of these places?
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I assume you've been to France and that's why you're not going?
Also: I wouldn't go through Georgia and Azerbaijan at all. I would rather not go through Iran. Then, Turkmenistan is probably not all that great. You might die in some of those. You also seem to be doing a lot of Australia's vast areas of nothingness, which might be interesting but I'd probably just do Brisbane to Sydney to Indonesia or Malaysia.
This is quite an adventure you're planning, and I am very jealous.
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I did europe for 6 months this year, travelling is a lot of fun.
I was travelling on a budget the whole time, and I might be able to answer some questions about travelling for you.
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On December 20 2013 07:09 josemb40 wrote:
Nice, why not Peru?
Cuz of lag
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I have done a fair bit of travelling, some comments:
Not sure what you are after, exactly, but the east coast in Australia is kinda boring, and very touristy. If you want to see 'quaint', get a feel for Australia, and be impressed by nature, I'd recommend Tasmania and the West Coast.
The kindest and nicest people I have met so far, with amazing nature on top, and still a certain innocence to it, was in Samoa and Tonga. I'd really recommend to include at least one of the island groups in Polynesia.
Be sure to put together a nice selection of broadband antibiotics and ways to take care of small injuries.
I have two colleagues that travel A LOT. One has been in South America for the last 20 months or so, the other one has been to pretty much every single one of those countries that end with 'tan' and you have never heard of. If you have specific questions, I can relay them.
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On December 20 2013 10:37 Djzapz wrote:
I assume you've been to France and that's why you're not going?
Also: I wouldn't go through Georgia and Azerbaijan at all. I would rather not go through Iran. Then, Turkmenistan is probably not all that great. You might die in some of those. You also seem to be doing a lot of Australia's vast areas of nothingness, which might be interesting but I'd probably just do Brisbane to Sydney to Indonesia or Malaysia.
This is quite an adventure you're planning, and I am very jealous.
Come on, Georgia is a perfectly sound country, if you avoid the separatist regions (and you easily can do that). It's place where us middle europeans go for holidays in moutain completely leisurely. Iran is not that bad either, it's a pretty civlised country - maybe today is a little bit worse (I was there in 2010), but in general it is one of the more reasonable countries in the region actually, particularly for male visitors. The real problem here is Turkmenistan, it's not easy to get visa - hopefully you can still get transit visa if you already have the Uzbek visa, but you can't stay there for more than a day or two, so there is no chance to see anything. In general, I would advise to start getting all the visa done pretty soon - when on country blows, the whole itinerary is completely screwed.
To the OP: there are several chocices in the journey that seem questionable:
- why would you go through the mostly (with the exception of the Krym) incredibly boring parts Ukraine/Russia instead of Turkey? Turkey has so much to offer (maybe too much, you may get stuck there for some time after realising, how much you can see) and seeing as this would be the only intrusion to Russia, you save a bunch of money and hassle on Russian visa. Maybe you want to see some Russia, but either Moscow/St. Peterburg or the vast expanses of the Far East would be much more interesting.
- how do you plan to magically skip from Kyrgyzstan to Mongolia? I don't think there is any surface transport simply available in this general direction (and I would sure as hell not take a flight with Kyrgyz Air)
- keep in mind that if you start in September and go in this direction, you may find yourself in Central Asia in winter, when some transport options will be unavailable. Also, it's gonna be cold as hell in some places (-40 C is possible)
- in South America, you should definitely consider something in the High Andes. I have never been to Peru or Equador, but Bolivia (particularly the SW corner around Uyuni) is easily the most interesting place I have ever seen. I would go there again any time over Buenos Aires (but maybe you are more of a city guy, but maybe not, as you have Patagonia in there).
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On December 21 2013 05:47 opisska wrote:Show nested quote +On December 20 2013 10:37 Djzapz wrote:
I assume you've been to France and that's why you're not going?
Also: I wouldn't go through Georgia and Azerbaijan at all. I would rather not go through Iran. Then, Turkmenistan is probably not all that great. You might die in some of those. You also seem to be doing a lot of Australia's vast areas of nothingness, which might be interesting but I'd probably just do Brisbane to Sydney to Indonesia or Malaysia.
This is quite an adventure you're planning, and I am very jealous. Come on, Georgia is a perfectly sound country, if you avoid the separatist regions (and you easily can do that). It's place where us middle europeans go for holidays in moutain completely leisurely. Iran is not that bad either, it's a pretty civlised country - maybe today is a little bit worse (I was there in 2010), but in general it is one of the more reasonable countries in the region actually, particularly for male visitors. The real problem here is Turkmenistan, it's not easy to get visa - hopefully you can still get transit visa if you already have the Uzbek visa, but you can't stay there for more than a day or two, so there is no chance to see anything. In general, I would advise to start getting all the visa done pretty soon - when on country blows, the whole itinerary is completely screwed.
My bad about Georgia then, I was under the impression that the Abkhazia and Ossetia conflicts radiated enough that I wouldn't want to go through their northern border. Then again I guess I don't know that much about it.
As for Iran, perhaps it's more of a preference thing. I have 0 interest in going there and I don't know why anyone would.
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On December 21 2013 06:33 Djzapz wrote:Show nested quote +On December 21 2013 05:47 opisska wrote:On December 20 2013 10:37 Djzapz wrote:
I assume you've been to France and that's why you're not going?
