Breaking down the Big Trip

Yesterday evening, BF and I talked about the Big Trip. Or rather, we argued. There are some things I don’t want to do, and some things he doesn’t want to do. For example, he wants to spend 2 months climbing a mountain in Pakistan. And I want to go to Dubai and the Philippines. So it’s up to us to compromise.

We also talked about doing a volunteer program while we’re away. There’s one in China for 3 months, teaching English in rural villages. The cost is $1,300 and includes food and accommodation. That one really interests me. I don’t like the programs that are only 1 or 2 weeks long because I don’t feel like you can really get the feel of the culture or bond with the people in the village. That being said, 3 months is a long time. But it would be an experience of a lifetime, and $1,300 for 3 months of living is quite cheap.

There are also a few programs of interest that we saw in Africa and Nepal, but those are relatively shorter and definitely more expensive. I’d like to research some programs in Cambodia too.

We also timelined our trip, and by our estimation, the trip should come to just about 1 year:

• 30 days – Africa
• 7 days – Russia
• 5 days – Mongolia
• 90 days – China
• 30 days – Nepal
• 30 days – India
• 90 days – Thailand
• 30 days – Cambodia
• 30 days – Vietnam

Of course, that’s just an estimation, and everything could shift, depending on if we love an area, or if we would rather move onto something else. I think the timeline is a good compromise of what we both want in terms of a loose schedule.

We’re also going to really start to tighten our belts and save as much as we can for the trip. I’m right on track to have $10k saved up by early 2010, but I’d like to have more saved up so that I can relieve some of the cost of Africa, since that’ll be the most expensive part and it’s kind of all my idea to do the safari and Zanzibar.

Anyway, that’s just the update on the Big Trip. Any questions, please feel free to ask. :)

One Response to “Breaking down the Big Trip”

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1. Give Me Back My Five Bucks » Volunteering during the Big Trip says:

   Saturday, March 6, 2010 - 04:31pm at 4:26 pm

   [...] example, I blogged about that 3-month volunteer teaching assignment in rural China a few days ago. That would be awesome. BF thinks that a lot of our friends/family might want to [...]

   Reply

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