So how did I go about finding the right RTW route for me when I went to book flights for my RTW Solo Trip?

Many people have asked me this recently and I often just stop and unbelievably have forgotten why! So this post to remind myself and also tell you WHY I have chosen this route as told on my 2012 Plans Post.

WARNING: This Post May Cause You To Get In A Jealous Rage!

SE Asia

Traditional backpacker route you may cry out! I thought that was to be the case and avoided this region as I wanted to experience another continent. However, upon discovering other travel blogs, it seemed that EVERYONE went there and have fallen in love with it. Reading their experiences, I could see immediately why. In just one small corner of the world are the best cultures, food explosions and the best people ever! Crazy Thailand, Breathtaking Laos, Cultured Vietnam, Historical Cambodia, Foody Malaysia and Technological Singapore!

Also, the way of life is so laid back there and I absolutely need this to recheck my life as it has been fairly stressful in the last 2 years and I was getting myself in a tizzy over what to do with my life. So, landing in SE Asia, any thoughts of the future are instantly banished to the realms of Mordor and I can open my eyes again and recapture the wanderlust.

Food! Food! Food! I love love love my food and I’ll hoover up what’s in front of me with smacking lips, contented sighs and far too appreciative noises. SE Asia is the land of food so I’m so insanely excited to be trying out all the foods, and more so going on cooking courses in Thailand, Laos and Malaysia hopefully. However, I do draw the line at eating dog in Vietnam.

The Beaches! I’m not a massive beach person as I cannot tolerate laying on sand for more than a day I’ll be exploring the clear blue seas for my snorkelling, watching the sunsets, playing games with the locals and of course, checking out the talent! I’m so excited to be going to Ko Samui, Ko Lanta and especially Sihankoville.

The Gorgeous Scenery! Each place is so different and I hope to show you through my photos I’ll post on here but I’ll never stop staring out across the horizons of Laos (reputably the most beautiful place in SE Asia) and especially Halong Bay of Vietnam.

So in 2 weeks time, this is where all my International Rexy Edventures begins!

Australia

All in my life, I’ve always wanted to go to Australia. No doubt about it. It was just a done deal. But why Cairns first? First all, it’s got everything there upon arrival, you have the rainforest, the warm weather, the Great Barrier Reef and the start of a fantastic Australian Journey!

As most happening places in Australia are along the East Coast, that’s where I will be backpacking through in order to experience the varying different cultures and climates of the continent therefore ending up at Melbourne, the most southernly point of my trip there. And I’m certainly looking forward to my Neighbours set tour there. I know! Neighbours Fan Alert!

For me, it holds a special regards as I’m a very keen Environmentalist and I am looking forward to get involved in Sustainability, Perma-culture, Eco-management and Organic Farming on my placements throughout the east Coast of Australia.You may heard of WWOOF? World Wide Opportunities for Organic Farming. I’m already contacting with my first 2 preferred placements hopefully in Cape Tribulation and also Atherton in Queensland for rainforest management and rehabilitating wildlife.

Also, I’m hoping to undertake some homestays so I can get straight involved in the Australian Culture. This Pom may be converted!

So where do I fancy going down the East Coast? Taking advantage of the climate and weather, I hope to stay around the Cairns area for most of June and beginning of July and I’ll definitely be fitting in a trip out to the Great Barrier Reef! I could try to do with a PADI diving course but we will see if snorkelling will do just the trick. By Mid July, I hope to have visited Magnetic Island off Townsville and do the 4×4 driving experience on the sandy island of Fraser Island off Airlie Beach. Perhaps even fit in a boat cruise through the Whitsunday Islands? What do you think? Are you too jealous to respond?Either way, I’ll arrive in my most anticipated destination of Brisbane or Britvegas! My dad went there some years ago and he’s always raving about it so I’d love to see for myself! Australia Zoo, check out the carnivals there, get involved in the city culture etc. we will see.

So by August, it’s my birthday! Where shall I spend it? I honestly have no clue but I’ll just have to go with the flow. But by then, I’ll be surfing in Byron Bay.

So in August, I hope to have gone into Sydney and also get myself on another WWOOF placement before high tailing it to Melbourne via Canberra, the capital of Australia. Getting into Melbourne, I ‘ll be checking out the cafe culture there before going on the Great Ocean Road to see the 13 Apostles. But I can’t stray too far as I need to be back in Melbourne for my flight out to New Zealand.

You may want to take a break at this point to get a drink of water to hydrate your green eyes.

I wish I can explore the other parts of Australia such as the Western Coast or perhaps even the Northern Territory but maybe sometime in the future…(those explosions you heard were my aunts falling off their chairs In shock!)

New Zealand

Lord of the Rings Country! Also, I very narrowly missed out on a Journey of a Lifetime, when I was 14, to go with a group of people with special needs to hike from one end of New Zealand to another. I was totally gutted when I couldn’t go! The scenery is apparently extremely gorgeous and I want to feast my eyes on them.

I extremely want to see the Franz Josef/Fox Glaciers as I’m really interested in these natural wonders especially as I have studied them at school.

So in this trip to New Zealand, I will be looping the whole islands in 1 month on the Kiwi Experience Bus to what I hear is the Party Bus.

But where do I want to go? Definitely, the Bay of Islands, Auckland, Rotutura, Lake Taupo to do a skydive ahem, climbing the mountain that was Mt Doom in LotR (Lord of the Rings), going to Welly for the capital experience then to Nelly for the wine experience! Queenstown to see if I have finally got the courage to throw myself off a bridge with just an elasticated rope bound round my feet, and see the infamous glaciers. There’s far too many to list so I’m thankful I have got on board with the Kiwi Experience Bus to speed me around the islands. In hindsight, I wish I could added another month to my Iternary for New Zealand…maybe next year…

Fiji

I know it sounds ridiculuous but the first time I heard about Fiji was when I watched ‘The Truman Show‘ starring Jim Carrey. His love interest would tell him that she’s dreamed of going to Fiji. From that point on, that name always held a special interest for me and like that love interest, it’s always held a place where I dreamed of going…

But I’m sure after all that travelling, I need a rest on the beautiful scenery that is Fiji. This is the place where I don’t have many expectations but I think I’ll be very pleasantly surprised and maybe result in being the highlight of my trip.

Expect envious photos!

USA

The final country of my trip and the largest! There’s absolutely no way I’ll be able to get round everywhere there so I committed myself to doing just the western coast experience.Sorry New York, we may meet on new year’s Eve!

Why do I want to come to America? Well who wouldn’t? Most of the tv shows I watch and especially Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Geek Alert!) takes place in California and it seems to be the place of stunning smiles, fantastic geological structures and craziness!

So by then, it’ll be getting on to the end of October, my funds will start to worry the bank but perhaps I can top them up by playing Poker like James Bond in Vegas! But before that, I’ll have done the star studded tour of Los Angeles, ridden the iconic trams of San Francisco, camped in the Grand Canyon and seen the world wonder of Yellowstone National Park.This truly American Adventure has me looking forward to it!So by mid Nov, it’s time for me to come home from what will have been a fantastic and a life-changing Rexy Edventure!

I for one cannot wait! Go on, tell me you aren’t jealous! 😉

Why did you book your flights to where you’ve always wanted to go on your RTW Trip?