There are many websites that explain what a round-the-world air ticket is, so please refer to them.

I didn't originally plan to use a round-the-world air ticket, but I looked into it just in case.
As a result, I still don't plan to use one.
Unless it's half price, there are too many disadvantages for the price.

Here are the advantages and disadvantages of a round-the-world air ticket for my case:

■Advantages
- It's easier to accumulate miles (probably).
- The return date becomes clear.
- It's easier to find flights with good conditions (e.g., good connections or daytime flights).

■Disadvantages
- If the period is shorter than the maximum of 1 year, the air ticket will be wasted.
- It's not designed for things like returning home temporarily.
- If you decide to "stop the round-the-world trip," the air ticket will be wasted. If you take a few months off and then restart, a year might pass, and the air ticket will be wasted.
- Actually, it's not much cheaper than buying tickets individually (I think). It's probably a good deal during peak season, but if you choose cheaper days, it might not be that expensive.
- It becomes difficult to stay in a place if you find a business opportunity locally.
- There's a restriction that you can't go back.
- You feel frustrated every time you find a cheap and good way to travel locally (mainly cheap airline tickets).

Based on the above, I actually got a quote.

You can get a quote for a OneWorld round-the-world air ticket that is strong in South America here:
https://rtw.oneworld.com/rtw/default.aspx?lang_id=ja
https://rtw.oneworld.com/rtw/default.aspx?lang_id=ja

It allows you to book up to 16 flights on a 4-continent course (Asia, Europe, North America, South America).
I set the period for land travel and created a quote for 14 flights, which came to about 480,000 yen (370,000 + 110,000 for surcharges).

When I got a quote for the same itinerary individually using Skyscanner, it was about 450,000 yen including surcharges.
However, the flights weren't as good as those offered by the round-the-world air ticket.

The above quote includes a round trip to Easter Island in South America, which costs about 100,000 yen. If you don't include that, it will be cheaper.
With a price difference like that, there are few advantages to using a round-the-world air ticket.
Also, you can save a little more by using accumulated miles to get award tickets for some segments.

Unless it's half price, the price difference isn't that big, and I think it's better to choose freedom of action and mental freedom than to buy a round-the-world air ticket and lose freedom.

Bag.

Originally, I was planning to fly to Beijing, but since flights arrive too quickly and it's not very interesting, I'm planning to go to Shanghai by ferry. However, if I can't prepare all the necessary documents, I will proceed with the original plan to go to Beijing.

April 8: China visa obtained & passport arrived at home.
April 10: Departure from Osaka.
April 12: Arrival in Shanghai.



Suzhou (also known as Suzhou number, or in Chinese as Sūzhōu mǎ).
https://www.shanghai-ferry.co.jp/

Originally, I had planned to take another ferry to Shanghai called Shin Kanjin, but the dates didn't match, so I chose the Suzhou.

I live in Tokyo, and the Osaka departure is at 12:00, and check-in is required by 10:30. I could have stayed overnight in Osaka, but since I will likely be taking a harsh bus soon, I decided to take a comfortable Japanese overnight bus. I chose a 3-seat configuration, so it shouldn't be too harsh. Either way, I can rest and relax on the ferry, so being a little tired the night before is not a problem.

Eagle Bus, Shinjuku to Osaka: 5600 yen.
http://www.new-wing.co.jp/

Recently, the situation of internet usage in China has become well-known.
About 15 years ago, when talking about internet censorship in China, people would say "Is that true?" But nowadays, it's become a matter of course that it appears in the news.

Previously, it was like the connection would suddenly be cut off while browsing the Web.
It seems that this was probably because if a website contained prohibited words based on keywords, the connection would be cut off.

It may be even more sophisticated now, but it seems that blocking websites is still ongoing.

Since Facebook is also included in this, it's unclear whether it can actually be used, but I decided to prepare some ways to circumvent it.

■ Prepare a VPN
VPN stands for Virtual Private Network, and it means creating a secure network path between your computer and a specific server.


In the diagram, the explanation is simplified for web access, but in principle, it is possible to use a VPN for any type of communication.

When searching, various options appear, so I am considering trying out some existing services. However, I also thought I could create my own, so I set it up on a server (Sakura VPS) that I plan to cancel at the end of May.

■ Server Specifications
Sakura VPS
Linux (CentOS)
OpenVPN

■ Client
I tried using the standard OpenVPN client (http://www.openvpn.jp/document/openvpn-gui-for-windows/), but something didn't work, so I used Vpnux (http://www.vpnux.jp/).

