Year-long working RTW

goodgodholmes

Hey all, my friend and I are looking at doing a year-long RTW after we both finish college. Thing is, we'd like to work in some cities along the way to pay our way and then holiday for the rest.

We wouldn't mind it being slightly longer than a year, but it seems most tickets are restrictive in that way... anyone know if it's possible to get round this?

Is this feasible, and can anyone who's either done it before or done an RTW share some thoughts?

It'd be a long way off yet, most likely not til 2011, so we've a good while to plan.

thoughts?

gixerfixer600

When you're planning on working, it's best to work in 1st world cities and earn 1st world money to travel to 2nd/3rd world countries.

I worked in Melbourne for 6 months. Drifted from job to job until I got a job working behind a bar in one of the upmarket hotels in the city centre. This kind of work has several advantages:

-They give you a uniform which they wash and iron after each shift. This saves you having to fork out for formal work gear. All I had to buy was a pair of shoes.

-The nature of Hotel work is that staff get fed before and after their shift. You're eating good hotel food for nothing which saves a packet.

-The hourly pay rates are not what you'd get in your normal 9-5 at home but they're reasonable. Add on working unsociable shifts and extra hours and you can easily come out with 4-5 thousand bucks a month.

-Flexible hours which can suit your day to day backpacking needs.

-Good way of meeting local aussies and getting off the backpacker merry-go-round.

After 3 months in the hotel I was able to save up 7000 bucks which paid for travelling through South America.

dory

While planning my only advice is save like mad!
Even working you'll need money, takes a while to get jobs and such.
I did an RTW but just saved like a mad yoke and survived the year on 15,000 but not spending too long in expensive countries.

goodgodholmes

We'll probably end up staying longer than 12 months. We've decided to kinda take life as it comes when we're away rather than having a set itinerary, work for money for a few months and then see where the world takes us... we're gonna know where we're going, but don't want to be too regimented as regards time (if we like a place lots we'd want to stay there longer)

Are there any tickets that allow this kind of freedom? Even if we knew where we wanted to go but no timescale?

dory

Well most tickets have some time frame.
Maybe get a one year half rtw ticket like I did. Then you have one year to make your way to Aus/NZ. Then do the necessary there, buy another half rtw when you feel ready.
But generally if you want cheap tickets, you can't change.

goodgodholmes

dory wrote: »

Well most tickets have some time frame.
Maybe get a one year half rtw ticket like I did. Then you have one year to make your way to Aus/NZ. Then do the necessary there, buy another half rtw when you feel ready.
But generally if you want cheap tickets, you can't change.

Can't change what.... the time period or the itinerary?

Would it be much of a hike for flexibility?

What company do you recommend?

paddylonglegs

my two cents - agreeing with dory, save like mad. Don't get it into your head that you'll save x amount before you go, and then you'll earn the rest as you travel. Ireland has such a good wage rate that it makes sense to be spending Euro in other countries, including Oz and NZ. Keep an eye on currency exchange too, www.xe.com. When i was in Oz, the euro was 2 dollars to a euro, we could really notice the value.

Try and have a good contingency so that if the work thing doesn't work out, that you have just enough money to be able to enjoy a good chunk of the rest of your travels (and that you haven't spent it all while looking for a job).

oh, and try to have a few quid when you come home. So depressing when you can't even go for a pint with your mates when you land off the plane!