I can't believe it's over!

• Shanewilson's Profile
• About this blog
• Entry from Melbourne

Trip Start Dec 26, 2005 Previous
Entry Trip End Jan 25, 2009 Next
Entry

  Melbourne, Australia
Friday, December 22, 2006

It's starting to set in that my trip round the world is about to end.  To say the least, I am damn relieved, privileged and glad to say that I made it in one piece.  The experiences, the people, the accommodations, the excursions, the food, the night outs (and subsequent hangovers), the many long arduous and sometimes very difficult journeys.... both positives and negatives have made this trip round the world the most momentous experience of my life to date.  I am damn proud to say that I've done it and will always reflect on it with such passion.  Thank you to all my readers for following me on my trip...
 
I thought I'd reflect on some of the most pertinent aspects of my trip whilst still on the road, albeit for only 36 more hours!
 
1.  Travelling alone.
I don't think I'd want to do this trip with anyone.  The freedom, flexibility and accessability to other travellers makes travelling alone so worthwhile and rewarding.  To have to negotiate and communicate every decision would of ended it ages ago (even with a partner).  I would of been damn difficult to travel with at some points of my trip so it is good that I did it alone.  There were, however, some times when I would of loved company, including Paris, Venice, the difficult trip from Marakesh to Madrid etc. but I am glad that I travelled alone for most of the time.  I was quite surprised as to how little I felt lonely... there were some times I felt lonely but never to the point that I was depressed.  There is so much to do in every place, and you can easily access people through tours and dorms.  I'm also glad that I balanced out the trip with some group tours for I have met some of the most amazing people through these tours.  I wouldn't have lasted a year's travel staying in and travelling as a sole traveller in budget backpackers.  This would of done my head in. 
 

2.  The highpoints of the trip.  This is a damn difficult question to answer given that there were so many highlights, but I'll try to limit the list.
(i) Being immersed in the underground of Bangkok's entertainment nightlife... thanks to Game.
(ii) Trekking through Taman Negara, even though it was extremely difficult, dangerous and messy.
(iii) Climbing the Great Wall of China.
(iv) Trekking through Tibet's Tiger Leaping Gorge.
(v) The pub crawls of Munich and Berlin.  I met so many fantastic like-minded people on these crawls... thanks Jenni and Tom!
(vi)  Being invited to Mostafa's place for lunch in Fes, Morocco.  Gave such in incredible insight into local life there.
(vii) Eurailing through Europe.
(viii)  Trekking through the Andean Mountains (Lares Trek), culminating in a visit to Macchu Piccu even though it was the hardest thing I've ever done.
(ix) Lima.  Need I say more!
(x) Arriving back into Sydney, Australia and walking through the gate to see a whole lot of people waving flags, wearing the union jack and having welcome signs... what an amazing moment.
(xi) Canoeing through Ecuador's Amazon Rainforest.
(xii) The natural splendours of South America including Moreno Glacier and the Iguassu Falls.

3.  The low points of the trip.
(i) Losing my passport in one of China's bustling markets, even though this was resolved with a resounding positive outcome.
(ii) Falling off Princess (the camel) in China's Gobi desert.
(iii) Rude and arrogant tourists... both at the sights and in dorms.  This extends to having noisy and messy room mates in dorms. 
(iv) The tough journey from Marakesh to Madrid.... long and stressful.  Didn't know if I would make it to my flight to Quito.
(v) Probably was at my lowest point in Ireland, hence my desire to return to Australia which I did.
(vi) Having insufficient time in Laos and Cambodia.
(vii) Room mate on my Hong Kong to Shanghai tour.  Awful!
As you can see from this list, I have had very few negative moments!
 
