sLOVEnians travel

We traveled around the world for almost a year. This is our RTW in numbers:

• 303 days
• 38 flights
• 20 countries
• 107.677 km
• 130 different beds
• 35 border crossings
• xy new friends
• abc stolen things
• 6 packages sent home
• 3 hairdresser visits and numerous massages
• 29.000 €

If you want to know more, read further.

303 days

We started our journey on 27^th September 2015 and came back home on the 25^th July 2016.

20 countries

We visited: Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, USA, Bahamas, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore, Thailand, Laos, Hong Kong, Japan, Philippines and Maldives. We didn´t count Austria, although we spent a night there when we returned back to Europe, as well as China, where we spent a night on a bench at the airport without a transit visa.
Where we could live: Australia, Thailand
Where we´ll return: everywhere
Where we liked to travel: Japan, Colombia, Malaysia, Laos, Maldives
Where was the cheapest: Laos
Where was the most expensive: Australia

38 flights

Quite a bunch, isn´t it? Well we took some flights in South America and Australia, because the distances are just too big, later in Asia we flew a lot, because it´s very cheap and you can save some time.
Best airlines: Virgin Australia, Garuda, Avianca
Disappointing airlines: Xiamen Airlines, Air India, Condor
Lost bags: 1, from Melbourne to Bali with Airasia, but I got it back after 4 days
The most scary flight: Honolulu – Sydney
Airports: 49: LJU; FRA; SSA; GIG; IGR; EZE; FTE; UIO; GPS; GYE; PSO; BOG; MDE; CTG; MIA; LAS; LAX; HNL; SYD; BRE; TSV; CNS; ASP; MEL; DPS; SIN; BKK; CNX; HKG; XMN; NRT; FUK; KBV; CEB; PPS; ILO; MPH; MNL; BKI; MYY; KCH; PEN; KUL; MLE; JKT; JOG; URT; DEL; VIE

107.677 km

The equator is 40.000 km long, so that´s like traveling around the globe in a straight line two and a half times. And this is just an estimate – we used google maps to calculate the straight distances, although we know that buses don´t drive just straight and that boats also can´t. The most southern we went to was Perito Moreno in Argentina, the most northern just to Frankfurt in Germany. We crossed the equator 6 times.
Highest altitude: 5000m, Bolivia
Deepest point: -32m, Maldives
Longest ride: 38 hours bus in Indonesia (Java)

130 different beds

We aren’t in our early twenties anymore, that´s why we like our own private bedroom and usually also a private bathroom. We stayed in hostels (also in dorms a few times), in hotels, guesthouses, homestays, but sometimes we also slept on trains, buses and airports. But we didn´t count these in, because these are not real beds (ok, except the one on the cruise). We moved a lot, the longest we stayed in one place was 6 nights in Sydney, 7 nights in Thailand and 6 nights in Malaysia. We had sleeping bags with us, but we needed them only in Uyuni.

35 border crossings

For some reason we have a pretty bad karma on border crossings – we get inspected often, we have to answer a lot of questions or I almost always get tested for drugs at international airports.
We crossed the border on land, air and water. On water we crossed the border only 3 times: to and from the Bahamas and to Brunei. On land we crossed all borders in South America. In Australia we crossed the border naturally by air. And in Asia we had a mix of everything.

xy new friends

We met a lot of people and for some of them we can really say, they made our trip even more memorable. Somehow we end up with English speaking travelers, usually British or Canadian. We also get along with Scandinavians and sometimes also with Germans.

abc stolen things

We can say, we were pretty lucky nothing serious was stolen from us. The only really “tragic” thing were condoms – because you know, you don´t notice this while brushing your teeth. 😉 For some reason also my tampons disappeared, a body lotion, our raincoats, a scarf and some other not so important things. Obviously our talisman from the witch market in Bolivia helped.

6 packages sent home

We used the old sending method a lot: find a countryman and give him your stuff to carry it home. We met some Slovenians and they helped us a lot – THANK YOU guys! By normal post we only had to send 1 package home with 11 kilos from Bangkok, the other 5 packages were carried home by old or new friends. One is still waiting for us in England. 🙂

3 hairdresser visits and numerous massages

Jure went to the hairdresser twice – in Colombia, where the result wasn´t the best and later in Tokyo where he was a lot more satisfied. I spoiled myself in Ubud with a new haircut. For manicure and pedicure I had time on Bali and later in Thailand, but when it comes to massages, I´m always in. Especially in Asia, where the massages are extremely cheap, but the quality varies. Nothing can confirm this more than the fact that I had the best and the worst massage in Thailand.

29.000€

This is the most common top 3 question we get asked – how much did it cost? In this sum are all the flight tickets, accommodation, food, tours, transfer and of course my shopping sprees. FYI I came back with more clothes than I left with. Because of our volunteer work at HI Slovenia we were hosted by some hostels in USA, Australia and Japan, where we saved a lot. Thank you for helping us! Some would say, this is a lot of money and we could spend it more wisely. I won’t deny this is a hell lot of money, but I would do the same again. What about spending it more wisely? Obviously this person hasn´t traveled much yet. 😉