It’s really exciting planning a trip around the world. Browsing the web for fun cities to visit, flipping through guidebooks to find cool sights, and talking to friends about places they’ve explored just makes me want to pack up and go tomorrow. But, because we’re planning a pretty extensive/exhaustive trip, we’re putting a lot of thought into the planning of our trip. I’ve listed below the major things we’re thinking about over the next couple of months. What we really need though is your help! Have you globe-trotted? Do you have some great advice, tips or tricks for us? Please share with us! We’ll be eternally grateful.

• Where do we want to go? In a perfect world, we’d like to go, well, everywhere! The 3 of us sat down and came up with our “first round” list of places we’d like to see – and the number of major cities came in at well over 100. While this is certainly an attainable dream, it’s a little unrealistic for this upcoming adventure. We’ll be working to narrow down this list to maybe 20 or so hot spots, which will be featured on the Our Route page. Do you have any suggestions for places that are MUST VISIT?
• How are we going to get there? We already have airfare from Los Angeles to Sydney, Sydney to Hong Kong, HK to London, and then a flight back to LA (thank you, VAustralia!). But for all the other places we’d like to explore, there are often a variety of transportation options available. Should we book flights “on the fly” while we’re on the road, shopping around for the best deals? Where will train/bus transportation be more convenient and/or affordable? We want our trip to have a sense of spontaneity, but at the same time some things will need to be planned out in advance.
• Where are we going to stay? There are tons of different options for lodging: hotels, hostels, B&Bs, and couches are all things that we’re considering. Obviously there are pros and cons to each, and it’s likely we’ll end up experiencing a mix of all these choices. Outside of transportation, we expect that our lodging costs will be one of the more expensive line items in our budget. Have you ever stayed on a stranger’s couch in a foreign country? Did you have a good experience?
• How are we going to keep in touch? We want to share every aspect of our trip online. Through blog posts, photos, and videos, one of the things that makes this trip so exciting is the “share factor.” How have you best maintained communication with the internet world while traveling abroad? Any one using fancy tech to get the job done, or do you stick to internet cafes?

We’ll be posting updates on the trip planning as it really starts to solidify. In the meantime, we’re really excited to hear about your travel planning experiences. Leave a comment and let us know your thoughts!

Image courtesy of VladStudio.com.