Itʼs the ultimate trip: circumnavigating the planet, and stopping off wherever takes your fancy. Great for travellers who want to see it all, or who are just plain indecisive. But booking a round-the-world (RTW) trip can be a complex business. Hereʼs our guide to getting started.

How to do it

The most economical way to circumnavigate is to buy a round-the-world air ticket that uses one airline alliance. Theoretically, any routing is possible, but knowing how the RTW booking system works will make your trip cheaper. For example, the Star Alliance, a coalition of 27 airlines, offers a RTW ticket with a maximum of 15 stops. Its member airlines fly to 1185 airports in 185 countries.

There are rules: you must follow one global direction (east or west – no backtracking); you must start and finish in the same country; and you must book all your flights before departure, though you can change them later (which may incur extra charges).

How long you need

You could whip round the world in a weekend if you flew non-stop. However, the minimum duration of most RTW tickets is ten days – still a breathless romp. Consider stock-piling annual leave, tagging on public holidays or even arranging a sabbatical in order to take off two months, ideally six to 12. The maximum duration of a RTW ticket is one year.

Click to read more on how to plan RTW trips — TRAVEL

Lonely Planet guides have been incredible tools while traveling. Great work here.

One thing makes Scottish photographer David Yarrow’s work stand out from a world of wildlife photography — a unique point of view.

African elephants tower over you, lions stare balefully into your eyes, tigers look up from the water and rhinoceros charge straight at you.

It can be a bit unsettling — this feeling of feeling a little close to the animal.

The unusual angles are the result of hours of research and elaborate planning, as well as countless trial and error in the field.

Yarrow’s new book, “Encounter,” gathers 87 of his most stunning images, taken in some of the most remote parts of the world, in the dreariest of seasons, in the most dramatic light.

Click to read a CNN interview with David Yarrow — Travel Photography 

It’s not often that a city known for its 7 a.m. breakfast meetings and workaholic residents also gains renown as a premier party town. Yet in Medellin, Colombia, the paradox begins to make sense very late on a raucous Friday night, when I find myself in a packed nightclub discussing the finer points of entrepreneurialism and urban planning between shots of 60-proof aguardiente. And that’s before I’m hugged by a mustachioed dwarf in a mariachi outfit.

Until recently, Medellin hasn’t had a whole lot to offer in the way of nocturnal amusements or legitimate business deals, Bloomberg Pursuits magazine will report in its Holiday 2013 issue. Police curfews often kept people inside their high-security homes, and the most significant commercial transactions tended to involve large amounts of cocaine. The city was the longtime stronghold of Pablo Escobar and his Medellin cartel, which once controlled the majority of the cocaine shipped illegally into the U.S.

Click to read an awesome profile of Medellin by Chris Bagley on Bloomberg — Travel

Image via Bloomberg/Stefan Ruiz

Russian photographer Murad Osmann and his girlfriend Natalia Zakharova love to travel the world together, and they have documented their travels and their love for one another in a beautifully unique way.

In a photo series entitled “Follow Me” uploaded to Instagram, Murad captures gorgeous photographs of his girlfriend leading him by the arm through various exotic locations around the world. Together they have visited such places as Italy, Singapore, Bali, Germany, Spain, Austria, China, and England.

Via Enpundit