AS FOR 2013
A couple of useful information, for a world tour or for a simple trip somewhere.
MONEY
Travel Insureance 1 year : 600 euros. (AVI International, Marco Polo)
Average expense/day :about 20 euros, including transport that are negligible if by train or bus. For the planes, a low cost flight costs about 50-100euros.
ACCOMODATION
99% of people who are on a world tour are young, so not so rich…
Youth Hostel/hostel/guest house Asia : from 3 to 8 dollars
Iran : 6 to 15 dollars
UAE: 20 to 25 dollar
PREPARATION
Credit Card : find a card that do not take commission on every withdrawal (HSBC…)
Backpack :It is not recommended to exceed ¼ of the body weigh.
Blog : The best nowadays is WordPress.
Precautions : Always keep the insurance card on yourself, keep the important information (emergecency contact, bank telephone number, passport photocopy…) in your 2 different bags. Backup those information on internet (personal email, server…).
HEALTH
Personaly, no medicine has continually been taken so far .For the malaria, a generally adopted method is it take nothing…It would be to expensive for long term trip. BUT if the symptoms appear, immedialty take 4 pills of Malarone and go to hospital. Indeed, Malarone has preventive AND curative properties. The case of malaria when a tourist is repatriated due to serious symptoms are extremely rare and death almost inexistant. This method is used all over Asia. I personnaly met very very few travellers who take medicine every day. Africa, same same.
VISA
The more troublesome part of the logistic. Informations below are for French, so by extension most of UE citizens and developped country regarding the case.
NO need VISA or free VISA
Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaisia, Singapore, Brunei Darussalam, Sri Lanka, United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Lebanon, Israel, Tunisia, Morocco, Senegal, Malawi, Botswana, South Africa, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Belize, Mexico, United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea
Visa On Arrival
Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia, Nepal, Oman, Jordan, Egypt, Gambia, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Cuba*
VISA on Arrival if special conditions
Pakistan :If the traveller come from China through the Khunjerab Pass, 1-month VISA. Border open from May to November.
Iran : If we arrive through international airports. 2-weeks VISA that can be renew later. Not available for Americans.
Syria ; VoA at the border if coming from Lebanon (at my time of travelling)
West Africa : Always possible to get VISA on arrival, but price is MUCH more expensive
Cuba : Need to buy a Tourist Card at the aiport of departure (or Embassy). Even in Havana aiport should be possible.
VISA to be done before the arrival
China, Vietnam, India, Pakistan*, Iran*, Syria, Algeria, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Benin, Nigeria, North Korea
Anticipation is the key. Do it as soon as possible according to the date of expiry. If an embassy ask for copies of the return flight and you obviously cross the country by land or without precise dates, you can do as follow : During the booking process online, find a page where all the needed information are clearly displayed and make a Print Screen. If need, make a copy paste in Paint of your print screen and cut the image. Print the page and it should be alright. Some websites are better than others for that : Qatar Airways, Expedia.com etc.
LINKS
TRANSPORT
http://www.airasia.com : low cost South East Asia, based in Kuala Lumpur
http://www.airarabia.com : low cost Middle-East, based in UAE
http://www.stw.fr/ : boat trip
http://www.skyscanner.net/ :flight price finder
HOTEL
http://www.hostelbookers.com
http://www.hostelworld.com
http://wwwhihostels.com
FORUM
http://www.voyageforum.com : French reference
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree :English reference
MISCELLANEOUS
http://www.xe.com/ucc/full/ : currency converter
http://www.lexilogos.com : dictionnaries
http://www.avi-international.com : Travel Insurance
http://www.wordpress.com : best for the blogs
EMBASSY AND VISA :
http://www.statistiques-mondiales.com/ambassades_fr.htm
http://www.mfe.org/index.php/Annuaires/Ambassades-et-consulats-francais-a-l-etranger
http://www.projectvisa.com/
http://www.action-visas.com/