Congratulations! Great plan.. just a few comments:

I wouldn't visit countries where "white people" are generally seen as walking money bags. While such countries are ok for a weekend, it can get quite annoying for a longer strech of time.

Countries that are cheap and don't have that attitude are probably found abundant in Eastern Europe. Which would make a great stay from spring to autumn, not so much in winter. Regarding winter (unless you like it cold), I would say Malaysia and Indonesia have cheap prices (accomodations, food, transport) while being reasonable safe and (usually) don't scam/overcharge as other countries would do.

I found CAI (and generally North Africa) to be doable, but rather annoying. I wouldn't want to visit it again on a tight budget.

UAE are definitely a great idea, but hotel prices vary a lot. I'd go when hotel are cheap (Ramadan.. summer if you don't mind the heat.. late autumn.. ) - in winter it's quite expensive.

Regarding the Americas, I've less experience. I'd say Argentina is more sane now that they've made their currency rates "normal" again, otherwise in middle america it's a bit like the "walking money bag" again..

Awesome trip!

Tips:

1. Plan your currency exchanges in advance if you can. A lot of the places you are going won't take credit cards.

2. Europe isn't all that bad for pricing. There's hostels in major cities where you can grab a bed for 10 euros per night if necessary. Scout ahead and your money will last ages.

3. Do EVERYTHING. Chances are you'll never go back and you don't want to wonder what X, Y and Z might have been like.

4. Egypt, head to the Red Sea coast around Hurghada. Not quite as commercial as Sharm El Sheik and you can do a lot of the same things for half the money.

5. Start a thread on here called "SteveP2016's Trip Of a Lifetime" and keep sending us news, questions and updates. I'm sure quite a few of us would follow that!

Sounds like a great trip!

You may wish for longer in Australia depending on how much you want to see.

Reading back through this thread, one of the things I love about FT is the responses here.

OP: Can I do this? Is this possible?
FT: High five. Spend more time here, less time here. Make sure you do XYZ. BTW remember to get visas.

In this crowd it's always a given that you can and should travel the world. Safe travels in your adventure, OP!

I'm not sure of your budget and obviously can't evaluate your health. In the early 80s we managed to generally keep to a $30/day + inter-city travel for 3 people budget. That was impossible in any first-world location, though.

I've been on the road that long at age 16 and less than 3 months of that was in first-world places. Plan to spend some time just relaxing, it wears you down. Carry no souvenirs--if you can't mail it home promptly don't get it. Expect to have to replace some clothing and if you're at all on the large side expect this to be hard in any third world location. (Note that "large" covers more than fat--my at the time size 11 feet proved quite problematic! Now, wearing 13EEEE I would consider replacement footgear to simply be out of the question in most places.)

Also, consider that some vaccinations don't last the duration of your trip. Plan where you will get your shots.

And a button for donations!

Steve, I wish you all the best with your trip. Your story is inspiring. The advice I would give you is:

1. Budget well and have a back-up plan if you run short on cash. Keep an emergency credit card that you don't use for everyday stuff, but can charge an emergency flight or hotel stay on. You might even pick up some sign up miles to pay for a couple of flights.
2. Check out Eurail passes for your time in Europe. Distances are short and train travel is easy and cheap. As there are unlimited passes, you can even hop on an overnight train to somewhere, if you are stuck for accommodation.
3. Stay with friends and family for part of your trip, if possible. You said you have a brother in Australia. This will greatly help in keeping down costs and giving you some home-style comforts. Yes, Australia is expensive but the currency is weakening rapidly, so it's getting cheaper.
4. Travel as light as you can and take old, hard wearing clothes that you don't mind throwing away on route. You can always do laundry etc at hostels and you are certain to acquire more stuff on route. Excess baggage fees should not eat into your budget.
5. Enjoy yourself. You will likely have many ups and downs on such a trip, but if you have the right outlook (and it sounds like you have) you will return with some amazing experiences and memories.
Good luck!

I'd change up the order of your trip and try to avoid the EU during August. I'd try to use a RTW flight and then intersperse round trips on separate itineraries. You will need a few positioning flights and strange routings once in a while but this can be done.

My order would be EU in spring making sure to hit Eastern Europe. I'd jump to SE Asia and then on to Oceania and Australia. Finish your trip in South America and Central America. I haven't done a trip like this since I'm all corporate travel but that's my instinct.

Congrats and it sounds like an awesome trip. The money might be a little tight, but with serious budgeting, eating like the locals, and your plan for cheap stays you could pull it off. Why would you want to spend 2 months in India? Just curious, as that is one of the few countries in the world that I have little to no interest in visiting. I would take some of the time planned in India and disperse it elsewhere, especially SE Asia. You can live very cheaply there and we just love it, but ultimately it is your trip and I am sure that you will have a great time.^

👍+1
I sincerely admire you. No better way to feel alive than to try and experience all this world has to offer: see it, taste it, hike it ...
You will indeed meet many others along your journey; fellow travellers, wanderers, explorers, natives, new friends... What could be crazy about that?