■ Server Configuration Notes

Installation
yum install openvpn

Startup
/etc/init.d/openvpn start

Automatic startup at Linux boot
chkconfig openvpn on

Initially, the following folder is empty
ls /etc/openvpn/

Copy the sample configuration to create a template
cp /usr/share/doc/openvpn-2.3.6/sample/sample-config-files/server.conf /etc/openvpn/

OpenVPN server certificate creation
yum install easy-rsa

cd /usr/share/easy-rsa/2.0
source ./vars
./clean-all
./build-ca
→ Enter certificate information. The most important part is the common name; the rest can be entered arbitrarily.
./build-key-server server
→ Enter certificate information. The most important part is the common name; the rest can be entered arbitrarily.

Create a certificate for the connecting user
./build-key username

./build-dh

Create symbolic links
cd /usr/share/easy-rsa/2.0
ln -s /usr/share/easy-rsa/2.0/keys/ca.crt .
ln -s /usr/share/easy-rsa/2.0/keys/server.crt .
ln -s /usr/share/easy-rsa/2.0/keys/server.key .
ln -s /usr/share/easy-rsa/2.0/keys/dh2048.pem .

Configuration
vi /etc/openvpn/server.conf

The following settings are applied:
ca /usr/share/easy-rsa/2.0/ca.crt
cert /usr/share/easy-rsa/2.0/server.crt
key /usr/share/easy-rsa/2.0/server.key
dh /usr/share/easy-rsa/2.0/dh2048.pem

The port may need to be changed from the default value to connect from China (apparently).

Restart OpenVPN
/etc/init.d/openvpn restart

Set up IP forwarding for VPN
vi /etc/sysctl.conf

Set ip_forward to 1
net.ipv4.ip_forward = 1

Reload the settings
sysctl -p

Copy the client-side private key to the client terminal (PC, Android)
The following files in /usr/share/easy-rsa/2.0/keys are the targets:
ca.crt
username.crt
username.key
This username.key is important, so be careful when transferring it, as it could be compromised.

Firewall settings
In addition to other settings, set the following:
iptables -A INPUT -p udp --dport 1194 -j ACCEPT
Of course, in a real-world environment, port 1194 may not work for connections from China (apparently), so change it as needed.

iptables -A INPUT -i tun+ -j ACCEPT
iptables -A INPUT -m state --state ESTABLISHED,RELATED -j ACCEPT
iptables -A FORWARD -i tun+ -j ACCEPT
iptables -A FORWARD -m state --state NEW -o eth0 -j ACCEPT
iptables -A FORWARD -m state --state ESTABLISHED,RELATED -j ACCEPT
iptables -A OUTPUT -m state --state NEW -o eth0 -j ACCEPT
iptables -t nat -A POSTROUTING -s 10.8.0.0/24 -o eth0 -j MASQUERADE

I won't write in detail because various things come up when you search, but the procedures I took are as follows.

- Remove the resident registration.
At the government office, I submitted a notification stating that I was "moving to the first country I will go to."

- I did not enroll in the National Health Insurance.
You cannot enroll without a resident registration.
In my case, I retired at the end of March, so I did not enroll in insurance for the short period until my departure (early April).
While I am abroad, I will be covered by travel insurance.
Even when I return to Japan temporarily, it seems that I can be covered by travel insurance if I add a special provision.
The National Health Insurance system has changed in recent years, and there is a system that allows you to continue it voluntarily and settle the overseas portion, which is convenient for dental treatment, but most things can be covered by travel insurance, so I will not enroll in the National Health Insurance. If you enroll in both, it is surprisingly expensive.

- I will not pay the pension while I am abroad.
The amount is not increased, but the number of months is counted.
Because I do not have a resident registration, I do not have an obligation to pay.
According to what I heard at the government office, if you do not pay for one month, it seems that you can consider it as a reduction of approximately 1000 yen per month.
I was mistaken, but the amount of pension received does not decrease, but increases only by the amount you pay.
So, it seems that the "6-7 million yen payout" currently shown in the pension statement will increase even further if I continue to pay it.
I understand this based on the explanation I received from the government office, but I may be mistaken.
In any case, I think that the business I start will become a pension, so I am not too worried about the pension.
Since I have already paid the pension for more than 15 years, I think it is sufficient if I can at least have the number of months counted.

It seems that the standard pension amount is 780,000 yen per year.
If you do not pay for some years, that amount will be deducted.

When I chose to become a salaried employee during my student days, I thought the monthly pension amount would be 200,000 yen, but it seems that is not the case.
The fact that I can only receive the same amount as the National Pension is either because the system has changed, or because I am single.
Or perhaps, it is because my salary is extremely low compared to the bubble era.

In any case, it seems that even if you work as a salaried employee for your entire life, it will be different from the era when your parents received a decent pension.
If you take your parents' stories seriously, you will suffer later.
The idea that you can live comfortably with the pension if you work until retirement seems to be a thing of the past.
If things continue this way, I will only receive 6-70,000 yen per month.
With that amount, I would starve to death.

