Choosing Travel Destinations: Art or Science?

As a solo backpacker, choosing the best travel destinations is both the easiest - and the hardest - thing you'll have to do on your trip!

Easy if you know where you're going - difficult if you don't, because there are so many choices.

Destinations can mean different things:

• A place - a country or city or region
• An adventure - great railway journeys or sampling the best African safaris
• A mood - dangerous places or pilgrimage routes
• A wish - to trace family roots or a year of freedom
• A desire to be of service - by becoming a volunteer or taking a volunteer vacation
• A challenge - teaching English abroad or study a language abroad

The trick to knowing where you're going is to first figure out why you're going!

Once you've done that, you've narrowed the field. But you still need meticulous plans. Not just because of world climate and plane tickets and visas, but because you might also want to do some reading and research - perhaps by leafing through some solo travel books - before hitting the road.

Time to decide!

Let me share some of my favorite solo backpacking trips with you (some that I've taken myself, and others that I still dream of):

• Cape to Cairo (long but still one of my favorites)
• Trekking around Southeast Asia (a great first-time destination to ease gently into life on the road)
• Cuba (quickly before it becomes just another Caribbean playground!)
• The Karakoram Highway (a bit harder these days)
• Down the Panamericana
• Round the World
• The Silk Route
• and in terms of specific places, here are my own top 10 travel destinations!

But there are so many others!

This page isn't about great travel destinations - there are a zillion sites that do that better than I ever could.

What I would like to do is to help you ask the right questions so you can decide where to go.

Do you dream of tropical rainforests and exotic birds?
Try Costa Rica, Brazil or Borneo

Or sites of amazing natural beauty?
You've got the Grand Canyon and Alaska or further afield in Australia, dive the Great Barrier Reef or drive the Gibb River Road

Are you seeking spiritual solace? Then travel to sacred sites -
Try Tibet, Bagan (Myanmar) or Varanasi

Are you the more into culture than adventure?
You can't go wrong with Italy, Egypt, Greece, Cambodia, India, Peru or Mali

You're a city slicker... but think you can't afford city travel?
Cheap Paris travel still exists - at under US$ 15 a day. Honest!

Maybe you're an inveterate shopper
In which case why not tour the world's best markets?

Maybe you're a festival junkie...
Then it's Rio for the Carneval, Hong Kong for the Dragon Boat races, or the Oktoberfest in Munich

Do you want to see some unforgettable building sites?
Visit central Rome, or the Pyramids of Egypt or Mexico

First timer? What are the safest destinations for women?
Backpacking Europe may be your best bet, but you'd be equally fine in Australia, New Zealand or, why not Southeast Asia?

Are you looking for rock bottom prices?
India or Indonesia are inexpensive

Do you dream of sun and sea?
Sample the beaches of Turkey, Thailand, Malaysia, Brazil, Zanzibar or Fiji

Maybe you're a mountain girl...
You could follow in Birgit's footsteps and climb Kilimanjaro! Or take classic trekking holidays in Nepal or walk the Tour of the Mont Blanc

Would you prefer going off the beaten track?
Try Syria, Eritrea, the Philippines, Mozambique or decide whether you want to travel to Burma

What about something on the beaten track?
You could visit World Heritage Sites, or the Wonders of the World... or check out these interesting facts about France

If you like to follow the tracks of history...
Trace the footsteps of Lewis and Clarke, Livingstone or Marco Polo

If you're a voracious reader, those footsteps could be those of intrepid women travel writers - read some of their best travel books

Are you the really adventurous type?
Your travel destinations could be Central Asia, Iran, Libya, Inner Mongolia

And if adventure isn't enough, what about dangerous places?
Darfur, Somalia or Beirut could be for you

Perhaps you're a lover of nature and the environment?
The lemurs of Madgascar, a trek in the Amazon, or sailing to Antartica

Would you like to explore a specific region?
Try Southeast Asia, Southern Africa, Central America, the Andes, North Africa, the Baltics

Would you rather travel across continents to many countries?
Try Cape to Nairobi, Bangkok to Hanoi, London to Istanbul, Beijing to Moscow, LA to Panama

Or maybe you're curious about the New Europe...
Budapest, Prague, the Baltic States, the former Yugoslavia, Warsaw or even Moscow

The world may seem small, but it still has more travel destinations than you can count.

	Enter your search terms Submit search form
	Web www.women-on-the-road.com