I'm an American who wants to travel the world. Where/how do I start?

You don't have to stick to the countries where English is the primary language to be able to get around. English is widely spoken in the major tourist destinations. You might want to start with some of the particularly tourist friendly destinations though - the Netherlands is a particularly good choice. It's easy to get to directly from the US, there are lots of interesting things to see and do, it's very easy to get aroud using the public transportation, and just about everyone speaks English. Prague is another excellent choice as is anywhere in Scandanavia. Actually most places are pretty easy to manage in English. You should try to learn a little of the language before going somewhere if for no other reason than to be polite. It's useful to know simple things like "push" and "pull", or how to distinguish a men's toilet from a women's toilet.

It's safe to travel alone - probably more so than in the US. I moved from Denver to Italy about ten years ago and have been out exploring throughout Europe most weekends and holidays and have never had a problem anywhere. There are many websites for finding travel companions - you can find them with a simple search.

Most places have guided tours of the city and day trips. You can find things like this by simply searching for "sightseeing" or "tour" and the name of the city you're interested in. Or you'll find lots of tour brochures at hotels when you arrive. Most of the places where you can take a tour are accessible by public transportation at a much lower cost. You're trading off cost against having a guide that you can ask questions of. However, you also have the flexibility to spend more time in places that catch your interest.

Get a passport even if you don't have a specific travel plan in place. It's better to have one that you don't need immediately than to not be able to get one in time when a travel opportunity comes up.

Hey, I am so excited for you to travel! I know because I love to travel.

It's not that expensive to go to Europe. Pick a country you really want to go visit.

For example, my top countries: France, Italy, England/Scotland/Ireland, Greece and Germany.

Travel to these coutires is pretty cheap. A friend I know just came back from Italy, where she spent two weeks and only spent $400 on round trip airfare adn for hotel accomadations.

One tip is to go in the off season. Don't plan a summer or holiday (christmas) vacation. Go March-Mayish.

Also check different airline ticket websites. A month ago i found tickets (and was sadly broke and had no vacation time at work) to travel to all all the above mentioned countries for under $100 eacch (roundtrip). Ireland was the cheapest at, and I am not making this up, $67 dollars. (a little more than a 2GB ipod shuffle).

I don't think that traveling by yourself is a bad thing. Just be smart. Don't give details to strangers (watch that new Liam Neeson movie, Taken, to understand why).

And traveling by yourself can be cheap. I went to Paris for (with tax) about $2000, pricy, but we stayed at a 5-star hotel. The best part, my friends and I took maps of the city, and tiny guide books. After buying a metro pass we travel the city in a week, and saw everything out tour group saw. We spent uner $100 euros (equivilant to $70-80). And we were able to go at our own pace, see what we wanted to see and shop when we felt like it. I am never traveling with a group again.

Also, having been to Paris and learning to love public transit (I am from a small town), I found a cheap way to go back is to rent an aparment. for 100-200 Euros a week (again $70/$80-$160) a week, instead of $100 or more a night. This is also great because you would have a fridge, and grocery stores aren't that far away.

Anyhow, I hope your trip is amazing, whatever you decide.

First get yourself a passport - many countries in the world still require a passport before they will allow you in - next check if the country you are intending to visit requires you to have a visa as well - less countries now require a visa but some still do so you need to check.

Do not worry to much about not speaking the local language - there are people in every country in the world who can speak English and are usually keen to use English - in anycase you can usually make yourself understood by using a basic sign language (pretenting to put food in your mouth when you hungry will usually lead you to food)

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I agree. In one among my school categories all of the pupils most effective desired to visit Europe. Since whilst is Europe the one situation on this planet? Africa is depicted as a jungle and South America as a damaging situation wherein you might get abducted. What amazed me is none of them viewed Asia. Asia is portrayed as an alternative properly. It is exasperating to look persons who is not going to open their minds and reside external of what's acquainted. This is how lack of awareness flourishes.

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