Hi - and thanks for offering your advice. I've been saving miles for years to try to plan a RTW itinerary -- hopefully in 2016.

In the meantime, though, a great opportunity has come to visit Australia next September. I have been tentatively hired to lead workshops in Cairns 9/26 - 10/2/15. There's not much money in the gig, but it covers most expenses, and I'd love to take advantage of the journey to also see New Zealand (a dream destination for me !) and somewhere in Asia (first choice Japan, possibly Thailand, Singapore …).

Here's are the puzzle pieces, for which your advice would be helpful:

• 1) The gig is tentative - they will not confirm until February or so. That seems late to be starting to plan a mileage-based itinerary, so I'm inclined to research and book it this fall, and just hang out in Cairns for a week if the gig falls through. Does this make sense ? How soon do I need to start ?
• 2) What kind of open-jaw / stopover combination is realistic to hope for ? I was thinking of a week or so in Japan or elsewhere in Asia on one of the Pacific legs, and definitely a week or more in New Zealand on the other. Can this be done without burning-up too many of my miles ?
• 3) Cairns is clearly not a major hub. I'd be happy making Sydney or Melbourne as the main destination on the itinerary, and just figuring out a train (or brief flight) to Cairns as needed.
• 4) A challenge: my miles are scattered among several programs -- and even a handful of Avios (which might be handy for short one ways ?). Please remember, my goal is not to burn through too many miles on this trip, since I hope to have a RTW journey the following year !

Thanks for any general or specific advice you can offer on tackling this puzzle (I figure to probably use an award booking service, but want to start out with a good sense of what's realistic to ask for) !

US 115
UA 53
AA 160
DL 110
BA 40