In order to improve this situation, it is necessary to start a business, but I will talk about that again later.　

Budget:
Approximately 2.5 million yen plus contingency funds for a trip lasting about a year.

Here's a rough estimate:

■Airfare/International Ferry: Approximately 400,000 yen
Japan to China: 30,000 yen (ferry + domestic transportation)
India to Turkey: 40,000 yen (airfare)
Europe to South America: 100,000 yen (airfare)
Round trip to Easter Island: 60,000 yen (airfare)
South America to Central America: 60,000 yen (airfare)
North America to Japan: 50,000 yen (airfare)

■Land Transportation: Approximately 200,000 yen?
Uncertain, so just an estimate.

■Accommodation: Approximately 700,000 yen?
Varies by country, but generally:
Developing countries: Approximately 1,000 yen per night for a dorm room.
Developed countries: Less than 3,000 yen per night for a dorm room (around 2,000 yen).

I haven't stayed in dorm rooms since I was a student, but I'll mainly use dorms this time.
It would be a waste to spend around 8,000 yen per night for a single room. That would cost 3 million yen in a year. Even for a short trip, accommodation costs can be significant.

■Food and Other Expenses (Entrance Fees, etc.):
3,000 yen/day x 365 days = 1,000,000 yen

Therefore, I'll aim to spend around 200,000 yen per month.

I feel that:
- Prices are increasing due to inflation in foreign countries.
- The value of the Japanese yen is decreasing.

Therefore, I estimate that:
- The value of the Japanese yen is about half of what it was 10+ years ago.

I believe that if I had traveled during the bubble era, I could have had the same level of trip for half the price.

Airfare is cheaper than during the bubble era, but the biggest expense for a long trip is accommodation and food, so the actual travel cost is higher.

I experienced the increasing prices in India during my overseas assignment there.

It's possible that in 10 or 20 years, it may be impossible to have the same level of trip for the same amount of money. Therefore, it's better to go while you can. While I can't predict the future, I think it's better to seize opportunities when they arise rather than assuming things will always be the same.

■Cash Management:
I don't want to carry much cash, so I'll keep the amount in my wallet to a minimum.
I'll withdraw local currency using cash advances on my credit card.

■Credit Card Management:
I'll use credit cards for payments in some countries.
I'll keep a backup credit card separate from my wallet in case I get robbed.

I have credit cards from different companies.
If one company is compromised, all cards from that company may be blocked.
Also, some companies may stop all cards if there's fraudulent activity.
This may vary by company, but if there's fraudulent activity, the card will be canceled and need to be reissued, making it unusable. Therefore, it's important to have multiple cards.

- Rakuten Premium Card (VISA): My main card. It has an annual fee of 10,000 yen, but it comes with "Priority Pass," which allows access to lounges. This is convenient because meals are often free at overseas lounges. I'm a long-time Rakuten customer and a Diamond member. I've had fraudulent activity on this card a few times, so it seems they're monitoring it closely. When I was in India, I had fraudulent activity, and my card was canceled until I returned home and got a new card.
- JAL Card (Master): My secondary card.
- American Express (from Saison): Useful if overseas VISA/Master cards are not accepted. American Express usually has an annual fee of 10,000 yen, but Saison's American Express is 3,000 yen, making it a good insurance card.
- UC Card (VISA): A backup card, stored separately from my wallet. UC was acquired by Saison, but they seem to be managing it separately.

■Japanese Bank Cards:
I won't bring any Japanese bank cards, as they likely won't work anyway.

■Traveler's Checks:
I've never used traveler's checks for short trips, and I've been able to get by with cash advances on my credit card, so I'll do the same this time. I'm concerned about the information that "ATMs are generally dangerous in South America and can be skimmed," but that information is often outdated, and skimming is a risk everywhere, not just in South America. I've had fraudulent activity on my cards many times, so I'm not particularly worried. Fortunately, the credit card companies have caught the fraudulent activity, so I haven't actually been charged.

However, I recently found out that American Express stopped accepting traveler's checks on March 31, 2014. Traveler's checks seem to be a thing of the past.

■International Cash Card
Do not bring it.
Credit card cash advances are sufficient.

■Addition (2015/04/24)
The value of the Japanese yen is falling more than expected.
If the value of the Japanese yen continues to fall, it is not surprising that it will cost 100 million yen to travel around the world in a few decades. If the salaries of Japanese people do not increase accordingly at that time, traveling around the world may become a luxury only for the rich. It used to be that budget travel was the norm.

Therefore, being able to travel around the world for 1 million or 2 million yen for a year was something of the past, and I feel that the above estimates are too low.
After a few months, I would like to readjust the funds.

