Around the world in one month

So, here we go. I guess I've been dreaming about the trip around the world since I've first read "Around the World in Eighty Days" by Jules Verne. On one hand, there's nothing special about it. You just book some tickets to different connections and basically, that's it. But on the other hand, there's something unusual, something interesting in buying tickets only one way. As it turned out it really wasn't as easy as I had imagined it would be. 

Around the world in one month

Sitting one evening at my desk, looking out of the window towards a plane passing high in the skies - this moment made me thinking and turned out to be the moment I started planning the journey. And once you begin, you immediately realise how many things need to come together to make it happen. 

First comes the destinations. Where to go? Which direction? For how long? What if a flight gets delayed? 

Riga - Los Angeles

In the end, you just have to divide everything into smaller steps, and just solve them one by one. Also, I knew I had at best one month for my journey. Which is more than enough to buy several tickets and just hop on a plane, but I didn't want just to circle the world, I wanted to experience it, to visit and explore at least 3 continents, rent a car, spend a time by the ocean, in the cities and deserts.
So first things first - here is my destination route:
Riga - Stockholm - Los Angeles - Las Vegas - Grand Canyon - Yosemite Park - San Francisco - Honolulu - Kauai - Honolulu - Sydney - Singapore - Hong Kong - Macao - Hong Kong - Moscow - Riga.

Trip to Vegas

Looks quite a lot isn't it? There are several reasons for such a list. Let me walk you through it and explain why I've chosen exactly these locations. 

I really wanted to start with America since it is one of my favourite countries and I just couldn't miss it. Even though I've been there 5 times I still want to return there again and again. So I started looking for the cheap tickets and the one that caught my attention was the Riga - Los Angeles tickets with only one connection in Stockholm. The price was around 200 Eur one way which isn't much for the trip across half the world. I had a 3 hours connection in Stockholm so I wouldn't count it in my journey but I've been there before so it didn't bother me much. Once in LA, I wanted to see America so flying across it wasn't an option and since I'm a keen driver we, of course, rented a car. 

Bryce canyon
Bryce canyon

The next 10 days we spent exploring California, Arizona and Nevada. I think every person should at least once in his life take such a road trip. Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Daath Valley, Yosemite park - It just is something magical. 

Williams
Williams - Route 66 town
 

Antilope canyon
Antilope canyon

I think I could do it every year. Also, in order to save time we rented a car in LA and returned it in San Francisco.  This way we didn't have to come back and spend time for the places we've already seen.

Horseshoe bend
Horseshoe bend

Grand Canyon village
Grand Canyon village

Death Valley
Death Valley

Yosemite National Park
Yosemite National Park

San Francisco
San Francisco

Oahu

The next stop was Hawaii. I just couldn't miss them. It's such a paradise. And after driving more than 4500km across America it would be so good to relax by the ocean. Just what we needed right in the middle of our trip. We've landed in Honolulu and headed straight to Kauai, another small Hawaiian island. It is a little more remote and exotic.

Na Pali cliffs
Na Pali cliffs

Huge waves on Hawaii

Sydney

The next stop after Hawaii was Sydney. This is where our journey home began as it got closer and closer to our starting point now. Unfortunately, it was still winter in Australia so Sydney greeted us quite cold, although sunny.

Sydney Opera house

But for me, it was the fact that I am on a different continent and not just any continent, but Australia. Of course, we didn't see any snakes, spiders or other creatures you would expect. Sydney is very civilised European city which I completely fell in love with. I just wish it was a little warmer there. 

Singapore

The next stop was Singapore. For me, it's the centre of Asia and you just can't skip it.

Singapore

Hong Kong

After Singapore, we've had only couple destination left like Hong Kong and of course, if you are in Hong Kong you also must visit Macau, which is an autonomous region on the south coast of China. It's only a few hours away from Hong Kong and a place definitely worth visiting. Can you imagine that it was a Portuguese territory until 1999. 

Hong Kong

Hong Kong was our last destination followed only by Moscow where we had a connection flight to Riga.

So why exactly did we choose these destinations? We've had some favourites like California and Hawaii but other destinations came right from the ticket prices. For example, at first, we were planning to fly from Hawaii to Tokio, but it was cheaper to come to Sydney, so Sydney it was. Also, we've had some ideas to visit the Philippines on our way to Aisa but the timing wasn't beneficial for us.

Hong Kong

And one thing you have to keep in mind is time. You have to spend at least 3 days in each destination. And while in America we've spent more than 10 days, in other places like Sydney it was really just 3 days which is more than enough to explore one city. And the reason why 3 days is a minimum is pretty simple. It gives you extra time in case something happens like, a plane is delayed or cancelled, you miss your flight, there's a storm, you get ill or any other unexpected occasions. This way you arrive at your destination may be a few hours later or maybe a whole day later or even two but you still have some time to explore the place and most importantly you don't miss your next flight which would result in even more problems and ruin all your future plans. 

Macao

During our trip, we've had 10 flight. And two of them were delayed. Unfortunately, the second one but it wasn't bad, we arrived from Stockholm to LA just 3-4 hours later which wasn't a big deal since we've had 10 straight days in America. And our last flight from Hong Kong to Moscow was also delayed so as a result, we've missed our connection in Moscow and had to stay overnight and take a new flight in the morning. But since it was the last flight we didn't miss much. But you see the statistics. 2 out of 10 flights had some problems. So when you're planning something as big as a trip around the world, just keep in mind to place plenty of space between your destinations. 

Macao

Also, make sure to plan your luggage and things you take with you. On one hand, it's easier to take as little stuff as possible so you don't carry all the things with you across the globe, on the other hand, you end up in so many different locations where it might be extremely hot or freezing. So you need to make sure you're ready for any weather conditions because the one thing you don't want during your journey is to get ill which will ruin your journey for good. 

So, was it worth it and would I do it again?

I loved it. But these kinds of trips aren't for everyone. It takes a lot of you. Constantly moving, time differences, not enough sleep and hours and hours on a plane. Different countries, food, people, weather. One day you are lying on the beach on Hawaii islands and the next you are in Sydney wearing jacket experiencing cold winds. Sounds fun but in practice, it takes a lot of energy.

Nevertheless, it was one of the best trips I've ever had and definitely the longest one which required a lot of planning even for me - a person who always improvises.

How much?

One of the most frequent questions but it entirely depends on your plans. I've already mentioned that I've chosen my roots partially by the ticket prices so the tickets weren't that expensive. Then you need to choose your living. In America, we mostly stayed in motels, on Hawaii we've rented a room in Airbnb. If you plan ahead the living isn't that expensive as well. Then there's food, car, entertainment and shopping. And these expenses are really personal. You can save a lot on them or spend a fortune - you decide.

We've visited many national parks in the USA (in most of them entrance isn't free), Cirque du Soleil in Vegas, Madame Thousand museum in Sydney, played in Casino in Macao and had a drink on the rooftop of Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. All of these things require some amount of money but in the end, these are the things that make up most of the memories. And of course, you always need to be prepared for something unexpected, but...

If nothing goes wrong there's nothing to remember.

Travel, see the world, get new experience and turn every day into an adventure.

Here's a small video summary of the trip

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I’ve been travelling ever since a was a child but my first large trip was at the age of 13 when I was sent to live for a couple months to London. This trip has changed me and ever since I just want to see more and more of our beautiful world. Every trip gives me new emotions, charge and strength to keep going further.

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