Conclusion and statistics of a world trip =)

With our journey around the globe, the incredible impressions we made on this journey and the countless experiences we were able to gather, we have actually fulfilled a lifelong dream. At no point during our adventure have we regretted the decision to leave behind our previous lives, with all the advantages that they undoubtedly offer, and embark on a new adventure.

In total, we were able to spend more than 250 days on 3 continents and in 12 completely different countries around the world during our trip. If we include our trip to the USA shortly before our long journey around the globe, we have gained a wealth of experiences and are now able to share some tips, tricks, conclusions, and a small statistics at the end of our trip. To conclude, there was still one last time to pack our backpacks and our return flight to Germany was on the agenda...

From dream, vision, plan to concrete implementation... similar to every success story of life and every major project, this is also how our dream of world travel reads. Right at the beginning, we also had the dream of a world trip, to discover unknown areas and countries, experience different cultures, and meet great people and new friends. So there was no better time for us to start the world travel project, as we had already spent several years in professional life, had no major family or financial obligations, and knew how we wanted to organize such a trip due to many previous trips on different continents. Nevertheless, anyone who wants to make such a trip should be aware that there are also difficult moments to overcome and that there are times to persevere. Between breathtaking pictures and posts, there can easily be a 15-hour bus ride on more or less well-developed roads, and the many distances covered can also be very exhausting. Sometimes things don't go according to plan, which requires a certain amount of improvisation. But what can we say: All of this, as well as the seemingly endless packing and carrying of backpacks, is definitely worth it, and all the beautiful moments and panoramic views from the picture book compensate for all the efforts.

The biggest hurdle for such a trip is undoubtedly the decision to do it with all the consequences and challenges. Once this step has been taken, the project begins and the concrete preparations can begin.

Of course, it helps to have a very good travel agency at hand, so we booked all the major flights through STA Travel, as the prices and service were unbeatable. In addition, it is also good to have personal contacts at the trusted travel agency during the trip, in order to be able to change flights quickly and clarify visa questions, for example.

At the same time, there is also a lot to organize in the home country, such as taking out and canceling insurance policies, deregistering cars, undergoing vaccinations, putting together the equipment for such a trip, planning the route, and handling official matters, etc. We had about 9 months of intense preparation time for this before the trip started.

In terms of equipment, we would definitely recommend not skimping on quality, especially when it comes to backpacks, functional clothing, hiking pants, rain jackets, hiking boots, cameras, and technology. As a credit card, we recommend the Santander 1 Plus card, as this is probably the only credit card in the world where there are no fees for foreign currency payments and all fees for cash withdrawals are reimbursed without any problems, so we were able to save a few hundred euros, which we gladly invested in activities during the trip ;-))

The following things should definitely be on the packing list, which you probably won't think of at first, but which were very helpful to us at times: duct tape, sharp kitchen knife, clothespins, sewing kit, emergency stash in euros and US dollars, external hard drive and USB sticks, deck of cards (space and weight-friendly), Bepanten (ointment for healing wounds), spare credit card(s), plug adapter, padlock, dry bag 5l, passport photos for visas depending on the country you are traveling to, e.g. Laos & Cambodia.

We naturally wanted to keep our friends, family, colleagues, acquaintances, and interested people up to date on our adventures during our trip and decided to create a travel blog, which was originally planned on a smaller scale =D However, we quickly realized that we had to increase the frequency of posts in order to share all the experiences in a timely and detailed manner. In the end, we created the blog primarily for ourselves to have a unique memory of this unforgettable time. Nevertheless, we would like to thank everyone for the incredible interest with more than 5,700 readers of all our posts. We hope that we were able to give many tips, just as we also gladly took tips from other blogs, and we hope that we were able to motivate many people to fulfill their own dreams and wishes and not hesitate to embark on such a journey.

Now to our statistics :-)

In total, we traveled almost 88,000 km using all imaginable means of transportation (excluding the USA), which is equivalent to a distance of approximately 2.2 times around the world. :-) The largest items here were airplanes with 60,000 km, rental cars with 14,000 km, buses with 9,000 km, etc... During our trip, we stayed in a total of 117 different accommodations, ranging from campsites to hostels, hotels, and Airbnbs. This also requires a considerable organizational effort, for which we can absolutely recommend the following apps for transport, orientation, and accommodations: Maps.me, Airbnb, Booking.com, Agoda (often cheaper than booking), Grab, Campermate, Tripadvisor - probably nothing new for many people, but by far the most helpful ;-))

A budget overview should also be created in any case, so that you already have an idea of how much money you can and want to spend in order to have a plan also on the way. It is also advisable to build in a buffer here, in order to be able to afford things on the journey that you may not have planned beforehand. We have created this with a daily budget per country and excluded special expenses such as all costs before the trip (flight bookings, equipment, rental cars, insurance, vaccinations) from this. To give an overview of what you really spend on which areas on such a trip, here is a small overview...

For those who need more details, you are welcome to contact us personally.

Now that we are back to our jobs, apartment, friends, and family, the "normal" everyday life is at the center again, while our new friendships and memories of the many great experiences will certainly last a lifetime =))

Nevertheless, it took us some time to publish the last post for the time being ;-))

Shortly after our arrival, we had an incredibly beautiful surprise party at home, which was organized without our knowledge. Many thanks at this point for the incredibly warm welcome, the great evening, and simply everyone who was there! It was absolutely amazing...

But even back in Germany, wanderlust has not left us, and so we have already had some smaller but very nice trips to Montafon, Feldberg, and Allgäu in our home country, where our world trip has also helped us to appreciate our own home. Beautiful pictures were taken here as well...

Gargellen, Montafon

Feldberg, Schwarzwald

Schwangau, Allgäu