Do you fancy visiting several countries on a longer trip? We’ve got some great advice on making your world trip dream actually happen. We’ve summed up the key points – from planning and equipment to insurance and finance.
Do you have other dreams? You’ll find more useful advice on money in the money newsletter.
Are you dreaming of escaping the daily grind of life for two or three months, or perhaps even longer? A round-the-world trip gives you the chance to visit lots of different countries on different continents and to experience other cultures, meet new people, see new landscapes and visit attractions. This can be done in very different ways. As people are all different, their world trips are, too. Some prefer to go backpacking around the world, others treat themselves to lavish round-the-world travel on a cruise ship or with a high-end tour operator, including a personal tour guide. On a world trip, you see much more than the hotel complex at a beach resort.
Whether you set off around the world before or while studying, as a family with young children, on a sabbatical in your early 50s or when you’re retired, you need to organize your dream trip carefully. It might help to give your trip a name. Depending on whether you’d like to explore historical treasures, the best spots for diving, culinary highlights or the most far-flung places on the planet, you might decide to call your trip “Journey through the ages”, “Deep dive”, “Our culinary expedition” or “Adventure into the unknown”. You’ll find inspiration for your world trip from the countless videos, podcasts, blogs and books that can be found online by entering the search term “round-the-world trip”. Professional tour operators will also have some great ideas.
Useful tip: if you enter a search term, the travel guide publisher Lonely Planet will also provide lots of ideas and information on planning a world trip – for example, if sustainable travel really matters to you.
You’re spoilt for choice – from Zurich to China, Egypt to South Africa or Mexico to Greenland. Ruling out options is a good way of deciding which countries you’d really like to visit. Simply cross off the list all the countries you’re not interested in visiting right now. You can then use the following questions to eliminate more travel destinations and put together a route for your personal world trip based on the remaining places – or at least some of them:
Booking off-the-cuff beach holidays or a city break is straightforward enough. But a round-the-world trip takes a lot of planning. It can take a few months to prepare everything. This to-do list will help you. Bear in mind, however, that it’s not exhaustive and needs to be adjusted to your personal trip.
Provided you retain your place of residence in Switzerland under civil law while travelling the world, mandatory OASI contributions continue to apply. However, it’s always advisable to discuss the situation with your OASI office – regardless of the length of your trip. It’s best to check with your municipality whether you need to de-register with the residents’ register office for your temporary stay abroad.
The type of equipment you’ll need to take on your world trip depends on your travel route, the activities you intend to do and your personal needs. Here’s a non-exhaustive list of things that may be useful on any trip around the world:
The cost of a world trip depends on the route, duration and how you travel: will you stay in inexpensive accommodation as a low-budget backpacker, opt for the most affordable mode of transport and mainly live off street food? Or do you have higher expectations and plan to stay in starred hotels, take taxis rather than public buses and dine in fine restaurants? There’s a huge range of options between these two extremes. That means the cost of a round-the-world trip can fluctuate by several thousand francs.
As a ballpark figure, it’ll cost around 1,200 to 1,500 francs per person each month for basic travel and lifestyle options. It’s advisable to set a few thousand extra francs aside to cover any unforeseen costs during your trip and living costs after you return. It’s important to include in your budget all fixed costs that have to be paid at home while you’re away (e.g. tax, rent, OASI, insurance, etc.).
To make certain you can afford the cost of your trip, it’s best to include everything in your budget. Here’s a general list of the costs involved in a world trip:
The more you spend on a world trip, the better it’ll be. Find out how to save money in day-to-day life for your dream round-the-world trip in our blog “Saving money: a comprehensive guide”.
By card or cash? Our blog article “Holiday money in a foreign currency: key things to bear in mind” provides useful advice on payment when travelling. This post explains why it’s best to take both a debit and credit card on your world trip.
Keeping a few notes in the local currency in your wallet or purse can never hurt. Where and when should you order and buy currency? If you have enough time, keep an eye on the daily exchange rates before setting off on your world trip. When the exchange rate is relatively low, it is worth buying the foreign currency you want. Euros are available from most ATMs in Switzerland. It’s best to exchange other currencies, such as the Australian dollar, Hong Kong dollar, Thai baht or Danish krone (major currencies), at your financial institution in Switzerland. But exchanging money locally can be less expensive for more exotic (minor) currencies, such as Chilean pesos or South African rand. For peace of mind, however, it may be worth taking a small amount of money with you from home to your destination. At PostFinance, you can order cash in around 70 currencies in e-finance or by phone and have it delivered to your home address.
To find out which payment method is most suitable for your round-the-world trip, you firstly need to gain an understanding of credit and debit cards. We compare the options in our blog article “The pros and cons of different electronic payment methods”.
