Thinking about travelling alone and looking for advice/direction

Thinking about travelling alone and looking for advice/direction

I am thinking about travelling to Thailand, Australia and New Zealand in January 2013 to March 2013. I am hoping to stay a month in each place and looking to take around £3000. I will be looking to see as much of these places as possible and use hostels for my accommodation in order to save money.

I am not really sure on how to prepare for this trip and the thought of going it alone is quite daunting "/

I need a lot of advice on everything really, who is the best travel agent to fly with, do I pre book anything or just turn up and be spontaneous, am I taking enough money? How do I meet people once I am there? I am a very indecisive person so maybe going alone isn’t the best idea but unfortunately none of my friends are able to join me and I would like to go before I get too old and have my own family.

If there is anyone who has already experienced a similar trip or can give me some guidance I would be very grateful : )

Book a RTW ticket. There are a number of companies in the UK and elsewhere who will be happy to help you on where to go, cheapest flights, etc. Changing your schedule by a day can save money. A non direct flight as in spending a few hours in an airport on the way can save you a fair bit of money. You can go overland like arriving in northern Australia and leaving for NZ from south Australia.

You are going in high season, when it';s cold back home so in your place, I would be looking to book a flight fairly soon. If in the UK, pick up the Saturday or Sunday Daily Mail and ring some numbers from their travel section for RTW flights.

Thailand is cheap. You'll get 30 days visa free on arrival which includes day or arrival and day leaving. You can pay as little as you wish there, though at least a fan is the room is good as it does get rather hot there, even at night. A cheap meal is pop into a 7-Eleven and pick up two burgers (chicken or beef) and you can add as much tomato, lettuce, onion and cucumber as you want besides ketchup, mayo, etc. Cost last year was 44 baht for the two.

Australia like NZ is quite expensive. Travel will be one of your big costs. You can eat fairly cheap in both places. Again travel is expensive and you need to decide where you want to go and how you will get there.

Accommodation. There are a number of sites like hostelbookers, hostelworld and the like but rooms and beds fill up in cheap places so don't leave it too late to book some accommodation.

Thailand is full of tourists that time of year and you should have no trouble with language. You are following well trodden routes so there should be no real problems.

You could try the travellerspoint site which has a "Travel Companions" forum where you can ask if people are going where you are going, when you are going.
.it is quite common to be worried about setting off on long haul trip on your own.....but as long as you are any bit socialable you should have no problems. if Thailand is your first destination there will be no shortage of travellers in same situation as you......all looking for travelling buddies.......dont be afraid to start chatting to other travellers whether it's on buses/in your guesthouse or out for dinner and few drinks......i know it sounds like something you would never do at home but trust me if you take the intitial plunge to say hello you will always have somebody to travel with.

for such a 3 month trip i suggest booking all the flights in one go through one of the many travel companies around. in terms of your budget does the 3000 include your flights because if it does you will be very short on money and trip wont be doable.....even if the flights are seperate i dont think 3000 will be enough. thailand will be cheap to travel in but Oz and NZ are expensive. Daily budget costs would be Thailand £25 - 30 (£900 approx for 1 month).....Oz and Nz £60 ( 3,700 for 2 months).......spending time in somewhere like Queenstown and doing adventure activities will be very expensive