6 days to go...

Hi all!

As the race between me and the time goes on, more and more friends of mine are giving me tips how to make most of my RTW (Round the world) trip. Some say that i should think about writing a travel book, some say i should conduct a survey of what people think about various issues around the world, the purpose of life, etc. etc. I say a bit of everything will be good ;-) (very diplomatic approach!)

I have started packing my back pack - I´ve selected one multi-pockets khaki summer pant, 1 full sleeves thick front sipper summer pullover, a pair of flip flops and so on. My tickets should be delievered tomorrow at my aunt´s address in London.

Btw, i am sick of my job and even yesterday i didnt show up work just because i didnt feel like. I dunno how to pass the next 3 days ;-)

The good news is that my Laptop is ready with the WLAN Card so that i can use internet all over the world and keep in touch with u all, upload the latest pics and share the most exciting uncensored stories - ahem ahem .... ;-)

Btw, i am really new to this website and i am still exploring to how upload pics here in the blog and so on so be patient and spare me sometime.

That's all from today...

Catch ya soon xxx
Umer.

PS: The photo is from this year's Berlin's LOVE Parade!

Hello Everyone

I know you all have been contacting me to know what's new about my world trip. Oh God! i must tell you that it sounds easy to do but believe me its not! i didnt imagine that it will be so difficult to plan flights & accomodation and settle financial & administrative will be so difficult. Since my last post i have been going absolutley crazy. but now all the major problems are over as i have purchased my EXPENSIVE Round the world ticket with British Airways & Qantas Airways called - World Discovery.

Here are its further details:

-:August:-
--------
03: Zurich (by train to) Geneva (by EASYJET to) London
08: London (by BRITISH AIRWAYS to) Singapore
09: Singapore (by QANTAS to) Darwin
09-13th August in DARWIN
13: Darwin (by QANTAS to) Alice Spring
13-16th August in Alice Spring & Ayer's Rock(Uluru)
16: Alice Spring (by QANTAS to) Melbourne
16-20th August in MELBOURNE
22-29th August in SYDNEY
29: Sydney (by AIR PACIFIC to) Nadi, Fiji

-:September:-
-------------
02: Nadi (by AIR PACIFIC to) Auckland
-Exploring New Zealand-
11: Auckland (by AIR NEW ZEALAND to) Nelson and back to Auckland
13: Auckland (by LAN CHILE to) Santiago, Chile
14: Santiago (by TACA to) Lima, Peru
23: Quito, Ecuador (by TACA to) Sao Paulo

-October:-
----------
11: Rio de Janeiro (by BRITISH AIRWAYS to) London
15: London (by RYANAIR to) Friedrichshafen (by ferry to) Romanshorn (by car to) Zurich

2 Months & 12 days, 4 Continents, 11 Countries, Countless cities, 13 Flights, 28065 Miles - AROUND THE WORLD in One Big Trip!

The Significant difference between this and previous travel plan is that now i'll be going Eastwards instead of Westwards. Reasons? Due to high season in Europe, i couldn't find flights either from Madrid, Lisbon or London to South America in the first 10 days of August. So, i had to buy RTW (Round the world) Ticket instead of purchasing oneway-oneway tickets wherever i go... Guess how much would be this entire trip ? No... its more than what you think ;) - i paid 4700 Swiss Francs or £ 2000 :) and this was one of the toughest decision which i ever made in my life....

At the STA Travel in London, i was so nervous - like never before - the agent asked me if i am ready to purchase and buy the tickets and i asked him may i have a glass of water please? hehehe... i never bought anything so expensive ever before (did i ever had this much money before? ;) NO!) and i was certainly feeling the pressure.

Anyways, now i am in the packing stage... what to take, what to leave back home... another tough phase but i hope with support of Allah & all of you on Earth i believe that everything will be fine.

Btw, in August, i will be updating my blog atleast once in 3 days. So seeya soon here...

Cheers,
Umer.

PS: Any tips? Recommendations? References on Couch Surfing or Hospitality Club, or introducing me to your friends or relatives in the cities i am visiting will be highly appreciated. Thank you!

Dreams have no boundries and no horizons

One of my wildest dream was to travel round the world like many other great travellers from Marco Polo from Italy to Ibn-e-Batoota from Morocco.

I, as a Pakistani need visas to travel to nearly all the countries of the world and it is not-so-easy to get them but as there is a saying 'where there is a will there is a way' so i didn't loose hope and started planning my dream trip - Round the world !

Today after planning for already a couple of months, i have got the biggest news that my Australian Visa has been authorized and i should send my passport to get it stamped in it. It was the last but one of the most important visas required for my trip and i am so glad to be able to get it and go on with my travel plans.



Talking of travel plans... i have been going crazy deciding which way to start my trip eastwards or westwards. Both have pluses and minuses but finally i decided to go westwards. Here are the approxmiate dates of my trip:

2nd Aug '06: Zürich, Switzerland to Madrid, Spain
3-7th Aug'06: Madrid, Spain to Quito, Ecuador (country #53)
14th Aug '06: Ecuador to Peru(country # 54)
21th Aug '06: Peru to Brazil (country # 55)
10th Sep '06: Brazil to Chile (country # 56) to New Zealand (country # 57)
25th Sep '06: New Zealand to Fiji (country # 58)
29th Sep '06: Fiji to Australia (country # 59)
20th Oct '06: Australia to Singapore (country # 60) to Pakistan
5th Nov '06: Pakistan to Switzerland

Today after getting my 2nd visa (1st one was Brazillian) of Peru, i sent my passport with the flight reservation to New Zealand's Consulate General in Geneva, Switzerland.

I still cannot believe that i will be going round the world and travelling for 3 months non-stop. When i think of it i get very excited but on the other hand, i feel under pressure because time is running fast and my preparation is nearly zero :) Especially about South America where people speak mostly Spanish or Portugese, i have not made friends and contacts and i do not know where will i stay and how will i manage things there with my English or German. But to calm myself down i keep on reminding myself that just relax and take things one-by-one :)

Dear friends!
I already feel like missing you on every interesting moment during this time. I'll try to keep in touch with all of you by writing you guys short emails and sending you postcards. Please email me your (latest) postal address and mobile numbers. You know i am not a rich guy but still if you would like to have anything special as a gift, i would like to either send it to you or bring it for you. Just pray that everything goes well and i happily complete this trip.

Cheers xxx
Umer - Zürich, Switzerland.