Go around the world! Just to talk about it, we are already dreaming of adventures and exotic destinations.
This dream, it seemed unattainable a few decades ago. It was thought reserved for some marginal fighters or winners of the lottery. But things have changed. Long-distance travel is now within the reach of almost everyone.
But by the way, what is it exactly around the world? How does the idea of a long-distance trip come about? Why do we decide to leave? What are the barriers that prevent us from starting? At what age, with whom and for how long? What do we get out of it in the end? We will try to answer here all the questions you ask yourself.
WHAT IS A WORLD TOUR?
According to Wikipedia, a world tour is a journey that consists of traveling completely and in a given direction over the earth until you return to where you started. Going around the world does not mean to see all the countries of the world, or even all the continents.
TV shows like J’Irai Dormir Chez Vous and Beijing Express have popularized an image of the traveler who leaves with a very small budget, housing homestay and hitchhiking. This is of course possible, but it ultimately only concerns a minority of travelers.
The average tourdumondist leaves for a year and visits a dozen countries, mainly in Asia and Latin America. He travels most often by plane between continents. Once there, he takes local buses, eats in small stalls or street restaurants, sleeps in cheap accommodation and sometimes homestay. Rather than traveling by plane, some choose to travel by bike, motorhome, sailboat, van …
Many travelers leave for a long time without necessarily going around the world properly speaking. We can go for six months or a year just in South America, Asia or Africa and have an equally amazing experience.
During a world tour, we travel in a very different way. We have time to improvise, to change plans, to linger in the places we like. We are quite surprised, when we start to deviate from the beaten track, to realize that many other travelers we meet are also gone for a long time. There is thus a real small community of tourdumondists who find themselves punctually along their journey.