If no work or family commitment, how long is your dream trip before returning home?

[zoossh]

saw a thread of someone going off for more than a year. and it seem like that also wanted such too. well, most sg have difficulty getting more than a week of holiday, but how true is it to have dreams of extended leave beyond a year or so for how many of us? i wonder.

post your thoughts. share your story. give your views on yourself, or of opinions on others u know or do not know personally....

 

[limwhow]

Haha... zoossh, well I believe you are the person that will start a good thread like this!
For myself, it is not possible to leave home for more than 2 weeks.
I wish in my heart, one day if I ever were to retire, I would take trips to cities in different parts of the world, or towns or villages even in slightly more remote places, and spend one month each time there to soak in the atmosphere of the place.
I will not stay more than a month but to return home first, before I were to go off again.
Haha... Of course, this is but a dream of mine.

 

[Estherfu]

It has been back of my mine for some time...to be able to go away longer than 2 weeks, which I have not done in my whole life besides time away for exams and work decades ago.

Well...may be in a couple of years' time if I decide to do so, and physically still able, I will embark on my Wandering Journey... My first destination will be a Japanese village...erh.. after I re-learn my Japaneses..:sweatsm:

I don't think I can be away for too long, may be 3 months Max., as I may need "home comfort" to recuperate. For more senior individuals, traveling is enjoyable but also stressful.. (like my last sgtekkers trip, stressed by just looking at limwhow and sereneXMM's gear!!)

What about financial planning? How does one travel away for long period bring along enough $? Open an local bank account upon arrival or bring enough travelers' check? Someone will have to pay for the credit cards bills if they are used abroad..:think:

esther

 

[limwhow]

It has been back of my mine for some time...to be able to go away longer than 2 weeks, which I have not done in my whole life besides time away for exams and work decades ago.

Well...may be in a couple of years' time if I decide to do so, and physically still able, I will embark on my Wandering Journey... My first destination will be a Japanese village...erh.. after I re-learn my Japaneses..:sweatsm:

I don't think I can be away for too long, may be 3 months Max., as I may need "home comfort" to recuperate. For more senior individuals, traveling is enjoyable but also stressful.. (like my last sgtekkers trip, stressed by just looking at limwhow and sereneXMM's gear!!)

What about financial planning? How does one travel away for long period bring along enough $? Open an local bank account upon arrival or bring enough travelers' check? Someone will have to pay for the credit cards bills if they are used abroad..:think:

esther

This... Hahaha....
Eh... no more already, no more already... kena scolded by Adrian already.

 

[pupuce]

What about financial planning? How does one travel away for long period bring along enough $? Open an local bank account upon arrival or bring enough travelers' check? Someone will have to pay for the credit cards bills if they are used abroad..:think:

For long term travel - firstly, one should have a local bank account with your travel budget $$ in there and then after apply for a credit card which also has the ATM function (such as Mastreo, Cirrus) which can withdraw money almost anywhere in the world where there are ATMS (if it is working) You also dont have to worry about money changer as you will receive the local currency wherever you are.
At the same time, you apply for Giro payments for your credit card/withdrawal payment.
Simple as that.

As for Travellers cheques, it depends where you are going . In many 3rd world countries, it is just too difficult because they dont even know what it is. To open a bank account in the country will be much of a hassle fi you staying there only for 1-2 months.. plus you dont know if you'll get your money back when you close it

 

[alantkh]

even if I have no family commitment, I will miss home.

It really depends on who I am travelling with. If I can travel with my family, then maybe 1 month before it gets tiring. I like comfortable places so it will probably be expensive. And if it is expensive, you tend to try to squeeze as much as possible into the trip which makes it tiring.

Else the most 2-3 weeks. If I have time + money, I will bring my family to US + alaska + canada for 4 weeks.

 

[GRbenji]

I believe the big decision is whether one is willing to give up one' career or at least put on hold. I've met people who had done that.

 

[night86mare]

given unlimited money, i think a year would be just nice.

if you live in comfort in various B&B, have a good serviceable car, i think a year would be just nice to cover sufficient areas of the uk coast to my heart's content at a leisurely pace. it would be the greatest time of my life. looking forward to getting enough money to do that after retirement.

 

[GRbenji]

given unlimited money, i think a year would be just nice.

if you live in comfort in various B&B, have a good serviceable car, i think a year would be just nice to cover sufficient areas of the uk coast to my heart's content at a leisurely pace. it would be the greatest time of my life. looking forward to getting enough money to do that after retirement.

And how much, if I may ask, is enough money after retirement? And at what age is ideally for retirement? Surely the amount will have to cover living expenses after the trip too. If not have to come out of retirement immediately after trip.

 

[ArcticFox]

I want to be a journalism where traveling is a job.

Reality check —3 month every year is nice to explore a country.

 

[night86mare]

And how much, if I may ask, is enough money after retirement? And at what age is ideally for retirement? Surely the amount will have to cover living expenses after the trip too. If not have to come out of retirement immediately after trip.

do i look like a gypsy with a crystal ball?

 

[euterpe]

When I first set off on my long trip, I thought that I'll get tired of it all, and want to be home by the end of two months.... it's four months now, and I really have to get home (because I think I will get disowned if I postpone my return any further), but I am not homesick yet, and I do think I can do this for a year or so....

