A WORLD TOUR?
YEAH? YOU TOO?
...
(Janod)
A crazy idea!?
So? a world tour, a funny idea? Not so crazy apparently ... given the number of blogs that can be found on internet ... Many people, and many families, do it. It's pretty impressive. I had no idea before I started to work on the project ...
Well, at the same time, when I started to announce the project to our friends, the reactions destabilized me a bit I must say ... Like my very dear friend Soisig, who answered me:
- 'Ah yeah? you too? Everyone is doing that today. I have a friend who ...
- ... ah ... uh ... oh? ... well, ok ...
You, you've been working for months on your itinerary, your budget, the logistics, everything, it keeps your mind busy all the time. Your world tour, it becomes a bit your third baby. You are super proud and excited to announce your project (that in all objectivity and sincerity you find ex-cep-tional). And then you have that as an answer - 'oh… you too?' ... to put in the same category as a ' you too you bought an Ikea kitchen?' ...
Well, it put me back in my place (thank you Sois'!) ...
A world tour? nothing more common!
... Well…let's be crazy, let's be normal! 😉
Normal yes, but prepared! For a trip around the world, there are still a lot of things to work on before you start, especially when you do it with children. We must think about: the itinerary, the budget, air tickets, vaccines, insurances and all the logistics ... And in our case, we must also think of gluten-free logistics, which will be a very big constraint in some countries ...
The itinerary
from https://www.novo-monde.com/itineraire-tour-du-monde/
The itinerary is worked in stages. Generally, we start with a 'wish list' where we list everything we had in mind for years, all the 'wow it must be great to see that' and the 'one day I'll go there myself'... the list of all your dreams. At the end of the exercise, you normally end with an extended list of ... 20-30-40 countries in the 4 corners of the world .... And, unless you have an unlimited budget and unlimited vacation (lucky you!), this is generally not feasible ...
Hence the second step ... frustrating, but necessary ... a step that will lead to the removal of most listed sites... yes, I know, it's painful, but you have to go through it. The idea is to start ordering the list with priority order, like 'I absolutely want to do Bali' or 'The Taj Mahal would be good, but have you seen the crowds on the photos?'. We then work the list of priorities, studying the periods of favorable visits (like avoiding the monsoon), security, and accessibility with children, transfers between countries. Little by little, a logical global itinerary builds up.
At this point, the list of countries should be cut in half, at least 😉
We then must work on the number of days to spend by country. Thanks to the daily expenditure numbers you can easily find on internet, you can calculate an average budget by country. You add to that a budget for the flights between each main destination, and you get a first overall budget. Very rough, yes, but that already gives an idea of the feasibility of the thing…. This exercise allows you to rework your list of countries and come up with a more realistic list.
It's normally at this moment that we decide to start ... or not 😉
Then, it is good to spend time on internet, to consult travel blogs to get a rational idea of what you want to do. This allows you to adjust your 'to do list' by reading other types of information than what traditional tour guides give us (like: do I really want to do the Machu Pichu given the crowd that goes there per day and the difficulty (the crazy budget!) needed to access this site?). Another example: Colombia was not on our list at the beginning. Why? Simply because of stupid a prioris on security. 'Colombia? with children ?! are you crazy? Colombia, it is the FARC, the drug cartels and Ingrid Betancourt '... And then, after reading dozens of articles more dithyrambic than each other, on the beauty and the diversity of the landscapes, the kindness of the people, the still preserved sites (after a crowded Machu Pichu, that can do it no?), we changed our minds on Colombia ...
from http://www.tourdumondiste.com/itineraire-tour-du-monde
And in our case? what did we decide ?!
In our case, we had several key parameters - non-negotiable - to take into account:
1. we travel with two young children (6 and 8 years old);
2. our children have celiac disease (it means that they are allergic to gluten, and so we cannot stop eating where we want = VERY IMPORTANT constraint ...!);
3. we have a restricted budget;
4. we leave Europe at the end of September / beginning of October.
These simple constraints have greatly influenced our itinerary.
