Cheapest round-the-world trip?

[TVR Sagaris]

What would be the cheapest way to visit, say, seven countries in different continents? Will I need to sell one of my kidneys?

[anonymous-user]

The cheapest way would probably be by foot and use ferries or some kind of local boat for the water crossings. Going by bike could also be cheap depending on how much your bike costs and how many tyres and other spares you need.

Are you looking at staying in hotels or some kind of tent or just sleeping rough?

[valiant1]

May take a bit longer though.

[davepoth]

el stovey said:

The cheapest way would probably be by foot and use ferries or some kind of local boat for the water crossings. Going by bike could also be cheap depending on how much your bike costs and how many tyres and other spares you need.

Are you looking at staying in hotels or some kind of tent or just sleeping rough?

Nope. It'll be flying, because once you factor in food costs and accommodation, going by foot would be massively more expensive.

[Gareth79]

Most of the airline groups do a round-the-world ticket where you can pick from a choice of stopover points, although I think it generally works out as UK > Asia > Australia/NZ > US W.cost > US E.coast > UK. I think they generally work out cheaper than booking individual flights. You could then get other flights to travel within each region.

[Bebee]

valiant1 said:

May take a bit longer though.

That's not very helpful!
You might have suggested an outboard motor for that boat.

[Kudos]

Are Trailfinders not good for these tickets?

I understand that as long as you keep going in the one direction they aren't that expensive

[anonymous-user]

davepoth said:

el stovey said:

The cheapest way would probably be by foot and use ferries or some kind of local boat for the water crossings. Going by bike could also be cheap depending on how much your bike costs and how many tyres and other spares you need.

Are you looking at staying in hotels or some kind of tent or just sleeping rough?

Nope. It'll be flying, because once you factor in food costs and accommodation, going by foot would be massively more expensive.

I'm not sure accommodation is very expensive if you sleep rough or in a tent. If you were looking for the cheapest you could live off the land and fish and forage for food.

[Kudos]

el stovey said:

I'm not sure accommodation is very expensive if you sleep rough or in a tent. If you were looking for the cheapest you could live off the land and fish and forage for food.

You could bring a packed lunch too

[LostCroc]

Gareth79 said:

Most of the airline groups do a round-the-world ticket where you can pick from a choice of stopover points, although I think it generally works out as UK > Asia > Australia/NZ > US W.cost > US E.coast > UK. I think they generally work out cheaper than booking individual flights. You could then get other flights to travel within each region.

I have used Round the World flights quite a lot as a cheaper way to get back to Sydney Australia to see the parents. They are not as cheap as they used to be but still worth checking if you have a lot of stops. Each of the major air alliances offer one - StarAlliance, OneWorld, and the Air France/Aeroflop/Delta lot.

For example, the terms and conditions of Staralliance RTW is laid out here:
http://www.staralliance.com/en/fares/round-the-wor...

You will need to phone an agent to get a price - they are not quoted from what I have seen.

To test your itinerary, then use this booking tool to see if it qualifies.
http://www.staralliance.com/en/booking/book-and-fl...

The one catch with StarAlliance is that everything seems to funnel through either Singapore or Bangkok. If you want to go to HK then you have to backtrack which is restricted at times. Within Australia can be a bit of a problem as well. To decide between OneWorld and StarAlliance you have to best match your destinations to their alliance route and hub map.