Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Demonicat]

Over shisha and kafta tonight I formulated a plan. In keeping with the theme of New Years resolutions, I have resolved myself to completing my life goal and traveling around the world. I, however, find it way too bougeouis and Conde Nast to go by plane, so I'll be backpacking (foot, train, bus, boat).
Point of this thread:
1)Any tips or suggestions? (positive stuff only, please)
2) Anyone else interested? (projected departure in one year (perhaps slightly longer for weather. Time until then for peparations, physical training, and getting to know fellow travelers if any)

[ddeubel]

Jesper could give you some advice at www.worldrun.org A fellow ultrarunner. If you want to train, come out and run some races across Korea with me and other ultra runners......

Or probably some better advice which you could use is

DONT PLAN, DO IT!!!! --almost all this advice gathering, research, reading etc ..... for any endeavour is really only to satiate your desire. And once that is done, you will drop the REAL THING. So don't plan, do it.

A famous man who was the first to cross Antarctic at the ripe age of 54, unassisted, pulling everything said when asked how he could have done it,

"I didn't do anything special. The only difference between me and others is that I went out and did it. "

You can do a lot if you don't know you can't. Good luck. Bring lots of duct tape.

DD

[Grotto]

friends of mine took the orient express to Moscow..they thought it was a great way to meet people and see expanses of the country. Just make sure you book yourself a private sleeping car....unless you wish to sleep next to livestock

[kermo]

exciting!
I've been doing a little Eurasian travel planning myself, and found that the Trans-Siberian railway has a lot to offer, and plenty of websites and books to help with planning. It doesn't go through too many countries though-- just from Beijing, through Mongolia to Russia, around Kazahkstan to St. Petersburg. It's just as well-- there are fewer visas to obtain.

Anyway, shouldn't this be in the travel forum?

[Demonicat]

Kermo, you're right I should have put this in travel (I forgot that there was a travel forum now). My biggest decision as far as that goes is north or south. North, there is the orient express which would take me halfway there, but that would be cold, and it would take me half way there. Southerly is alot more countries but alot more hot spots for disease and violence, but alot more excitement. I'm leaning southerly right now.

[joe_doufu]

I've been mulling over a plan - tell me if you think this is crazy - but I think it's something that nobody has ever done before. Maybe I'll do it someday. Not soon though. So I'll share it with you, because I would hate to take such a novel idea to my grave if I should never carry it out.

I suggest a full 360 degree circumnavigation of the Earth....

...vertically.

[schwa]

Do you guys really mean "Orient Express"? I'm sure it would be an interesting rail experience but my quick research suggests its a premium European run going only as far east as Bucharest or Istanbul.

I've got a hankering to go to Varanasi or Kathmandu again. I reached there travelling eastward from Canada in 1972 & to set foot there from here again strikes me as fair claim to having circled the globe. For what its worth.

[VanIslander]

The more I've researched the transSiberian railway, the more touristy bubble world it seems.

Now, to drive across Siberia, stopping off anywhere and everywhere... that would be fun!

I still have dreams of making a trip, four people together, across asia on a subrussian "silk road" sort of route.

evrrything's been done but some waaaaay more than others... am just not interested in a disneyland tour

[kangnam mafioso]

i wanted to do around the world as well .. i took planes though -- detroit -seoul-bangkok-kuala lumpar - amsterdam - prague - munich -- atlanta.

try
www.airtreks.com

[VanIslander]

[HapKi]

the get-up-and-go attitude is motivating, (there is a certain thrill in arriving in a city with no idea where you will sleep that night), but put at least a tiny bit of thought into lodging. If nothing else, an area of town to head for.

Or you can try globalfreeloaders.com, a free organization where people host and provide spare beds, floor space, whatever, to travelers going through their town. I've hosted several people, including a Canadian couple going around the world.

[HapKi]

[VanIslander]

Hapki, you're right! wow! i didn't realize.....

airtreks has some decent prices, considering...

my dream trip (through this method)

Seoul - Bangkok - Sydney - Singapore - Delhi - Bombay/Mumbai - Cairo - Dar Es Salaam - Casablanca - Lisbon - Paris - Lisbon - Rio de Janeiro - Sao Paulo - Buenos Aires - Santiago - Lima - Quito - San Jose - Belize - Miami - New York - Halifax

$ 6881 - 8257 u.s.

dang! I can save that easily in six months. of course, the costs of taxes, getting around, and the basics would be double that, still... one year's savings would do it, a year and a half for sure...

sidetrips on the journey:

From Bangkok, travel around s.e. asia.
From Sydney, go up the east coast by bus to swim and scuba, then train it across to Perth or Darwin.
From Delhi travel India
From Dar es Salaam, go across Tanzania to Kilimanjaro
From Paris travel europe by train and bus
From Buenos Aires, travel Argentina, Uruguay.
From Quito, travel Ecuador to the Galapagos
From Halifax see eastern canada via greyhound then train it back to b.c.

would take a year to do,...

one can dream...

(still... I think flying isn't the best way to travel the world... I'd rather drive/bus/train/ship it around the world)

[kangnam mafioso]

[HapKi]

VanIslander- as a rough guide on around-the-world alliance trips, go to xanadu.co.kr and click on around the world.
Your proposed itinerary is mighty awe-inspiring, to say the least.