In 2017, my boyfriend Guil and I embarked on a 10-month trip around the world, visiting 22 countries across Europe, South America and Southeast Asia. I’ve never actually shared our ultimate around the world itinerary with anyone, and I thought it would make for a fun blog post—especially for those looking to do a similar trip around the world.
Here’s a quick overview of the trip: We started off in Paris in September 2017 and spent the following two and a half months in Europe. From there, we flew to South America to spend the holidays with our families in Brazil. Four months later, we actually returned to the U.S. for a month before going to Asia. Then in April 2018, we left to Hong Kong, the final leg of our trip. We spent three months traveling in Southeast Asia before returning home on July 9, 2018.
This was our journey.
Our Ultimate Around The World Itinerary
It was an incredible feat to visit over 20 countries and countless cities across three different continents. This trip was the singular most rewarding experience of my life, and there’s little to nothing I would change in our adventurous nearly yearlong stint around the world.
First Stop: Europe
We spent two and a half months traveling through Europe, hitting mostly big capital cities since it was only my second time traveling there. The goal here was certainly to visit as many countries as possible—so we planned the route by each picking the major cities we wanted to see the most, and then combining our lists and narrowing it down to a two-month timeline.
We traveled mostly by land, via bus, and found it to be a remarkably affordable way to travel within Europe.
France
Paris
Netherlands
Amsterdam
Germany
Berlin
Frankfurt
Czech Republic
Prague
Hungary
Budapest
Croatia
Zagreb
Split
Dubrovnik
Italy
Bari
Rome
Lucca
Cinque Terre
Pisa
Spain
Barcelona
Madrid
Portugal
Cascais
Porto
Nazaré
Coimbra
Second Stop: South America
South America was a different animal. Getting around proved much more difficult (and expensive) than in Europe. We took our time here, spending a total of four months slowly making our way around the massive continent. This gave us time to visit several cities within each country — which allowed us to truly experience each individual culture, more so than in Europe, when we were hopping from country to country every few days.
Because flights are so expensive in South America, we also traveled mostly by land here. Though bus travel in many of the countries we visited isn’t as efficient as it is in Europe, it was usually the cheapest method of transportation, though sometimes flying was the only option. The longest bus ride we endured was 23 hours through the Chilean desert (and this was after a five-hour flight followed by a nine-hour layover).
Backpacking through South America definitely tests even the most experienced of travelers, but I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything in the world, that bus ride included.
Brazil
Rio de Janeiro
Porto Alegre
Salvador
Argentina
Buenos Aires
Bolivia
La Paz
Copacabana
Chile
Santiago
Viña del Mar
Valparaiso
Pucón
San Pedro de Atacama
Peru
Puno
Cusco
Ollantaytambo
Cusco
Lima
Huanchaco
Vichayito
Mancora
Ecuador
Colombia
Pasto
Medellín
Cartagena
Final Stop: Southeast Asia
The final leg of our around the world trip was my absolutely favorite: Three months in Southeast Asia, including plenty of island hopping. Our time here was marked by incredible food, waterfall chasing, jungle hikes, endless beach days, surfing, scuba diving, and the most beautiful natural landscapes I’ve ever laid eyes on.
It was incredibly easy to get around in Southeast Asia, more so than in South America I’d say. The tourism industry is very much a fundamental part of the region’s economy and has been growing exponentially over the years, and the infrastructure in place for tourists clearly represents that. We traveled mostly by plane, train or boat, all at very affordable prices.
China
Vietnam
Ha Long Bay
Hoi An
Laos
Luang Prabang
Bangkok
Chiang Mai
Koh Samui
Krabi
Phuket
Indonesia
Nusa Penida
Nusa Lembongan
Nusa Ceningan
Malaysia
Kuala Lumpur
Penang
Have I convinced you to plan your own trip? Reach out with any questions you may have — I’m here to help!
If you found this post helpful, you may also enjoy:
- The True Cost of Backpacking Around The World
- How To Plan A Trip Around The World
- How To Pack For A Backpacking Trip Around The World
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Carla, I’m watching an old PBS vhs tapes about train travel, and you are in the story in Ecuador! You were choosing to ride on top of the train to take photos, and you really look happy! Guessing you speak Spanish for such a trip. Have read some of your other notes about travel, but haven’t read them all. Your world trip was a great story to read. Closest I can come to that experience was a 53 day, round the world cruise in 2015. You sure are an Adventurer! Thanks for the stories! My travel companion is a 20 year travel agency owner, and you and she could talk for hours I’m sure!
Best wishes and safe travels!
Oh! I don’t think I ever rode a train in Ecuador, perhaps it’s my doppelgänger! I’m glad you’ve enjoyed reading my stories — it was certainly a life changing trip!
Very inspirational. Given the new travel requirements and suggestions for a single woman over 60 years old who’s very fit, what changes would you suggest with this itinerary? My goal is to take the RTW trip upon my retirement at 67 at the latest. I plan to rent out my home and place my cats with a friend for 10 months during travel, sell my car, etc. I’m an avid photographer and blogger as well. I started a blog a couple years ago. lutreks.com I haven’t updated it in a long time. Thanks very much for your response. Be well. Laura I also have 2 other websites droneskyphoto.com and fotopaws.com as well as my smugmug and flickr sites.
Hi Laura! The changes are completely up to you! That’s the beauty of a round-the-world trip. You can make up the itinerary that best fits your travel style. Of course, now you’ll need to do some research ahead of time to ensure certain destinations are open. But I don’t see you running into many issues traveling through the European cities on this list. South America is also pretty open, and Southeast Asia (including Bali!) is now opening up as well.