Fernão Magalhães inaugurated what became the first circumnavigation trip (round-the-world trip) of Earth ever.
At that time, the world was still largely unknown to old Europe and, as was often the case with navigators, a large portion of the Portuguese discoverer's journey in search of a route via the West for spices was done without any reference.
After arriving at what he called the Pacific Ocean, Magellan estimated that sailing to the spice islands would take a few days. It ended up taking three long months.
During this period, while advancing to the West and “climbing” towards the equator, Magellan failed practically all the archipelagos and islands spread across the Pacific, not that it mattered to him beyond that, but many of them, today considered paradisiacal.
It anchored on the opposite side of the ocean, in the Marianas, in Guam and, shortly after, in Mactanin Philippines. On this island, he slightly abused his luck.
He tried to convert a chief named Lapu Lapu to Christianity. He was killed by a raging native tribe.
These days, it has everything to prevent a trip around the world from being, instead of problematic or dramatic, a highly rewarding experience.
Here are the first of many information and tips that we will give you so that you can make your dream come true.
1- Believing in the Round the World Trip. Valuing it with Determination
Faced with King Manuel I's repeated no to his proposal, Fernão Magalhães he didn't lower his arms.
Frustrated, he decided to sacrifice the patriotism he surely had after a half-life of battles and wounds in the service of the Portuguese Crown, moved to Seville in arms and baggage.
He only rested when he convinced King Carlos I to support his project of continuing his search for Asia through the West, which was then the only way to reach “Portuguese” spices without compromising what was agreed in the Treaty of Tordesillas.
Don't take the idea of going around the world as a dream. There are many ways to make the idea a reality. If you can't do it one way, do it another way but don't be defeated by its apparent complexity.
In Portugal, and in general, in the Latin American sphere, travel continues to be seen too much as a kind of adventurous whim, almost as a luxury of which we should feel guilty.
Instead, as we can see in countless periods of discovery, in the English-speaking world and in northern Europe, in general, it is common for even younger teenagers to travel in small groups of friends with parental permission.
The Mythical Gap Year
Not to mention the famous Gap Year. The Gap Year consists of an interval between the end of secondary studies and the beginning of university life that teenagers reserve to appreciate themselves as people traveling.
It can also be applied between the end of university and professional life.
And, they do it with such conviction and pleasure that many start traveling whenever they can and repeat that kind of gap year between the end of university studies and the beginning of their professional life.
Any one of these different forms of Gap Year has a mandatory place in their resumes.
Above all, don't overlook the personal enrichment gained from any trip.
In particular, for a trip around the world. Do not hesitate to see it as an experience that will bring you knowledge and open-mindedness forever.
Dismiss any fears that you are wasting time or money.
2-A Freedom and the Money Needed for Around the World
If you have already got one à financial will
enjoy a break between jobs or create it and leave à adventure. Another solution is to obtain authorization for an unpaid leave at your company.
Has a way of working on account of another, via the Internet, simply respecting delivery deadlines? So develop and expose that hypothesis with foresight and determination. fight for aim.
If you are a self-employed professional, organize yourself as much as possible and prepare all possible technological solutions for teleworking on the road.
How many times has your company not already attracted clients and projects, detected problems and found solutions as a team, using videoconferencing and others ?
Alert clients and business partners to less contact availability, prepare to wake up and work through the night due to time differences, and adjust as best you can à new reality.
In our particular case, we made two trips of this type already counting on several one-day breaks, sometimes two, to program, create and deliver travel reports that we were delivering to various publications.
Apart from these breaks, we also systematically dealt with complementary tasks after dark and, in contact with Portugal during the night, with the sacrifice of pleasant dinners, outings and socializing at night.
Sometimes you can't have it all.
Either way, the privilege of going around the world makes up for most of the sacrifices.
In case you haven't collected enough money for Around the World
think of a plan to make it go as little as possible against your principles of life.
Many backpackers, mainly from the English-speaking world – especially travelers from the Australia – work six months or a year in a row in jobs without long-term responsibilities.
After this period of effort – let's call it that – they enjoy the reward of travel periods that they try to prolong as much as possible to maintain a healthy balance between spending, and pleasure and comfort.
Just as an example, on our travels, we met some who did it in bars in London. Others who fulfilled the painful part of that plan in the gold mines of the Australia.
The latter, gave more of themselves for short periods but earned much more than the former, and much faster.
During the NAVIMAG cruise, by the fjords of the Chile, we also met a couple of Guatemalans – yes, Guatemalans – who invested and earned money online in the stock market while traveling.
Nothing is guaranteed. But those who don't take the risk don't get anything. The most valuable secret is to make the most of the wealth of assets, knowledge and professional experience that one has.
If you have your own house, rent the house for the period you are traveling.
Ultimately, if you need to, sell some possessions that are not absolutely necessary.
Including a car that you can buy again once a work routine is established or re-established.
3 – How long should it take to make an Around the World?
It just depends on you, your financial capacity and the professional freedom you can secure.
In technical terms, if you choose to make the trip based on flights and a specific round-the-world ticket from an airline alliance – for example the Star Alliance of which TAP is a member – you will have a maximum limit of one year.
You can only extend this period if you purchase more than one ticket.
In this case, you'll be cheating the concept of around the world a bit since, as a rule, the first itinerary has to go around the real world.
Airline alliances also set minimum times to complete the turn, for example 10 days after your first international flight departs.
If you have financial and calendar availability, of course the ideal would always be to make this dream trip in a year. Carry it out with enough time to calmly explore each of your favorite places.
On Earth, scenarios and forms of life in everything different from ours. Striking raw material for discovery will not be lacking.
In our view, and still arising from past experiences, a year establishes a good psychological barrier.
Especially if you are traveling alone, it is very likely that after a year you will start to miss it.
From the family, the country, the house and the other people with whom you usually get along.
Longing and Discouragement vs Enthusiasm for Adventure and Discovery
Of course, this feeling also comes and goes and fluctuates along the journey. It fluctuates depending on the place and the experiences as you go by and, especially, the people you meet.
We have had periods of absolute ecstasy of exotic discovery in Vanuatu where fascination drowned out any other feeling.
We also had phases of greater existential emptiness and nostalgia.
It happened, for example, in certain islands of the French Polynesia ou na Grande Terre (New Caledonia) where it was more difficult for us to feel and be part of genuine local life.
