The Rough Guide to First-time Around the World

Whether you're heading off on a gap year or taking a sabbatical, the new full-colour The Rough Guide to First-Time Around the World will be indispensable when planning your trip. From the big things (entry requirements, round-the-world tickets) to the very smallest (how many pairs of socks you'll need), this guide has you covered. Beyond the inspirational section on how to enrich your trip, it includes maps, regional profiles, an FAQ section, a directory and plenty of practical, budget-conscious tips. The Rough Guide to First-Time Around the World also contains a well-researched selection of the best the internet has to offer independent travellers, from using your phone abroad to the best services available through the new sharing economy, plus information on staying safe on the road and how to pick volunteer programmes wisely. Planning your first trip around the world can be daunting for even veteran travellers, but the Rough Guides author leads you through the process with experience, insight and humour, showing you how to create your own journey - not just how to tick off everything you're "supposed" to see.

Doug Lansky, a writer and a traveler, has chronicled his travels around the world in his hilarious and vividly descriptive column, The Vagabond. His travels have included cruising up the Amazon on a cargo ship; living and blowgun hunting with Jaguar Indians in Peru; buying a horse and riding it to Colombia; hitchhiking through Syria and Jordan, where he befriended sergeants in the Iraqi military; riding a camel across the desert in India; and sailing down the Nile. Lansky’s articles have appeared in Spy and Might magazines as well as in numerous major US daily newspapers. He is also the coauthor of How to Survive High School with Minimal Brain Damage, published when he was just sixteen years old.