It has been a long time since I thought about having a really long holiday, and without committing to something I knew I would never do it. Hence, within the span of a couple months, I had planned and paid for a road trip across America and flights around the world.
This gave me the opportunity to experience living in other parts of the world, and a date to finally stop working; something I did not know I really needed until the day came.
My original plan was just to do a road trip in America and visit Japan again. However, after looking at one-way flight prices it did not seem economical. It was much better value to book a round the world ticket via One World - adding more countries from then on did not cost that much extra! That is how Australia and New Zealand was added too. I had never stepped foot in the southern hemisphere, and I could not think of another opportunity in the future when I would have this chance.
The time spent in the different countries was rather arbitrary. My main aim was to experience living in another country and being present. One month in the USA, one month in Japan and one month split between Australia and New Zealand was the bare minimum. I had been to Hong Kong many many times before, so I used the visit to rest up from travels and spend time with family before returning to London.
That was how I decided the dates for the flights, as they had to be booked all at once. Change of dates and destinations were able to be made, however, if I really needed to.
I purposefully did not do much research as to what to do day to day until a few days before each location. I did sketch out routes to see various parts of each country - just enough to book my accommodation. I needed the reassurance that I had a place to stay every night with enough amenities to provide a comfortable time. Staying in shared dormitories in hostels was not on the cards for this trip.
As someone astutely pointed out to me while on the Indian Pacific train in Australia, I seemed to enjoy travelling across countries. Looking back now, they are completely correct. The completeness of getting from one place to the next really makes me happy.
Without further ado, here are links to separate pages describing each country along with lots and lots of photos!