4.  The people who had the most influence on my trip.
I met hundreds and hundreds of people on this trip, from such informal encounters such as the local girl on the local bus in Penang, the many dorms I stayed in, to the formal including the 100 or so people I met on tours with Gap and Intrepid, trips to the beach and other natural splendours, the hundreds of taxi drivers who gave me a damn great insight into the local countries and tragedies (remember the taxi driver in Phuket who lost friends and family to the 2004 Tsunami), day tours I did, to the many people I sat next to on planes, trains, local buses, some taxis, ships, boats, canoes etc.  I would love to mention everyone's name but it simply isn't possible... these people below are definitely stand outs in my memory as my travelpod records.  Meeting people from around the world is definitely the reason I travel.  But these people top the cake for being the most influential...  my god... thankyou to all those people I met for you gave me such a great trip.

(i) Vaesna... Phnom Penh.  Gave me a significant insight into Cambodia's family life by taking me to visit his family in central Cambodia. 
(ii) Game... Bangkok.  A great guy who gave me such a great time in Bangkok, along with showing me interesting insights into Bangkok.  Fed me grasshoppers and a drink with worms in it. 
(iii) Boris... Hong Kong.  Helped me out with the difficult logisitcs of Chinese travel as well as sharing his city with me, albeit shitty weather!
(iv) Ariedna... Hong Kong to Shanghai tour.  What a blast... so much fun and made my journey with a very difficult room mate so rewarding.
(v) Gabrielle... Morocco and South America.  Followed me around the world.  So much fun and a good local to know in Melbourne.
(vi) Daniel... Met in Chiang Mai and followed up with in London.  We have very similar interests and hit it off from the start.  Hope to meet up with you again in Thailand Daniel!
(vii) Julio... Simply the best guide in the world.  Julio gave me such a wonderful insight into South American life and gave me such an unbelievable 5 week trip through South America. 
(viii) Anderson... Lima.  We have made a pledge to speak each other's language next time we meet up.  Such a passionate, understanding, friendly and easy going guy.  An example of the great people in Peru.  They are simply the best.
(ix) Bon... Thailand.  I met Bon at Wishes Bungalow on Koh Samui who gave me such a great time there.
(x) Wendy and James... London.  Gave me such unbelievable hospitality in London's Cheam and gave me significant insight into my grandmother's sister. 
(xi) Mostafa... Fes, Morocco.  Invited me into his home for lunch and treated me as one of the family.  Gave me a great insight into the Islam religion and his house gave me incredible views of all of Fes.  I'd love to return to Fes to see Mostafa again. 
(xii) My mum... without my mum, this trip wouldn't have been possible given that she attended to my business back home and kept me in the loop of absolutely everything happening back home.  Also attended to keeping my cash position afloat.  Such a champion and thank you so much mum for everything you've done for me.
 
5.  Most impressive natural sights.
(i) Tiger Leaping Gorge, China.
(ii) Sahara and Gobi Deserts in Morocco and China.
(iii) Taman Negara Rainforest, Malaysia.
(iv) Ecuador's Amazon.
(v) The Andean Mountains, especially enroute to the start of the Lares Trek.  Flying over these mountains was truly memorable.
(vi) Cliffs of Mohr, Ireland.  Beautiful... so peaceful!
(vii) Iguassu Falls, Brazil and Argentina.
(viii) Moreno Glacier, Argentina.
(ix) Trekking through Patagonia independently.  What a fantastic release.
 
6.  Best cities.
(i) Melbourne... probably number 1.  Thank god it's in Australia.
(ii) Fes
(iii) Bangkok
(iv) Munich
(v) London
(vi) Belfast
(vii) Lima
(viii) Rio De Janeiro... a must return city.
(ix) Barcelona
(x) Buenos Aires
 
7.  Favourite 5 countries... in order.
(i) Thailand
(ii) Peru
(iii) Morocco
(ix) Germany
(x) Brazil
 
8.  How much?  I don't care that I've gone over budget given the significant increase in property values in Perth during the course of 2006... the price of my villa for example increased 40% this year which makes the total cost of the trip look irrelevant.  I'm so glad that I spent the money I did given the outstanding experience I had.  I wouldn't have wanted to do this trip either 5 or 1 star all the way.  Needless to say, a bit of luxury is essential.  A balance gives you such an enriched experience.  All figures are in Australian dollars, and converted to US dollars based on the current exchange rate of 78 US cents for 1 Aussie dollar for my international readers.

