NEW YORK-
If you've ever dreamed about a trip around the world, a new book from Rough Guides can help you make that dream a reality.
"First-Time Around the World: A Trip Planner for the Ultimate Journey" ($15.99) by Doug Lansky offers practical advice on everything from plane tickets and insurance to what to pack and where to go.
Whether you're going for a few months or a year, the book says that unless you're determined to stay in good hotels and eat every meal in a restaurant, you can get by on $12 to $55 a day–not including major transportation costs.
As for itineraries, the book recommends including places where you have family or friends, even if they are distant relatives or long-lost pen pals; following your interests, whether a childhood fascination with a certain culture, or a love of cooking that leads you to take a French culinary school; and checking out some of the wonders of the world.
For example, you might head for ancient manmade wonders like the Pyramids of Egypt, or Angkor Wat in Cambodia, or the Taj Mahal. Or visit natural wonders, like Angel Falls in Venezuela, the Grand Canyon or Australia's Great Barrier Reef. Modern wonders rank high too, from the Empire State Building to the Eiffel Tower to the Chunnel.
Wonderful events around the world can also help guide your itinerary, such as the Great Migration in the Serengeti, which begins each May; the Burning Man festival in Black Rock Desert, Nev., Aug. 28-Sept. 4; the JunKatoo Christmastime revelry, Dec. 26 and Jan. 1, in Nassau, the Bahamas; and the Monarch butterfly migration in December each year in Mexico.
The book also discusses volunteering and overseas jobs; why you need insurance (both medical and trip-cancellation insurance); and how to book round-the-world airline tickets. Sample itineraries include a $2,000 ticket that would take you from New York to Amsterdam, Berlin and Copenhagen, to Bangkok, Saigon and Hong Kong, and back to New York, or a $5,000 ticket from London to Nairobi, Mumbai, Bangkok, Bali, Sidney and Fiji, to Honolulu, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, New York and back to London.
One small disadvantage for Americans using the book: It utilizes the metric system for measurements, giving average temperatures in centigrade and rainfall in millimeters.
