Looking to travel the world.

March 23, 2013 4:24 PM

I want to travel. Besides that fact, nothing is decided - around October, for 2-4 months, probably on my own, on a relatively flexible budget, anywhere in the world. Tell me your travel stories!

By October, I will be finished 4 years of army service in Israel. I am a 22-year-old woman, raised in Canada so English is a mother tongue. I've saved up quite a bit of money, and while I'm going to need it, I'm willing to put up a decent amount for this trip. I will be after 4 years of intense military service and before starting my post-secondary education. I will probably travel alone, although I'd be glad to meet people abroad to travel with for short periods of time. Young Israelis out of the army usually spend a few months in South America, India or Thailand (in other words, anywhere as different from the military as possible), but I don't mind being unconventional.
Ideas that have caught my interest: backpacking across the states (I've seen a lot of the states, but there's a lot I want to still do), possibly including WWOOFing; India (for the food - I love vegetarian Indian cooking).
Safety and winter are two important considerations.
Tell me your travel stories! They can be anywhere, not limited to any one country, at any point.

posted by alon to Travel & Transportation (5 answers total)

I just finished two months trekking in Patagonia. I could have easily spent another month or two there. I met a bunch of Israelis in exactly your position. Chile and Argentina aren't cheap but when you're camping a lot, you don't spend too much dough. It was crazy beautiful and incredible. If you're at all interested in hiking and nature, I can't recommend it enough. December is the perfect time to do it (weather is better in Jan and Feb but the trails are more crowded) Besides pickpockets, it's totally safe.

I also spent a month traveling though SE Asia (Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam) and it was really cheap and fun.
posted by saul wright at 4:45 PM on March 23, 2013

New Zealand. Safe, English speaking, it won't be winter there. And it's AMAZING.
(Can hit other cool south Pacific destinations/Australia too if you have 4 months)
posted by treehorn+bunny at 6:40 PM on March 23, 2013 [1 favorite]

I've been travelling around south east asia for the last four months and it has been great. It is cheap, the people are friendly and real easy to get around. The only sketchy place I've been to was Hanoi and that is due to pickpockets and tourist scams. The Highlight of the trip by far was the Everest Basecamp Trek I did in December. Incredible, breathtaking views every day and lots of fun. It only gets really cold at night.
posted by drugstorefrog at 8:21 PM on March 23, 2013

Japan in fall is beautiful...

My boyfriend (now husband) and I Wwoofed in Japan and had a GREAT time. The countryside is amazing, we learned new things, were fed incredible home-cooked food, and got to see all sorts of things "off the beaten track" - local bathhouses, hiking trails, etc. Highly recommend.
posted by jrobin276 at 6:23 PM on March 24, 2013

Seconding NZ and Australia as well.

If your budget allows and you haven't seen Western Europe, it's super convenient for travelling with trains/buses that run and are on time. You can cover a lot of countries in a short period of time.

India is runs the gamut from great experiences to I'm-going-to-tear-my-hair-out-and-cry experiences from what I hear. Safety as a single woman would be my worry with that. Go with a group of friends if choosing India, just in case.

The western part of the US is amazing. Hard to turn that down too.
posted by packfan88c at 7:19 PM on March 24, 2013