So, we are less than one week from the start of our RTW trip and I have a confession: I’m nervous. It is hard for me to pinpoint exactly why I’m nervous, but I am. I’ve never traveled in this way before—we will be gone for almost four months and much of that time is unplanned. Yes, we have hotels booked for each city we fly into, that way we have a place to go from the airport, but after that who knows what we’ll see and do? That is awesome. That is exactly how we want it to be. However, I think that is also what is causing some trepidation.
I think it is inevitable that there will be days when we don’t know where we will be laying our head that night. What happens when it is 9:00 PM and we still don’t have a place to stay? Can I handle that lack of predictability? Will I end up getting upset and will Phil and I end up fighting because of my discomfort with the situation? I imagine when this happens we will end up having to stay in some real fleabag motels or we will end up shelling out too much money and staying in a far nicer place than we planned. Ultimately none of this really matters—no matter what, everything will work out fine, and if it isn’t all smooth sailing, well it will make for a great memory. Intellectually, I know this is true. However, I think I won’t fully understand it until we actually begin our journey and have these types of experiences.
Don’t get me wrong, I am so excited for our trip. We have been planning and talking about it for so long and it is finally here! There is just so much that is unknown—I guess it is natural to be a little nervous. Hopefully when I’m drinking my first Steinlager beer in New Zealand, I will take a deep breath, toast to my husband, and my nerves will melt away.
–Brooke
luggagetagtravels.com 
Don’t worry! That’s what the Internet is for…a great site to get cheap places to stay is Booking.com or Hostelworld.com…but Hostelworld might not be your thing as its mostly shared rooms.
It’s going to be great!! I can’t imagine two other people more perfect to take this adventure together. Nerves are normal and will make you think wisely and cautiously but just trust in the great choices you made in choosing your fellow adventurer and know that your family and friends are excited for you and sending positive vibes to carry you along and most importantly….bring you back safely!
When I went to Peru in 2008, we arrived back at our (very tiny) hotel at about 3 a.m. one night, only to be locked out of the place! It ended up being one of the best outta town stories ever. My friend scaled a 10-foot gate at about 3:15, crashed into a storage shed, broke a roof, and then let me in. We got yelled at the next day and skidaddled outta there!
Brooke, you know that if I was planning a RTW trip, I would ditch my wife and pick Phil to go with. I know you know this, but that man is crazy to the point where you should never worry about a place to stay. You are more likely to end up on the pilot-who-flew-you-to-whereever’s couch before you end up at a fleabag motel. (I was diappoint that the link for “fleabag motel” wasn’t for Motel 6’s website)