Like everyone else, we first had an initial list of countries, sites that we absolutely wanted to see. Like: India, its colors, its palaces, the Taj Mahal; China, the Great Wall; Japan, the country of Totoro, Tokyo, Kyoto, Okinawa; Mongolia; Tibet; Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, Burma, Cambodia, Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia, Fiji, Easter Island, Hawaii, Galapagos, South America (ALL South America!), Jamaica, Cuba ... etc ... In short, the list was huge. With sites all more photogenic than each other, grandiose landscapes and cultural sites to ABSOLUTELY visit...
Then, we had to be realistic: limited budget + children = less countries + 'slow travel'. Many countries have been eliminated very quickly as the Pacific Islands, Cuba or Jamaica which are too expensive for our budget. India and China also left the list fairly quickly. Simply because of the allergy of our children: maybe wrong, we doubted of the feasibility of a serene stay in these countries with the alphabet, language and culture so different from everything we knew. We did not want to take any risks. We have therefore gradually focused on a route including Japan, several countries of Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand and South America. A fairly traditional route for a world tour. This is more or less what most travelers are doing on such an adventure. A very normal family! 😉
Next step: we worked the route according to our departure date, our global budget, the length of stay in each country, weather conditions ... And little by little, our itinerary took shape. We will start with Bali, then it will be Japan, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand before heading to Australia and New Zealand. We will then cross the Pacific to explore Chile, Argentina, Peru and Colombia. 😉
The budget
The budget. Fundamental. Primordial. It is what will determine what you can do ... or not. Basically, there are 3 main items to consider:
1. The before departure: all what is to buy BEFORE the departure (such as: camera, hard disk, jackets, backpacks, shoes ...) - that can seem anecdotal when one works on a trip around the world, but the bill for all these little 'details' can quickly raise. Beware!
This will also include the price of vaccines (and other medical consultations), visas, insurance and air tickets. Keep all this in mind because we reach a budget already substantial at this stage of the adventure ...
2. Then: the world tour itself! this will cover the cost of food, transport and accommodation in each country you visit. A good starting point to get an idea is to work on the numbers provided on internet. Do not forget to add extras, like a souvenir budget if you want to bring back gifts for you or your loved ones, or a budget 'special activities' if you have in mind to plan exceptional activities, kind of flyover Angkor in a balloon or Nazca lines by plane ... This sort of thing is usually not included in the daily budgets found on the internet.
3. Fixed costs: remember that when you are on your adventure, the world continues to run, as well as most of your usual expenses in your country of residence ... like loan, electricity, taxes. ..do not forge them! Depending on your situation this fixed charges budget can be a real bad surprise ...
from http://www.tourdumondiste.com/budget-tour-du-monde
Acknowledgements
We thank and list the main (in the sense the most useful, relevant, original, detailed, ...) websites and blogs that we have used for each destination in their respective pages. If you visit this site, do not hesitate to click on the links and visit these other sites! Some are marvels and / or real mines of information. Without them, we would not have been able to prepare for our world tour as well.
We would like to thank in particular:
- Aude and Nico from https://www.a-contresens.net/ and their tool for planning itinerary: https://www.a-contresens.net/category/the-planner/
- The Globe Bloggers: https://lesglobeblogueurs.com/
Many thanks to Laura and Seb. Your blog is a gem, aesthetic already, but also descriptive and logistical. There are interesting, useful and relevant comments. Thank you!
- Caroline, Thomas, Jeanne and Loic from: https://lesdeclosacados.com/
Just because they went around the world while I was working on our itinerary 😉 Their blog is also a mine of practical information.
And also:
- Rachel, Dimitri and their children from: https://www.parenthesenfamille.fr/
- Alice, Fred, Esteban and Ruben from: http://www.lespetitsvoyageurs.fr/
- Travel Mom, of course: https://www.mamanvoyage.com/
- Cha and Greg from: http://www.blouptrotters.com/
But there are many others!
Each page dedicated to a country will give you the detailed list of our 'inspirers' 😉
Thanks to all of them!
