Speaking of RTW's, NW recently gave me an Awards ticket JFK-PEK that routed me thus:

JFK-NRT-PEK-AMS-JFK

So I've just finished my first RTW, tho' I only got an hour in NRT terminal and four hours in Amsterdam (enough time to go drink some coffee downtown).

As for RTWs, why not just buy as you go? Just about everywhere outside of the first world, the airline industry is sufficiently undeveloped such that there are no real advance purchase discounts. You'll have a lot of flexibility, and you just might end up flying places you didn't even realize existed, let alone wanted to visit before you arrived. There is also the possibility of adding overland travel, like a quick jaunt down the Trans-Siberian ...