Also: I wouldn't go through Georgia and Azerbaijan at all. I would rather not go through Iran. Then, Turkmenistan is probably not all that great. You might die in some of those. You also seem to be doing a lot of Australia's vast areas of nothingness, which might be interesting but I'd probably just do Brisbane to Sydney to Indonesia or Malaysia.
This is quite an adventure you're planning, and I am very jealous. Come on, Georgia is a perfectly sound country, if you avoid the separatist regions (and you easily can do that). It's place where us middle europeans go for holidays in moutain completely leisurely. Iran is not that bad either, it's a pretty civlised country - maybe today is a little bit worse (I was there in 2010), but in general it is one of the more reasonable countries in the region actually, particularly for male visitors. The real problem here is Turkmenistan, it's not easy to get visa - hopefully you can still get transit visa if you already have the Uzbek visa, but you can't stay there for more than a day or two, so there is no chance to see anything. In general, I would advise to start getting all the visa done pretty soon - when on country blows, the whole itinerary is completely screwed. My bad about Georgia then, I was under the impression that the Abkhazia and Ossetia conflicts radiated enough that I wouldn't want to go through their northern border. Then again I guess I don't know that much about it. As for Iran, perhaps it's more of a preference thing. I have 0 interest in going there and I don't know why anyone would.
It turns out that it is actually my bad, as I already had in mind the second half of the post where I wanted to convince the OP to go through Turkey. Only then is Georgia quite hassle free - coming form Russia is not only a hassle, it is virtually impossible, because you can't go through Abkhazia as a foreigner (you can enter from both sides, but from both you need to go back, not throught). When traversing form Turkey, problematic areas can be avoided. On the other hand, coming from Turkey, you may as well head straight for Iran.
Why would anyone go Iran? Well because it is "Turkey squared" - it's a country that used to be in the heart of the roots of the human civilisation. There are remnants of an unrivaled number of cultures and even today, it is an ethincally and culturaly extremely diverse country - I had time only for the western half, but still I have met not only the Farsi, but also the Azeri, the Kurds and the Arabs.
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On December 21 2013 07:48 opisska wrote:Show nested quote +On December 21 2013 06:33 Djzapz wrote:On December 21 2013 05:47 opisska wrote:On December 20 2013 10:37 Djzapz wrote:
I assume you've been to France and that's why you're not going?
Also: I wouldn't go through Georgia and Azerbaijan at all. I would rather not go through Iran. Then, Turkmenistan is probably not all that great. You might die in some of those. You also seem to be doing a lot of Australia's vast areas of nothingness, which might be interesting but I'd probably just do Brisbane to Sydney to Indonesia or Malaysia.
This is quite an adventure you're planning, and I am very jealous. Come on, Georgia is a perfectly sound country, if you avoid the separatist regions (and you easily can do that). It's place where us middle europeans go for holidays in moutain completely leisurely. Iran is not that bad either, it's a pretty civlised country - maybe today is a little bit worse (I was there in 2010), but in general it is one of the more reasonable countries in the region actually, particularly for male visitors. The real problem here is Turkmenistan, it's not easy to get visa - hopefully you can still get transit visa if you already have the Uzbek visa, but you can't stay there for more than a day or two, so there is no chance to see anything. In general, I would advise to start getting all the visa done pretty soon - when on country blows, the whole itinerary is completely screwed. My bad about Georgia then, I was under the impression that the Abkhazia and Ossetia conflicts radiated enough that I wouldn't want to go through their northern border. Then again I guess I don't know that much about it. As for Iran, perhaps it's more of a preference thing. I have 0 interest in going there and I don't know why anyone would. It turns out that it is actually my bad, as I already had in mind the second half of the post where I wanted to convince the OP to go through Turkey. Only then is Georgia quite hassle free - coming form Russia is not only a hassle, it is virtually impossible, because you can't go through Abkhazia as a foreigner (you can enter from both sides, but from both you need to go back, not throught). When traversing form Turkey, problematic areas can be avoided. On the other hand, coming from Turkey, you may as well head straight for Iran. Why would anyone go Iran? Well because it is "Turkey squared" - it's a country that used to be in the heart of the roots of the human civilisation. There are remnants of an unrivaled number of cultures and even today, it is an ethincally and culturaly extremely diverse country - I had time only for the western half, but still I have met not only the Farsi, but also the Azeri, the Kurds and the Arabs.
Thanks for the info. As for Iran, I guess I have issues with the country for political reasons but I understand that it's rich culturally.
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Hey!
I would like to do that myself one day.
By the way how old are you, and what kind of transports are you going to use?
Good luck
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SoCal, USA3955 Posts
Good luck on your travels and stay well. Probably won't be following your blogs, but please do a wrap up blog when you get back home on TL. ^^ LOTS OF PICTURES. <3
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Hey guys,
I havent start planning any details yet so keep tuned for more information on how ill do which part.
The reason why i'm not going to certain places might be that Ive been there already! See here
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Hey! So after 5 months I finally have time to provide some more information on my big trip! I will head west and start in Newfoundland :-)
More information on the destinations and some insights about the preparation right here!
Cheers,
Chris
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EPT![[image loading]](https://chrisontour84.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/28_bayoffundy1.jpg?w=645&h=112)
