i'm currently planning a year out for 2009, and i was just wondring about what countries everyone recommends i visit?

i really want to experience some new(and different) cultures and i figured the best way to do this was backpacking off my own back and not with a major provider?

any comments will be useful ta

simon:)

Simon,
what a question! I don't think you'll be short of possibilities if you have a year to explore.

For me, I would be deciding between an itinerant travelling period or a longer term cultural immersion.

If itinerant, then I'd either get and around-the-world ticket with 10 or so stops, or just head off overland by train and see where my fancy and budget could take me.

There's also a lot to be said for finding a place to live in another culture and taking the time to get to know it very well. I took a year out and spent most of it in India and Nepal. For four months I worked as a volunteer science & english teacher in a village in Goa. It was certainly one of the most important chapters of my life. After an amazing trip to South Africa in 2005 I would probably want to spend a year on the African continent if I had the time to do so. You'll get a lot more out of it if you can arrange to be involved in something locally, either cash-work (such as in Australia) or using your skills to help the community and, if possible, living with the local people.

Where you choose to go depends on what interests you and how much travel experience you already have. These days, there are a few destinations off my list as my wife is uncomfortable in some cultures due to their standpoint on women; so we choose places to go that excite both of us. We rarely make any bookings, preferring to arrive in a country and explore using public transport. If you are feeling adventurous and want a trip that is off the beaten track, you could try something like that done by an old friend of mine, Chris V . He had some truly unusual and sometimes scarey adventures (read his account of time in an Iraqi jail if you want to get the idea!).

In any case, the most important thing is to use the time you have to distance yourself from what you are accustomed to and learn about yourself and your own culture from a new vantage point.

Have fun!

John

Probably the most open-ended question i've ever seen on a forum!. Out of interest, where have you been before?

One piece of advice is try to get off the well worn "gringo trails" beloved by gap year travellers. That's not to discourage you from popular countries - just try to get to less frequented parts of them. Usually a pain in the arse and requires lots of improvisation, but personally i think yields the greatest rewards.

Having been to close on 70 countries I would still find it an impossible question to answer!
Firstly try and decide youre primary interests for me it was cycling so my first 3 long trips were cycle touring 2 through europe 1 across N America.
After that it was an interest in Africa,its tribal culture,wildlife and amazing geographical diversity so I spent 9 months travelling its entire length,
(www.africanadventures.bravehost.com) but unfortunately many of the best areas,congo basin,Zimbabwe are difficult to travel in.Africa outside of the few developed countries is hard travelling.
Most of Asia is comfortable by comparision with at times hoardes of backpackers which do little to enhance the enviroment.
Australia is very popular but for me always dissapoints,big and emphty with a not very intresting culture.New Zealand by comparision is fantastic.
Japan,south-Korea are great as is the areas of latin America that ive visited.
Its a bloody big world...

John
Just read yours mates account of jail in Iraq. Think I may try Clacton this year!

eddie, at the moment i have been to france, belgium and switzerland but by the time i finally get to my gap year i will also have been to:

iceland, october 07 (1 week geology field trip)

namibia, summer 08 (3 weeks with a group of 15 other students to do community/conservation work)

I'm also headed to the jamboree this summer! (a scout event in essex, but still it involves 42,000 people from 210 different countries)

john, when you say head off overland is there an 'unlimited' train ticket i could buy?

also, what is the quality of maps for various areas of the world? i know OS are suposedly some of the best in the world but surely i can obtain high quality foreign maps somewhere?

Simon,

With a year in hand you have an incredible amount of flexibility. I think the above advice on ease of travel is good however - i wouldn't consider the majority of Africa of South America to be an ideal first destination on your trip.

Some places i have found particularly enjoyable are Japan, New Zealand, Thailand (forget the tourist traps mind).

Stanfords is very good for foreign maps, they are online. I have had maps for Europe, NZ and Japan from there.

Perhaps strangely i would urge you to focus on what you want to gain from your trip and don't be swayed too much by the opinions of other travellers - especially when you finally get out on your travels.

EW

Simon,

within Europe you can take an InterRail Pass for a month. I suspect that there are many ticket options for other countries too.

John Burley beat me to it by suggesting Inter-Rail. i would highy recommend this, i spent 3 months bk on the summer of 2004 Inter-Railing around Europe and thoughly enjoyed it, if i won the million on the lotto i no wot i would do first and that is go Inter-Railing all over again :o))

OS are some of the best maps in the world so don't expect to find decent maps (for walking etc) of anywhere else (with some exceptions), for sourcing maps, stanfords has already been mentioned, you could also try The Map Shop in Upton upon Severn in worcestershire, they are apparently open at the moment but you might need a boat to get there! they also have a website: www.themapshop.co.uk I use them regularly.

with plenty of time to go away i'd suggest you look at going to some less visited and more difficult to get to destinations, you can take your time and not be too hurried. Easier to get to places can be future holidays when you are more restricted on time - unless there are already some specific things that you want to do that take a bit of time such as walking a long distance trail etc.

back on the subject of maps, it is often difficult to see how good maps are of different areas, during some wet weather back at new year i spent some time in the map room at petes eats in llanberis where there are loads of different laminated maps, which gave me some good ideas about which companys did maps that had good detail on and at decent scales. I was imressed by some of the Reise (world mapping project) maps, these are from germany and not commonly availible in the UK, although Rough guides are now publishing some of these maps in the UK.

for train travel look at seat61.com

Probably Nepal;

The contry has dozens of possibilities and probably you'll feel total freedom.
At least; that's my experience when i come out of the airport.
- Eeven i am married with a Nepali-

More tips or suggestions for Nepal?
Just drop me a line,

Have a nice and safe trip.
Frank