Frequently Asked Questions

As I've told some of you about my travels, I've been met with quite a few questions about how I'll get from here to there, how I'll pay for it, how I'll communicate, and how I'll arrive back home safely, just to name a few. I thought I would take a few minutes to try and address some of these more practical issues before the trip (and some not-so-practical adventures) begins...

1. How will you be safe traveling by yourself?
Answer: It's a known fact that women traveling by themselves are not as safe as men traveling by themselves or women traveling with companions. Yes, I get it - it's not the safest thing for me to be traveling alone. However, I also know that I've previously traveled by myself - albeit briefly - in Europe, in India, in Hong Kong, in Tokyo, and in Costa Rica and arrived home safely from all of these places. Ok, yes, these destinations safer than Africa or South America, but I am comfortable with the idea that I will be myself and that I will be lonely at times. I've lived in one of the largest metropolitan cities in the U.S. for over five years and have a good sense of safe and unsafe environments, when it's time to head inside, when it's time to walk to a crowded area, when it's time to make friends with the people around me, and when it's time to just pay an extra $100 to ensure that I can get a good night's rest. I've also read two travel resource books by women travelers, studied the State Department website and registered my trip online, signed up on couch surfing.com, read travel boards, copied my itinerary for friends and family at home, and made contacts as many places as I can ahead of time. I've done my research, I've tried to prepare, and at the end of the day, I'll rely on the instinct that has seen me through two European backpacking trips, two study abroad trips, a four month stint in India, travel in SE Asia, and five years of living downtown Chicago. Could something bad happen? Yes. Have I done everything I can to prepare? Yes. Will the fear of something happening hold me back from taking the trip of a lifetime? Absolutely not.

3. You're never going to be able to talk to Ben. What are you going to do?
Answer: This is crazy. In the world we live in, of course I'll talk to Ben. Will it be as often as I talk to him now? Probably not. But in the age of email, blogs, international cell phones, skype, and webcams (all of which I have), we will figure it out. I'm also crossing my fingers that I get to meet him at some point if he can take a leave. I definitely don't have a schedule right now, nor could I tell you at what time in Destination X I'll speak with him, but I do know that it's feasible.

3. What's your budget?
Answer: My budget is $65/day. My budget was created based on two factors - the average price of hotels/hostels in the locations I'm traveling to (derived from a lot of research and Lonely Planet reading), and the rent I'll receive from subletting our apartment. Now, for some of you skeptics (i.e., Ben, who commented "when have you ever subsisted on $65/day??"), I'd like to tell you that I'm committed to trying to adhere to this budget for the full six months. I think this estimate should be more than sufficient in Africa and Asia, and given that I have places to stay in Auckland, Sydney, and Hong Kong, I think that this is extremely reasonable. I'm sure there will be days that I'll have to exceed my budget, but for now, I'm sticking with this as a reasonable estimate.

4. How do you buy a plane ticket for a trip like this?
Answer: I've purchased an around-the-world ticket on American Airlines. The ticket has some perks, including a total of up to 20 segments priced based on the number of continents included on the itinerary. The dates of travel can be changed at any time, with no fee, and all segments are flown on American partners, such as British Airways, Qantas, LAN, etc. The ticket includes certain stipulations - travel must be in one direction around the world, segments can't backtrack from one continent to another, and changes to destinations are hit with a fee (of course).

My ticket includes 18 segments and is priced based on 5 continents. The economy class ticket priced at approximately $5,500, including taxes, and covers my travel to Africa, Australia, New Zealand, South America, and some segments back here in the U.S. It also includes travel within each of these continents as well, such that I don't have to worry about taking local buses or trains in countries where it wouldn't be safe (see, I told you I thought about safety when I made my plans...).

If you're ever considering an around-the-world or just simply a trip with more than three continents, United also has a ticket (although they were extremely difficult to deal with), as does AirTreks, which is extremely reasonably priced and doesn't require that you travel in one direction. You just can't change any dates to your trip, which is a little constricting on a RTW.


I hope this helps to address some of your questions, but of course, please keep sending me your thoughts or any last minute reminders you can think of. I look forward to sharing my next entry with you from South Africa!