The plans outlined in my first post developed a number of times over the last few weeks.  From the outline it progressed into the following :

• Fly to Oman
• Get from Oman to Tashkent, Uzbekistan
• Overland to Kyrgyzstan for 2-3 weeks
• Enter Almaty, Kazakhstan
• Travel via rail to join the Trans-Mongolian at Novosibirsk, Russia
• Spend a few nights in Tromsk, Russia
• Rail to Krasnoyarsk, Russia to spend a few nights
• Rail to Irkutsk and spend a few nights by Lake Biakal
• Rail into Ulanbataar, Mongolia and spend a couple of weeks
• Rail to Beijing, China and somehow fly out of Shanghai or Hong Kong to New Zealand….maybe via Australia to visit friends on the way
• Live in New Zealand for a while (6-12 months)
• Fly to South America, and maybe attend a wedding in the Falkland Islands before returning home

Phew….sounds exhausting but fascinating writing it all down, but at the risk of sounding like a spoilt brat I ‘only’ had 2.5 months to do all the stuff before I hit New Zealand due to visas running out on a certain date, so everything up to New Zealand above had to fit into the period of 1^st May until mid July 2010.

After hitting the ‘Big G’ (Google) many times I stumbled across a whole range of options, ideas and opinions, each of which gave me more and more to consider.  After spending around 8 months moving around SE Asia before it was all becoming a bit overwhelming travelling much further, and in a far shorter space of time.  I was getting to the point where I was starting to wonder if I was really going to see things, or just whiz through them….but then I thought that if I spent 2-3 weeks travelling around my home country of Scotland I’d be delighted – I’d be able to do loads of stuff I’ve always meant to, but then I already know where everything is.

So what’s the point of all this rambling?  I’m not trying to brag about my trip, but it’s really to highlight the importance of what you want to achieve out of your trip.  When I get places into my head and I’m planning a trip I find it hard to let go of certain places as I’m not sure when I’ll get back to that area.  The one thing that does really stand out if you have a deadline in any part of your trip – whether it’s your friend’s wedding, visa restriction dates, work, or budget you want to have a strong think about where you want to go, and what you want to achieve, and what compromises you’re willing to make to get the most out of it.

Would you rather have a month in one place, or go to 8 countries and spend 4 days in each?  The choice is up to you, but mine would be the former if possible, and get right in amongst the local culture of the place.

What other things do you consider an important part of your trip planning?  Let me know via the comments, and subscibe to the feed if you want to know how the above itinery was swapped around to find my ideal trip.

Budget Travel Trip Planning – Day 7 is a post from: Budget Travel Notes - Your guide to budget travel hints tips and tricks.

Related posts:

1. Budget Travel Trip Planning – Day 0
2. Top Travel Tips – Trip Research, Budgets, Travel Tips, Technology and how to access some home comforts whilst on the road..
3. Budget Travel Notes Introduction

Today I quit.

Not the blog – that’s just starting.  I’ve been considering another big trip for months – will I travel again, move to a different location, or stick at the job?  At the end of the day travel won over, so today I quit.  The last time I travelled there wasn’t really any indecision – I had been building up to the trip for years and it was just a matter of the lame excuses running out, and the funds increasing to a suitable amount, and then I was off (although I did carry my letter of resignation around for a week or so!).

So again, 2 years, 7 months, and 17 days after returning to the UK, I quit.  This time it’s a bit different.  I’ll have my girlfriend along as a travel buddy.  We both had really good jobs in the UK, with good pay but enough was enough, and the New Zealand working visas were burning a hole in our pocket…..I let the last one expire without using it, and this time I wasn’t prepared to go through the post-expiration analysis if this one’s date passed by as well!

While driving home in the van that I’m not sure what I’ll do with, I thought it would be a good idea to blog during the planning of the trip so you can see how I go about it.

I’m an experienced traveller, have done one 12 month trip before so it will either show other experienced people how I go about it, or introduce newbies to some methods or techniques.

I’ve got a feeling I’ll be planning a bit more than the last time.  That’s not too hard as I only booked my flights 2 weeks before leaving in 2006.

So the ‘plan’ so far is :

• Potentially fly to Oman from the UK to visit my sister early May
• Get to Central Asia – visit the “Stans” – probably Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan
• Fly to Mongolia and head around there for a bit
• Take the latter part of the Trans Mongolian train to China
• Get to New Zealand by the last week in July
• Fly to the Falkland Islands for a wedding in Jan/Feb 2011  (yes…..really the Falkland Islands)
• ?

That depends on how much all the above will cost – particularly the earlier sections as we don’t want o blow too much too early.  I’ll warn you now – my methods may not be rocket science, but it you’re sitting there wondering how you go about it, subscribe to my feed, and keep up with the updates and come along for the ride……

Budget Travel Trip Planning – Day 0 is a post from: Budget Travel Notes - Your guide to budget travel hints tips and tricks.

Related posts:

1. Budget Travel Trip Planning – Day 7
2. Budget Travel Notes Introduction
3. Top Travel Tips – Trip Research, Budgets, Travel Tips, Technology and how to access some home comforts whilst on the road..