I remember coming over to London for my first time overseas from the U.S. (long before I ended up living here) for a friend's wedding. I departed London for 3 weeks with a very loose travel plan and a 'Let's Go GB and Ireland' book. Met so many great people along the way - ended up touring every county in Ireland by car with some girls I met in a hostel in Dublin. Great memories.
If you find yourself making a pits top in London for any reason, send a line.😀 Always happy to help. Best of luck to you!

Definitely put me in the *high five* camp. Go for it! Right now, I think I'd need $100k to do that trip, but I also remember a time when I would have said $24k/yr = $2k/mo = $60/day....yeah, I can do that!

Now on to my own less/more recommendations:

- 2 weeks of Turkey: this actually could be about right, it just wouldn't be all in Istanbul. Lots of archaeology, nature, beach, etc. in Turkey.

- 10 weeks of Central America feels very long. 20% of your trip right there...I'd probably knock that down to a couple weeks of Belize and Costa Rica. I'd skip Cancun unless you're solely there for some of the nearby Mayan sites: Cancun itself is a tourist trap. Take 6-8 weeks of this time and distribute it among South America and Southeast Asia.

- I've never been to Iceland, but everybody tells me it's heaven and I'd want more than 3 days there.

- I'd definitely shift Europe to Sept/Oct (or to the start of your trip - April/May), especially if you want to hit the hostels, pensiones, and Airbnb spots popular with backpackers.

- I don't have any problem with 2-3 days in CAI. You'd have a full pyramid day, a museum day, and your going/coming day. If you do this, hit Giza right when it opens and then get the hell out of there when the bus tours roll up. Go down to Saqqara and Dahshur in the afternoon...we did this and had the entire North Pyramid to ourselves. A more extensive Egyptian trip would include Luxor, Aswan, and Abu Simbel...if you're *really* into Egypt. That would be 7-10 days.

- Maybe consider a couple weeks of Isreal/Jordan.

- I'd allot a lot of time to Southeast Asia because there are so many different experiences to be had there. More than anywhere else, this is where I think you'd be likely to throw in an unplanned extension or ad-hoc modification to your trip. I think this is where I'd earmark some of those Central America weeks...

- Any thought given to more of Africa (beyond Egypt)?

- Maybe work a little Nepal/Bhutan into that 2 months allocated to India. 1 week of each would be enough to do some amateur (guided) trekking. 3-4 weeks are needed to do serious altitude trekking. (Higher altitude treks also get expensive.) With or without trekking, these are absolutely fascinating places.

Bhutan is VERY expensive. Visitors (non Bhutan or Indian citizens) are required to spend at least $200 US/day. May break the OPs budget.

^ Well done and welcome to Flyer Talk

Well said by the way. ^

A few things I would make sure of:

1. Vaccinations - make sure you have had all the shots you need, and obtain any prescriptions you might need (including maybe some 'just in case' meds if you are going to be off the beaten track). Some of your destinations will need anti malarials, not sure how long those tablets are good for (i.e. if you can get them before you leave). You may also need Yellow Fever certificates travelling between some destinations. Some vaccinations need time between them to give you full cover, so you might want to look into getting them done sooner than later. Make sure you tell the travel doc that you will be staying in budget accommodation, and may be off the beaten track - things like rabies shots may become more relevant than for your average 2 week holidaymaker.

2. I am assuming you live in Vancouver - your BC healthcare will expire if you are out of the country for that long (you have to be physically present in BC for X months during the year. A lot of Canadian health insurance policies are contingent on you having valid provincial health care, and I know people caught out by this when their home health cover expires due to being out of country. I really do think you need a good health insurance plan - a lot of the countries listed present possibilities for weird and wonderful diseases, but completely aside from that you can get hit by a car in any city in the world! Having good medical coverage is an essential investment IMO.

3. Make arrangements with someone at home to be able to do things on your behalf (e.g. at your bank) just in case you need to. Have a spare credit card kept completely separate from the rest of your belongings as far as possible (e.g. one on your body, one in your bag) - I even know someone who sewed an emergency card and cash into their clothing (that seems extreme!). Keep a copy of your passport in the same place. I also make sure I have a copy electronically in a drop box.Whilst kinda archaic, travellers cheques are still accepted in lots of places, and are insured if you lose them / they get stolen, so might not be a bad back up plan.

4. Visas - plan out what you need to get and when, and how. Some countries you can apply for electronic visas (e.g. Australia) so you don't need to part with your passport, but other countries still need you to send your passport in. In some countries, you cannot be a visitor and not have your passport (i.e. you have to have it with you at all times) and I would *never* want to be in a country without a passport in case I had to get home in an emergency (e.g. ill family member) or if something bad happened where I was (terrorism, war breaks out etc.) Some visas can only be obtained within x weeks of travelling (and may require proof of travel), other visas can be obtained ahead of time and remain valid for months. All to say, the visas are probably the biggest thing that will impact the order, duration and timing of your trip.

5. Don't forget you still have to do some real life things (like filing your tax return) no matter where you are in the world!