Well Gurus, my PhD is coming to a slow but steady end. I finish in a few months, and I want to celebrate by doing some travelling, was thinking the far east. I have no idea how much of a logistical nightmare/how feasible visiting all my wish-list places would be, but here's where I'd like to go (in order of east to west): Japan (Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and Kyoto I wanna see). South Korea (Seoul) Taiwan (Taipei) Hong Kong Singapore Thailand (Bangkok) Japan and Thailand are a bit easier I guess because I have friends who live there who are willing to put me up for a week or two. Am I being a bit ambitious with all this, should I just visit one or two, rather than the whole lot? Any of you guys done anything like this? Advice please. Cheers BLEH!
Probably, though not for the whole trip. I have a few friends who want to go to different places. Also considered going west via Canada to alleviate a bit of the jetlag.
Well if you plan to travel alone it is best to try and plan your route and stops as much as possible so that plan can be left with friends and family. Oh and try to stick to it so that you don't miss out anything you planned. If your not an accomplished traveller or bushman than its probably best to avoid being to adventurous with going off the beaten track. Get some good guide books and do some serious reading and prep. IF your travelling for an extended period and alone then weight is your enemy! I've travelled and walked quite a bit and I can tell that the time spent really critically analysing what your carrying is NEVER WASTED! I've even cut the end off a toothbrush to save weight, you catch my drift?
That's pretty sound advice. I wasn't planning on going out in the woods too much, I enjoy the comforts of a nice warm bed a little too much I guess . If it won't fit in a single big suitcase, it can be forgotten.
I've done it twice now. 2009 when I was 19. Hong Kong, Aus, NZ, USA 2013 (I got back two weeks ago). Aus, NZ. I did 2-3 months each time and did it on my own. Honestly it's really easy and you'll meet people. For the plan to leave with family. This time I was much more relaxed as I'd done it before and I was older, I only booked things a day in advance, accommodation and transportation. What I did was had a google calendar on my phone that was shared with my family so as soon as I booked it I added it to my calendar and it synced straight to their phones. This meant that I knew what I was doing so didn't miss anything. And they always knew where I would/should be. I got a local sim card with data in each place. Was under £10 a month for 1GB data. I was in a rush on the day I was leaving so didn't have time to pack properly so just threw everything in. Ended up with a hiking bag and a normal backpack. About 23kg combined, was a bitch, well it only really matters when moving between places, once your there you leave the bag and it doesn't matter. I didn't have more than a 30 min walk anywhere with my stuff, which was manageable.
I always carry enough hidden stuff to get by on for around 24 hours just in case you get separated from your main pack.
I've nothing to contribute with, other than saying that it sounds awesome. I plan on doing something similar in the not too distant future as well, although my destinations will probably be different. Good luck!
I'll be in Tokyo again in a few weeks until mid Feb if you want to hang out! I go to a lot of concerts/clubs/conventions if you are interested.
Nah, not my thin really. Cheers! Where you planning on going? I do intend to do a roadtrip round Scandinavia at some point too I only finish in April, planning a few months ahead, but that would be cool.
If you are in Japan in early April, you will be there when the cherry blossoms bloom. They are only around for about a week or two. Good weather during that time also.
i'd love to do that but dont know if my head+stomach could take it. last time i did i spent hours on the loo in the turkish height of summer. a few maltepes cigarettes just about finished me off...
I don't know yet. But there are many mountains around the world I'd fancy climbing, so... I could go anywhere really. Asia sounds nice, but I'm not so fascinated by big cities and such, so the densely populated areas aren't really that interesting to me. Though I suppose it would be cool to check Tokyo off my list at some point. I've always wanted to just get in a car and drive to wherever the roads take me. Through central Europe, eastern Europe and into Russia maybe. Ah, I'll need a better suited and more reliable car first. If you're cruising through Norway at some point, let me know.
It does look nice. We have a few of those kinda trees in the UK so we get a bit, but not entire groves of the things like in JP. Never really had the physical fitness for climbing huge hills, but there's always time to learn I do intend to stop by Oslo at some point.
Hah, physical fitness doesn't come by itself. Oslo? That's the wrong part of the country, man! Get your ass up north, past the Arctic Circle, if you want to see and experience the real Norway.
I would say from my vast experience of traveling the world by far the best way to do it is through work it costs you nothing & you get payed for it .