A few months ago, I had read advice suggesting it's best to wait until about a month before your planned departure to buy airfare, otherwise you'll spend all your time worrying about whether something will derail you from using those expensive tickets.
It made sense to me, and I cut it real close. Last Friday, I bought the following itinerary through the friendly people at AirTreks.com to kick off my world tour:
- Nov 30 - New York City to Tahiti (direct, with a short stopover in Los Angeles)
- Dec 6 - Tahiti to Auckland, New Zealand
- Jan 2 - Christchurch, New Zealand to Brisbane, Australia
- Jan 29 - Melbourne, Australia to Bali, Indonesia
To get to NYC, I'll take a $20 bus ride, and then spend my last night in the USA couchsurfing at my friend Kai's/brother's apartment. And before I get to Indonesia, I'll have to buy my next ticket or two so I can show proof of onward travel. The discount Asian airlines seem to have reasonable prices from that point forward. I'll probably hop to Singapore for a few days, and then on to Hong Kong and beyond.
Oh, and if you're wondering how much those 4 flights cost, it came out to $2091 (tax included). Given it will get me to the other side of the world during New Zealand's peak tourism season (summer), I'm fairly satisfied. Once I hit mainland Asia, I plan to rough it overland via trains and buses for awhile.
