I traveled 13 countries in 6,5 months: Mexico – Guatemala – Belize – Peru – Bolivia – Argentina – Chile – Australia – Cambodia – Japan – India – Napal – Armenia

Yes, except of the fist 3 weeks at the very beginning, when a friend of mine joined me in Mexico-Guatemala, but that was was an exception. Back then I needed some time with myself for some introspection and thinking. I needed to go through some intense mental processes and could have done that only when traveling alone. I love traveling alone, so that journey was perfect in any respect.

No, just the first 2 flights, the first accommodation and the Inca Trail Trek, which depending on season should be booked months in advance. The rest I organised on road. I had no certain planing, just rough spatial and time guidelines, so that I had room for spontaneous decisions.

No, the rtw-tickets are not always the cheapest option to fly around the world. Plus they had certain restrictions, that were true show-stoppers for me. Basically, I disliked the fact to be attached to polices in such a long (over six months). I preferred one-way tickets in order to have maximum of freedom designing my route. Of course, researching and tracking flight/offers was a bit of time consuming, but it became my travel routine pretty soon. No complains.

The budget of the journey is very much depending on duration and the choice of your destinations. Basically, you can’t (at least you shouldn’t) spend more money as you have. In my case I was guided by the amount of money I saved during my sabbatical program, which was enough for me to make my living in Germany in past 12 months. Thus, I was going to make it perfectly fine in most of countries of the world. Simple benchmark: you need roughly min. 40-50€/day in South America, a bit less in South East Asia. For this you pay a lot more travelling to North America, Australia, New Zealand and Japan (this was the reason I choose Japan over Australia & Co.) A quick research for daily budgets in the destination countries of your choice will give you some feeling about the expected budget. Add up the flights, transportation and the health insurance. You might need to invest in equipment, hard to say how much (you can have a look on my rtw-packing list).. As you see, the final budget is a very individual matter and also depends on your travel style.

I saved some money in sabbatical program while being full-time employed: 12 months long I was paid 2/3 of my salary, the saved 1/3 was paid in 6 months during traveling.

I travelled with a 65l Deuter Backpack (max. 14 kg) and another 30l Osprey Daypack for hand luggage carrying my laptop, camera and the electronic equipment. I took clothing and shoes for 1 week for 3 seasons, no trekking gear. Here the packing list.

I can’t say which one. Each place I visited is very special to me, I associate tons of happiness with them. But there are places I would like to go back one day. The reasons are very diverse: Patagonia, because this place has very special energetics for me, Japan because it is endless fascinating, Mexico because I hardly explored its ethnical and cultural diversity, Peru because it is an amazing natural wonder, India because it is just mind blowing. I can’t compare countries to tell you which one I liked most – I need them all in my life, and a lot of each.

No, I didn’t have to quit my job for travelling. I took a time off from my job and had an option to come back.

The one you have with yourself. You need a keen eye for a good shot not advanced equipment.

I traveled around the world with my Panasonic Lumix FZ 1000, it’s a bridge camera with 24-400mm Leica lens, a great 1” sensor and a 4K video option, all that weighting 800g. very functional and easy going, not strong in low light, but extremely cool for travelling. I got a Fujifilm XT-2 mirrorless camera for more advanced photography, with a couple of excellent lenses – absolutely love this camera. I’ll publish a detailed post around this topic very soon. Stay tuned.  

Yes, I do. A tripod is an extra weight to carry, but opens a lot of creative opportunities and in certain cases tripod is just irreplaceable.