SOUTH EAST ASIA
Singapore  6 Nights $394:  $66/Night
Malaysia  23 Nights $1925:  $83/Night
Thailand  24 Nights $2708:  $113/Night
Laos 2 Nights $374:  $187/Night
Vietnam 23 Nights $2603:  $113/Night
Cambodia 3 Nights $375:  $125/Night
Thailand 3 Nights $322:  $107/Night
Total for South East Asia 84 Nights $8701:  $104/Night
or $US6787:  $US81/Night
 
CHINA
52 Nights $7751:  $149/Night or $US6045:  $US116/Night
 
UNITED KINGDOM
18 Nights $1964:  $109/Night or $US1531:  $US85/Night
This would of been considerably higher if it hadn't been for the kind hospitality of my cousins in London.
 
IRELAND:  A rip off.  The most expensive country on my itinerary, magnified by the car hire.  But the only way to see the country.
14 Nights $2985:  $213/Night or $US2328:  $US166/Night
 
EUROPE and MOROCCO:  This included my airfare back to Australia and a 2 month/10 Day flexi Eurail pass throughout Europe.  I believe I kept my budget relatively intact here.
76 Nights $9889:  $130/Night or $US7713:  $US101/Night
 
ECUADOR, PERU AND BOLIVIA:  Great value.  This includes my 5 week tour throughout the region which gave me the best of everything the region has to offer.
38 Nights $4902:  $129/Night or $US3823:  $US100/Night
 
CHILE, ARGENTINA AND BRAZIL:  I lived it up in an apartment in Rio's Ipanema which gives this budget added value. 
63 Nights $7753:  $123/Night or $US6047:  $US96/Night
 
SYDNEY AND MELBOURNE
17 Nights $2734:  $161/Night or $US2132:  $US126/Night
Not bad given I spent 4 nights at Melbourne's 5 star Rialto Hotel and shopped to the value of $300 on South Yarra's exclusive Chapel Street.

TOTAL COST FOR ON-ROAD EXPENSES
$46,679 give or take a few hundred dollars for exchange rate fluctuations. 

BEFORE TRIP COSTS:
$6,000

TOTAL COST FOR A 1 YEAR RTW, 2 STAR TRIP:  $52,679 ($US41,089).

How did I fund this?  I had cash savings, investments in the stock market and 4 credit cards with a huge limit if I needed it.  I'd refuse to sell any real estate to do something like this.  I have relied heavily on a geared managed fund that I have had for 4 years (I'd say it paid for about 2 thirds of the cost).  Australia's stock returns of 20 per cent per year over the last 4 years has meant that I saved the equity needed to fund this trip.  Nevertheless, I have allocated part of the trip to short term debt (credit cards) which I have since consolidated into low cost debt, including Citibank's Personal Credit Loan at 6.9% interest and St George's Vertigo Credit Card at 0% for 6 months and 8.99% thereafter. 
 
THERE are ways that you can finance your trip, even if you have limited cash flow.  I'm fortunate that I do have a mind for numbers so email me if you want to know more about financing a trip of such magnitude.  I budgeted that I would need $32,000 to fund my trip... in the scheme of my life, I don't care less about the $14,000 I overspent. 
 
I believe I got great value for what I did.
 
If you want anything else included in this entry, please let me know!  Maybe some of my readers have different ideas or opinions as to what I should include here.
 

Thank you once again.  Looking forward to returning home to Perth, albeit for a short time.  The world is such a big place and the journey continues.  Melbourne in April and who knows after that.

Print this entry Share

Previous Entry Next Entry