I know we probably have a holiday thread somewhere, but I'd like to start a new topic for anyone that has taken time out from their lives to go travelling the world for 6-12 months or more.

I'm at a point in my life now where I need to get away from things for a while, be on my own and experience the world. I can get saved up for 6-8 months or so, and just go for it, so was just wondering if anyone else has done it, and has any tips on how to go about it, where to go, how much money I would need etc.

Main places I would like to go are SE Asia, Oz, NZ and South America.

When's your court date?

My sister is currently doing it. Got money for a few months travelling in SE Asia and then going to Australia to work and travel for another few months before carrying on their journey around the globe. I think that you can only get casual jobs in Australia if you are under a certain age (30) I think so you might not be able to do it if you are over that age.

I went travelling in the mid nineties so things have probably changed somewhat. My advice would be:

1. Go to a specialist travel agent like STA or Trailfinders to get an idea of possible routes and prices.
2. Save as much as you can before you leave.
3. Apply for an Australian travellers working visa so that you can work whilst down under.
4. Try to plan what you want to do / see before you leave otherwise you'll just end up wasting your money on booze.
5. A well trodden path is Hong Kong (including short visit to China), Thailand, overland to Vietnam / Laos, Bali, Australia, New Zealand, Pacific Island (I went to Tahiti but I hear that Fiji is better), USA (land on the West coast), overland to East coast, fly home.
6. Join the International Youth Hostel Association before leaving.
7. Try to book you accommodation in your 1st destination before you leave.
8. Always head straight to the Information Booth at Airport arrivals as they will have details of local hostels etc.

Hope that helps.

I have done a bit of traveling but not in those places and not for that length of time. I went interailing around Europe for 2 months after I finished my degree, then went to the States last year for a month after I finished my MA.
Anyway I would say keep websites like hostelbookers and hostelworld onhand for quick booking of cheap hostels and I find that their ratings and reviews are pretty reliable.
When we went to the States we found that STA offered the best deal on flights from one place and back from another and they were really helpful so be sure to check them out (and yes we did check flightscanner and other such websites and STA still came out cheapest)
My experiences between travelling in 2008 to 2011 was that the advent of smart phones, laptops and free wifi has made travelling abit less socialable as people are more connected to home so with that in mind, buy a pack of cards as it is a great icebreaker.

Just do what a mate of mine did in the mid-70s:

Jump on a Triumph Tiger Cub and set off for Australia. Blow the bike up in Paris and continue overland, on foot (got a postcard from him two years later from New Zealand). Start your return journey, part-funded by smuggling rubies out of Burma and a spell teaching English in Iraq (don't ask, they had to pull the school down to get him to leave).

Then blag your way into the US by booking a flight to Vancouver BC via Seattle, while in transit at Seatac, jump the fence and make your way down to SF and start a waste paper collection business. Wait until the Reagan migrant amnesty and then become a US citizen (make sure you keep proper books and have the money to hand over to the IRS). Sell your business, by an old school bus and spend the rest of your life living in that, earning enough money by packing parachutes to be able to fund your love of jumping out of aeroplanes.

10 months - Far East, Japan, Aussie & NZ (plus other places)

9 months - Far East, Aussie, Kiwi, Pacific & West Coast

7 months - States (both coasts), South & Central America, Canada & Caribbean

7 months - Far east, Japan, China

plus a 4 month Caribbean trip

The best part is I got PAID to do it

I found rlthisrl book to be very useful from a research perspective. Plenty of ideas for jobs you wouldn't normally think of that can help fund/extend the trip on the way.

I am considering going myself for a few years depending how my contract ending pans out in May. Anybody any experiences of renting a beach hut/similar somewhere like the Philippines or Indonesia for a few months? I quite fancy just living on the beach doing nothing for a little while.

A personal recommendation if you go to South America - make sure you visit the border area between Chile and Bolivia. San Pedro de Atacama and on through the Salar de Uyuni. Truly amazing place.

Oh, and try to avoid groups of Americans or (especially) young Israelis at hostels. The Israelis in the particular tend to be complete ****s. I stayed at one hostel in SA that flew a Palestinian flag solely to keep them away.

Been over in Nz for 14 months now, quit my job back home and sold (wrote off) my car to pay for a 1 way ticket to Auckland for the Rugby union World cup.

Done a few different and intresting bits of work since then and just found a job with possible sponsorship for the next 2 years.

If i can help with any questions just give us a shout. not sure if im allowed but a great website i found was travbuddy.

What kind of work did you do out there when you first got there? That would be my goal I think, to end up living and working in NZ or poss Canada...

I picked a bad time to hit Nz (nov-feb) as kiwis like to take extended summer hols around christmas and lots of Businesses even shut down for extended peroids. I Joined an admin agency and found work in feb after arriving in October.

Ive done labouring, working at festivals and bar work at the stadiums as well as the admin ive been doing lately.

I'd advise going for a canadian working visa while your still at home because there are some tight restrictions with that, New Zealand and as are fairly straightforward.

Dont get worried about the savings so much as they dont check at immigration. Plenty of work to be found in Nz and aus as well, ive heard canada is a little more difficult.

Well, taken the plunge and decided I'm gonna do it!! And hopefully following this path if time and money allows

Japan, China, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Borneo, Bali, Fiji, Australia, New Zealand, then into South America starting in Argentina and finishing in Rio, Brazil.

Looking at 3-4 month in each of SE Asia, Oz/NZ and South America. Would like to add a couple of weeks maybe at the end on the west coast of North America before flying home....

I used Trailfinders once and they ruined a very important holiday. Luckily, it was only part of a bigger holiday and we had a good time in the other location. We explained what we wanted but where they sent us to was awful and failed to fulfil in any shape or form the carefully laid out criteria. After one night we insisted that we were driven back to the capital city of the country concerned where we had to pay ouselves to waste the rest of our time there in a nice hotel. Given that our holiday was supposed to be game viewing to say we were annoyed was an understatement. I did not get round to litigating due to time pressure at work. Their excuse (as self-styled "experts"icon_wink.gif was the place was my idea - they'd never heard of it!! In fact I'd never heard of the place they sent us - I told them about the National Park I wanted to go to not the accommodation. If they hadn't heard of the National Park, then they ought to buy an atlas. As a consquence, I would not personally tough them with a doublr-length barge pole.