World Travel Itinerary Section I Source: http://flashpackatforty.com/
Around the World Journey Report Part 1 of Itinerary Covers: Continents of Australasia & Asia Travel Authors: Craig Hickram & John Mottson Destinations covered in chronological order of visit: Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia, Japan, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia, Brunei, South Korea, China and India. Background to Guide The authors took career-breaks in 2011, to fulfil their long-term ambitions to travel around the world. This report offers a brief introduction to the first leg of their RTW journey, based on the writings from their ‘flashpacking’ around the world travel blog. Their travel blog offers travel tips and guides to the places they visit whilst on the trip, below I’ve summarised some of their opinions.
Flashpacking Destination Guide (until completion of Asia part of RTW trip in 2013) Australia This was the first leg of our ‘rtw’ trip and to be honest it felt more like the holiday of a lifetime, as opposed to a way of life. We experienced some great rail journeys in Australia, including the India Pacific and Ghan trains. The highlight was experiencing New Years Eve in Sydney. We did worry quite a bit about how expensive everything was, and whether our budget would last having visited Australia. New Zealand We toured NZ by campervan mainly. The driving was easy and who’d have thought two people could spend a month in a mobile home together without a single crossed word. It was very sad to see the devastation, which an earthquake had on the resilient city of Christchurch. The entire journey was an adventure and we had some amazing wildlife encounters. New Zealand must be one of the most beautiful places to travel, due to the range of activities and environments to discover. Singapore Singapore is a stylish city, with great food and entertainment on offer to any visitor. Philippines Travel around the Philippines isn’t very easy as the infrastructure isn’t quite there yet. However, it is an exciting destination to travel independently. Filipinos are friendly and helpful.
Indonesia We enjoyed some great beach time and diving here. There are some excellent PADI registered diving sites around Indonesia and its islands, including Gili Air. Japan We thought Japan was going to be terribly expensive, and it wasn’t. We loved exploring the temples and historic sites around Japan. Hiroshima was a particularly moving experience. We became great fans of Japanese food, and admire their transport system, especially the trains. Cambodia Amazing place, with some of the warmest and most beautiful people you would be lucky to meet. Vietnam Very easy to get around and has some very interesting places to visit. Some of the hawkers in the tourist areas can be aggressive. Thailand We spent some time here with our family, the ‘flashpackers’ have visited Thailand many times, and it still rates as a top world-wide beach destination. Burma Myanmar A lot of travel planning and research is still needed for a trip to Burma. We were initially disappointed on arriving in Yangon, Myanmar. By the end of the trip we felt privileged to have toured Burma, such an amazing country. Malaysia We spent more time in Malaysia, than any other destination, this was mainly due to complications of transportation and accommodation due to the end of Ramadan, and the Hari Raya celebrations. Malaysia is an exciting destination offering many special tours, our highlight was a tour of Borneo when we went trekking. Brunei To be honest, we didn’t really enjoy our visit to Brunei; it was just a bit boring. South Korea We enjoyed our entire time touring around Korea. We attended many festivals, and markets. We met some great people and enjoyed the food. Korea is a destination we both hope to return to soon. China We had expected travel around China to be difficult due to the language barrier. Although it’s not the easiest country in the world to travel around, people are very friendly and helpful. We would recommend travelling independently as you get to see as much as you want of this magnificent
country. The smog and pollution in the big cities of Beijing and Shanghai can be overwhelming at times. It is still worth travel to China, as you will get to see in real life the iconic images that represent China around the world. India India is a vast country and so we spent several months travelling around this beautiful and diverse place. People are very friendly and helpful; the list of amazing festivals and things to do sightseeing can be found in more detail at our website Around the World Travel Itinerary