Round the World

[the big bang]

so, after sharing everyones opinons/experiences from y'all with mrs. tbb, we think we might just settle for the 6 weeks in the Americas.

we're pretty keen on two things. 1) having a white christmas, and 2) spending NYE in NYC

so what i was thinking, assuming we'll be leaving mid-December, spending the first couple weeks in either Canada or South America, then maybe have Xmas in Washington DC, before making our way down to NY for NYE, then just continuing on or merry way across the USA, and finish off with whatever we didnt do before the USA.

thoughts?

[redandblack]

Good decision.

I reakon the US has at least 10 of the top 20 sights I've seen.

Apart from NY and maybe New Orleans, I think most US cities are fairly average. A lot of nice small cities are good, though - Savannah, Bar Harbor, etc.

Out of the cities, though, you can see Niagara Falls, Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon (nearly best of all), Canyonlands, Mesa Verde, Arches NP, New Mexico towns, Colorada rockies, Grand Tetons and Jackson Hole, Cascade Mountains, etc, etc, etc....

Any one of those is fantastic and in 6 weeks you can see plenty.

I've only seen a bit of South America, but it would be well worthwhile and Canada is terrific.

[Dirko]

so what i was thinking, assuming we'll be leaving mid-December, spending the first couple weeks in either Canada or South America, then maybe have Xmas in Washington DC, before making our way down to NY for NYE, then just continuing on or merry way across the USA, and finish off with whatever we didnt do before the USA.

My two bobs worth.

Start off in South America, work your way up to the States, to get to DC for XMas, then work your way up to New York for New Years. From there you can launch into Canada and the Quebec / Ontario region (Niagara Falls), fly over to Calgary for the Rockys, then Vancouver, down to Seattle, and from there get to Yellowstone and the other places R & B said. Then fly home ex SFO or LAX.

[mighty_tiger_79]

the young lad that would hinder that plan. he starts school next year, so will be in year 1 or 2 at the time of our holiday. with xmas holidays being around 8 weeks, he wouldnt miss much school with my current plans. but with every other end of term holiday period being only 2 weeks, i wouldnt want him missing a full week or two of school to start every term.

We're off to Sabah next March. All 3 of my kids are out of school for 2.5 weeks. We take a reader or two and usually the older daughter gets a "project" to do whilst away. The kids learn more by being overseas and learning about different cultures etc then they do sitting in class....

Also travelling outside of school holidays etc is cheaper. Remember our Summer is winter for the North so bank on cold weather....

Coolest parents evaaaah

any chance i could be adopted??

[the big bang]

you guys have been awesome. cheers.

what r&b just done was going to be my next question directed at anyone that has travelled the Americas. I'll wanna know some of the 'hidden gems' over there that you think I should try get to.

I'm a massive fan of american sports, specially NBA and NFL,and not so much a massive fan of NHL, but whilst over there last year, we went to a game and i really enjoyed it. so visiting a few of the big cities to watch some games is a must.

the cities i'll be looking at are DC, NYC, Orlando and Miami, somewhere in Texas weather it be Dallas or Houston, Memphis (my sister is a massive Elvis fan and wants to see Graceland ), New Orleans, Vegas, San Fran and LA. a couple other places i wouldnt mind going to, but really wouldnt bother me if we didn't get to are Philly, Chicago, Seattle and Portland.

and ya got me there sjabc with the 'up to NYC'. not sure why, but i've always thought DC was further north than NY. learn something new everyday!

[Jim05]

In year 2 he isn't exactly going to miss out on much - and what he learns on his trip is going to be far more valuable than what most schools teach in the long run.

Best to do the longer trip now, rather than when he's in year 6 or 7 and heading toward high school.

Nah, travel is much more important than school.
Our son is in year 8 now but two years ago we took him to Hong Kong, Taiwan and China for 4 weeks and earlier this year he had school holidays and on his first week back we went to a wedding in Bali and we stayed for 2 weeks in Singapore and Malaysia. Dont think his teachers were too happy that he missed so much time

[Freo HeaveHo]

Me and the Mrs are thinking of doing a big trip early / mid 2013 ... Weve recently bought a house so was thinking of renting it for 12 months and doing a working holiday. We should have decent funds saved by then.

Has anyone done this ????

i gather the easiest places to base ourselves would be canada or London ????

My partner has family in ireland so would spend a little bit time there and the free accomodation would be very handy

We really wanna have a good look through America which would be the biggest part of our trip / budget wise to i suppose

Does anyone have any info in regard to what sort comparison $$$ earnt to expenditures ... rent etc in either of the places i have mentioned.

Its something we really want to do but have no idea where to start

[Pat Malone]

Firstly a UK Work Visa doesnt allow you to work in Ireland, it is just England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, so if you were looking to take advantage of the free rent for a while you still wouldnt be able to work there unless you got a European Work Visa (this is probably obvious but some people arent aware of the seperation between Ireland and the UK).

The majority of expats living and working in London will usually rent a room for around 150-175 quid a week. It is common for couples to rent a room in a 3 bedroom/2 bathroom townhouse so effectively there will be 6 people in a pretty small area for this price.

Unsure what line of work you are in but bar staff get paid minimum wage of around 6-7 pound an hour, whilst tradesman are also on shocking pay at around 10 pound an hour. A lot of expats go over to teach and get around 150-175 pound a day relief teaching, although it requires lots of tube travel. Otherwise try and tee up a job in sales, selling vacuum cleaners will earn you more than and trade.

Good luck trying to find a job in Canada that you could survive off, I have half a dozen mates there that took months to find work and are still chewing through their savings whilst working full time.

[Brock Landers]

Firstly a UK Work Visa doesnt allow you to work in Ireland, it is just England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, so if you were looking to take advantage of the free rent for a while you still wouldnt be able to work there unless you got a European Work Visa (this is probably obvious but some people arent aware of the seperation between Ireland and the UK).

The majority of expats living and working in London will usually rent a room for around 150-175 quid a week. It is common for couples to rent a room in a 3 bedroom/2 bathroom townhouse so effectively there will be 6 people in a pretty small area for this price.

Unsure what line of work you are in but bar staff get paid minimum wage of around 6-7 pound an hour, whilst tradesman are also on shocking pay at around 10 pound an hour. A lot of expats go over to teach and get around 150-175 pound a day relief teaching, although it requires lots of tube travel. Otherwise try and tee up a job in sales, selling vacuum cleaners will earn you more than and trade.

Good luck trying to find a job in Canada that you could survive off, I have half a dozen mates there that took months to find work and are still chewing through their savings whilst working full time.

Me and my gf got back a few months ago from 2 years in London and we were paying 700 quid a month, (approx 166 quid per week inc bills, sky, broadband etc) for a nice room in a 3 bedroom townhouse in Putney (border zone 2/3, sharing with 2 other couples), but we had friends who were paying around 100 quid less than that in Clapham Old Town for a similar room.

Also the further out of central London you are willing to live, the cheaper everything is. For example, a pint at my local in Wandworth (zone 2) set you back from 3.60, a pub in Motspur Park (zone 4) that we frequented after footy matches was from 2.55.

If you don't have a degree or a trade, you will struggle to find a job for anything more than 8 quid an hour. My girlfriend is a teacher and was on 125 for a relief day to 150 per day for a term contract.