 

[limwhow]

When I first set off on my long trip, I thought that I'll get tired of it all, and want to be home by the end of two months.... it's four months now, and I really have to get home (because I think I will get disowned if I postpone my return any further), but I am not homesick yet, and I do think I can do this for a year or so....

euterpe, my friend... hahaha...
We were all thinking if you would just go on and on and on...
But I think these four months must have been quite an experience...
Nothing that I think I have ever had the pleasure of experiencing before.
Eh... you tahan a little bit more and 'dong' a little bit more lah...
don't come back so fast yet leh.

 

[kkgoxplore]

IF only . . . I will come home when I decided to. That would be the ideal lifestyle - do what you enjoy and no pressure of time and other commitment.

 

[pupuce]

When I first set off on my long trip, I thought that I'll get tired of it all, and want to be home by the end of two months.... it's four months now, and I really have to get home (because I think I will get disowned if I postpone my return any further), but I am not homesick yet, and I do think I can do this for a year or so....

I was warned by a friend who did the round the world trip before, to be prepared that it will hit me hard between the 6-8 months zone. I said "baaah".. i was having too much fun and enjoying the freedom of time and space. Truth enough, it hit me at the 7th month and I was crying myself to sleep.. nearly went home (nothing shameful about that ,really but in the end I plough on and after a few weeks of rest, I regain the same enthusiasm and excitement just like the beginning..

You have been warned:devil::devil:

 

[snowspeeder]

It would be a dream come true someday when I go on this trip:

http://www.nationalgeographicexpeditions.com/expeditions/antarctica-cruise/detail

 

[ManWearPants]

I would think people with family will have difficulty getting away for too long. People with loans to service will not be able to be without jobs for too long. And those who are steadily climbing up the corporate ladder will find it hard to give it all up. Those just starting out in the working class will not be able to afford a prolong trip. So I would think only those determined enough/crazy enough/enough is enough will want to do something like this.

if you do a country for 2 weeks a year. You will need 200 years to complete the world. ok lah, you don't need to go to every place on earth. So for most that will be 30-40 countries in a lifetime. And if you buy a pair of return air tickets for each of those 30 trips, that will be ard $45k. Assuming the accomodation adds up to another $45k for those 30-40 trips. That will be $90k. I don't know how realistic it is to travel 1/2 the world with less than $20k in between 3-6 months. I know of someone who did the whole world with US$15k. So you do get more bang for the buck by making a single trip (ok a bit of my nonsense reasoning)

I am used to going home once every 6 months as I have lived overseas a couple of times for long periods. So 6 months to me is very comfortable. Anything longer will be stretching my limits, not so much as being in a foreign place but more for being too long without those things you grew up on/with. I am hoping to do something for myself before I get tied down with commitments/get too old. So I am targeting and trying to make something happen within these 2 years.

Just do it.

 

[ManWearPants]

It would be a dream come true someday when I go on this trip:

http://www.nationalgeographicexpeditions.com/expeditions/antarctica-cruise/detail

I read somewhere that Antartica will stop receiving tourist from 2012, dunno if this is true. If this is your dream, better make it happen fast.

 

[Edricism]

Without any work and family commitments, I would certainly go all over the world and maybe even settle down elsewhere. Not that I don't love Singapore (I still do), but I truly see the whole world as my home (even though foreign authorities might not agree with such a simple thing).

I am happiest when I am exploring new places, especially alone, and I have been travelling a lot in recent years, but mostly in short trips. As a budget backpacker, there's always been a limit to how far I could go. But I believe I can just keep going if I have the means. I have already opted out of the regular day-job working system, and am confident I can do freelance work anywhere else in the world. Or I could be a busker or street artist.

If the opportunity arrives right now, I would literally happily drop everything else and just leave. I just can't wait for my see-the-world nomadic dream to come true. But I have absolute faith that it will!

In fact, I'm sure my whole family would wanna come along and join me too, if they could!

 

[asterixsg]

zoossh, good that you brought this topic up.

Been playing on my mind quite a bit

If I had my way, I would work 3 months in a country, explore the next 3 months. Then move on to the next country. Unfortunately, work permit and immigration rules don't allow for such an option to be implemented very easily.

If I combine travelling with photography, I would rather be interested in focussed travel. Every place on earth (and elsewhere in this creation too) is beautiful. But there are times when it turns that extra beautiful - if you get what I mean.

eg. I spent two weeks in Northern Xinjiang in June/July 2006. It was beautiful. But it really turns super beautiful in autumn (and in winter). If I was going on a photography trip, I would choose the best time to be at a place (then again, "Man proposes. God disposes". So many of my "focussed" photography travels have been washed out :bsmilie
If I was going to witness an eclipse, I would choose a place that would offer the best conditions and travel in that region (like Myanmar happened this year - the reason was the Annular eclipse, but I had a super duper time of my life travelling in Myanmar)...

Sorry, if I digress.

But the point I was trying to make is that, if its just travelling from one place to another, I could do all life long, working along the way. I have been a nomad anyways...

However, since I don't have any savings and neither do I have a steady income if I don't work, then I guess 1-2 years is tops...

If its focussed photography trips, and if you are not already a multi-millionaire, then you need to get back to earn for that next trip (and the "home" country is the only place that would offer you that chance).

Cheers
[and good luck on that Ethiopia trip]