Do you know anybody who would not dream of travelling across the world? Many of us wanted to trip the world just like brave heroes of Jules Verne’s novels. Nowadays a trip around the world is available for almost everyone, and many people take advantage of the possibility. This article will let you know how to save on around the world tours and travels and where to travel in the world.
How many continents are there on Earth?
Most tour organizers offer around world trips that go along the equatorial radius of the Earth. The emphasis is on going round the Earth in a circle. But a world travel trip becomes much more exciting when a traveler does not only watch the Earth passing by through a plane window or from a cruise ship’s deck, but also visits all 7 continents of the world.
In the countries of the former USSR they thought that there were 6 continents, while the Europeans think there are seven of them, and the European continent is divided in Europe and Asia. It’s up to you which version to keep to.
Of course, you can’t visit all 197 countries of the world in one around travel, but it’s real to visit all six (or seven) continents. Within a month’s world travel trip you can see 10 diverse counties fundamentally different from each other, and to enjoy all the diversity of life on the planet.
Buying worldwide air tickets
If you decide to build your own round the world flights scheme, the easiest way to book cheap flights is using an aggregator. Such a service will provide you with the cheapest flights options. For example, you can order tickets through:
or other flight ticket booking websites with cash back and get up to 10% of the ticket’s cost back.
Round trip flights can also become much cheaper if you book the tickets in advance at the time of sales. Almost every air company has its birthday or another sale, when tickets are virtually given away for free. Plan your trip in advance and save up to 90% of the tickets’ cost.
The sales are usually in spring and in autumn, and mainly include the least popular routes. As a rule, about 10 discount plane tickets to one flight are sold. But to attract the travelers, air tickets to main world destinations are also sold. So don’t miss your chance to save!
In case of round the world flights you can save with the help of the tour provider. Thanks to the route optimization, partnerships with the alliances of air companies and professional ticket office managers’ experience that can calculate the flight in accordance with special fares you will get a substantial saving of funds.
Accommodation
When you plan “my trip around the world“, you should also book a room or a hotel in each place you are going to visit. In case you didn’t decide to spend all nights on trains or planes, which is also a way. Book hotel rooms through Booking.com, HotelsCombined or another website with cash back. This way you will both save thanks to special deals the aggregators offer and return up to 7% of the room’s cost in cash back. Full list of booking hotels with cash back options can be found here.
In case you travel with a tour company, you can simply “forget” about the accommodation cost, as they have agreements with hotels, and thank to it can offer the lowest prices possible. The transfer, the accommodation and excursions in all-inclusive tours are always the cheapest possible thanks to it (for the tour provider – for sure, but not always for you, as the company can keep the cost difference for itself).
World Tour Cost
Of course, you can go on a world tour with a minimal sum of money. Especially if you tour the world by bike or hitch hike. But in case of a conformable trip with the use of speed transport and cozy accommodation, the world tour cost be at least $20,000. The sum will embrace all flights, 4*+ hotels, transfers, excursions, medical insurance, meals and admittance to national parks.
What documents are necessary
Unfortunately, there no round the world visas, so it’s the main concern of your around the world journey. At least 2 months before the trip you have to apply for all the visas you need. In most cases they are: a Schengen visa, and visas to the USA and Australia.
You will need a basic set of papers for a Schengen visa: a passport, the photos, your medical insurance, job and travel supporting papers, your bank account statement, the tickets and the papers necessary for kids in case you are going to travel with the family.
It’s a bit more difficult to get a visa to the USA or Australia, especially for those who have never been abroad before or are on security lists. The visa decision to a big extent depends on the accuracy of the papers you provide, so if you are not sure you can do everything properly, leave this stuff to professionals. You can also check which country it’s better to apply for the visa in, as quite often council departments in different counties keep to different regulations. Thus, it’s much safer to apply for the USA visa in Warsaw that in Moscow.
The author: Dmitry Sverdlov
Director General of GQ Travel travel agency — gq-travel.ru
Translated by Maryna Berkutava
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