At the beginning: first thoughts for our world tour

 

 

We have a big project for 2015 : to go on a 1 year world tour !!!

It's in more than one year from now (we would like to leave in April ‘15) and nothing is sure yet, but we are actually saving money and starting to think about where we would like to go and what we would like to do.

At the moment we are thinking of spending our year in these countries :
•    6 months in the USA
•    3 months in New-Zealand
•    2 weeks in Indonesia
•    1 month in Thailand
•    2 weeks in Cambodia
•    1 month in Burma (Myanmar)


As you can see, we would like to spend half of our year in the USA. So here’s what we will need and the things we would like to do/see while in the USA.

A B2 VISA FOR LOÏC

The main difficulty will be to obtain a 6 months tourist visa for Loïc. Since I have an American passport, I won't need a visa. As French citizen, Loïc would be able to spend 3 months in the USA. But for a longer stay or if you don't have a return plane ticket, you need a B2 visa that allows you to stay up to 6 months as a tourist (working is of course forbidden). Once you have it, the B2 visa is available for ten years. Of course it's very difficult to obtain that kind of visa. You have to prove to the consular officer that:
•    you are not planning to immigrate in the USA
•    you have the financial resources to spend 6 months in the USA without working illegally
To prove the first point, to own a house in France or have an employment contract waiting for when you come back is a good thing, but we won't have any of these. Having all your family and friends in France is a pretty good proof that you will be coming back.
To prove the second point they will check your bank account and income.
You also need to prove that 3 months of traveling isn't enough. So a precise plan of what you want to do and where you want to go might be helpful.
I read somewhere that having handwritten letters of friends/acquaintances saying they would be willing to put you up could be helpful to justify a « low » budget (because then you won't have to pay the hotel each night).

The problem is that if they deny you the B2 visa you're not even allowed to ask for a 3 months authorization for some time ! That's why Loïc should probably start his visa request in spring 2014 to allow us some time to re-organize ourselves if ever his request was denied.
But we want to believe that with a good preparation he will be able to have one.
Also I don't know if saying that he will be traveling with his girlfriend who has the double nationality, an American passport and family and friends in the USA will be a good point or a bad one for him. Maybe they will think, that because I have the possibility of staying thanks to my passport, he could be tempted to stay too ??? But he doesn't want to lie or not tell that he's going with me.
The fact that our stay in the USA is part of a bigger trip and that after we'll be going to New-Zealand might be a good point. It's not as if we were just planning to spend 6 months in the States and then come back to France, then we could be tempted to stay longer... And when we land in the States, we should be able to show them a plane ticket USA-New Zealand.

WWOOFING

Loïc and I are planning to spend some of our time Wwoofing while we are in the USA and in New-Zealand. Unfortunately we can't talk about that to the consular officer to justify a low budget or the need of spending 6 months in the USA because he will consider this as illegal work. For those who don't know about Wwoofing:

WWOOFF (Wikipedia)

Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms, or Willing Workers on Organic Farms, is a loose network of national organizations that facilitate placement of volunteers on organic farms. While there are WWOOF hosts in 99 countries around the world, no central list or organization encompasses all WWOOF hosts.
WWOOFing aims to provide volunteers with first-hand experience in organic and ecologically sound growing methods, to help the organic movement, and to let volunteers experience life in a rural setting or a different country. WWOOF volunteers ('WWOOFers') generally do not receive financial payment. The host provides food, accommodation, and opportunities to learn, in exchange for assistance with farming or gardening activities.
The duration of the visit can range from a few days to years. Workdays average five to six hours, and participants interact with WWOOFers from other countries

OUR AMERICAN ROAD TRIP

In the beginning, I wanted to do a big loop all around the United States, but even if six months is a long time, the country being so huge, it would have meant running a lot. We really want to take our time and be able to stay enough time in the different areas to discover the culture and the people. And explore less touristic spots.

At the moment, we are planning to visit:
•    The South-East : Louisiana (3 weeks Wwoofing, visit most of the state), Florida (the Everglades, the parks in Orlando), Savannah, Charleston, Tennessee (Memphis, Nashville)
•    The National parks in the West : maybe Wwoofing somewhere in the middle to be able to visit the parks during our free time
•    Yellowstone : 3 weeks Wwoofing near Yellowstone (I would love to find a farm where they have horses and live something a bit like in “The Horse Whisperer”)
•    Oregon and California : to visit family and friends

A CAR

Of course to do such a road trip we will need a car. Renting one is out of the question for a 6 months period.
So we could buy one when we arrive and sell it when we leave the USA. In the beginning we were thinking of a mini-van where we could sleep, this way we won't have to pay for a motel/hostel/camping. But since we are thinking of Wwoofing, maybe couchsurfing to meet people, and stay with family and friends, a car + a tent could be enough. I haven’t looked for too much information yet. But I know that some states can “give” you an American driver license if you show them your French license. However, I don't know how easy or difficult it is for French tourists to buy a car.
The easiest way would be to find someone willing to lend/ rent us their car... But then, I don't know how difficult or easy it would be to work things out with the insurance.


As I said in the beginning, we are now trying to save money. People say that 15 000 euros/person is a good budget for a year world tour. Doing Wwoofing and couchsurfing should allow us to be a bit under that amount. But the more we have, the better it will be, and it would be good to have some money left for when we come back to France and have no work and no apartment for some time in the beginning.