My parents are carefree and say things like, "You can do it after retirement." But retirement is more than 30 years away, and by then, the prices in the world may have increased so much that traveling around the world may become a fantasy.
I can somehow manage the finances now, so I will do it while I can.

The laptop PC may be stolen, so I encrypted the contents.

I used a software called TrueCrypt.
It encrypts the entire drive.

The official website has stopped development, but it is being continued by volunteers, so I used that version.

http://truecrypt.sourceforge.net/ This is the official website, which has stopped development.
https://truecrypt.ch/ I used this website.

Unfortunately, I was unable to encrypt the boot drive on my system, but I created a virtual drive and encrypted the data inside it.
Furthermore, I encrypted the entire external HDD.

With this, there is less worry about data leakage even if it is stolen.

■Notes
When I insert an encrypted USB drive, a dialog box appears every time asking "Do you want to format it?", so I need to address this.

Open the command prompt as an administrator and execute the following:
C:> diskpart
DISKPART> list disk
DISKPART> select disk 1 (Select the appropriate number from the list above)
DISKPART> list partition
DISKPART> select partition 1 (Select the appropriate number from the list above)
DISKPART> set id=64 (Set the ID to 64. 64 means an encrypted drive.)
DISKPART> exit

This time, I selected regions that are difficult to access while working a regular job, focusing on the following areas:
- South America
-This time, I selected regions that are difficult to access while working a regular job, focusing on the following areas:
- South America
- This time, I selected regions that are difficult to access while working a regular job, focusing on the following areas:
- South America
-

I have already received the basic vaccinations for my previous assignment in India, so no additional vaccinations are needed.

I received a yellow fever vaccination 11 years ago, and I thought the validity period was 10 years, so I was planning to get an additional yellow fever vaccination before going to South America. However, it seems that the validity period is changing from 10 years to "lifetime" (!) from next year, so I may not need an additional vaccination. From what I've read, it seems that this is not a new type of yellow fever vaccine, but rather a change in the understanding that the traditional vaccine has been effective for life. I plan to check again when I get closer to South America. Therefore, I will bring the yellow card I have.
http://www.forth.go.jp/moreinfo/topics/2014/06131316.html

However, currently, no countries in South America require a yellow card for entry, so I will simply bring it with me.

■Tetanus
I received an additional vaccination 11 years ago, and also a few years ago. Therefore, it should be effective for about 8 more years.
I am most concerned about tetanus during long-term travel.

■Hepatitis A
It is effective for a few more years.

■Japanese Encephalitis
I received an additional vaccination before my assignment in India, so the effects should still be sufficient.

■Rabies
The number of vaccinations required to maintain immunity is too high, and I haven't received one recently.
However, even if I get vaccinated, it will only alleviate the symptoms, so it's questionable.
It is expensive in Japan, so I will not get it, but I might get it if I can find a place where it is cheaper.

■Polio
I received an additional vaccination about 10 years ago.
It is probably time for the next additional vaccination, so I will get it if I can find a place where it is cheap.

First, I obtained the following visas from neighboring countries.

■China
Currently, only 30-day tourist visas are available, so I obtained one in advance with the plan to extend it for another 30 days in Dunhuang.
In the past, it was possible to extend a visa even without a visa, but now there is information that it is difficult (or impossible?) to extend a visa if you enter without a visa, so I decided to obtain one in advance.
It seems that before the deterioration of Sino-Japanese relations, 60-day tourist visas were issued, but now it seems that only 30-day visas are available.

You cannot apply directly at the Chinese embassy; you need to ask a travel agency.
I asked World Tours http://www.worldtours.co.jp/.
The application fee is 4,500 yen, plus 600 yen for the courier, for a total of 5,100 yen.

Once the documents arrive at the travel agency, they apply the next day, and it takes 4 business days for the visa to be issued, and then it is delivered by courier the next day, so it takes about a week in total. In my case, it took exactly one week because the embassy was closed on a holiday.

■Indian Visa
Applied at the Indian embassy.
A multiple-entry visa (allowing multiple entries) is available for 2,156 yen.

■Pakistan Visa
If you apply at the Pakistani embassy in Tokyo (Hiroo), it will be ready the next day.
The application fee is 100 yen.
It seems that it was possible to obtain a visa (arrival visa) at the border of the Karakoram Highway in the past, but it seems difficult now, so I decided to obtain it in Tokyo.

The information on the website is inaccurate, and the visa acceptance hours are slightly shorter than what is stated on the website, and the pickup time is also different.
The website states that applications are accepted until 1:00 PM, but in reality, they are accepted until 12:30 PM.
The website states that the visa can be picked up between 4:00 PM and 5:00 PM, but in reality, it can be picked up between 3:00 PM and 4:00 PM.

You have to enter through the back gate, and the gate was closed, so I initially thought, "Is this really it?"
It was completely empty inside.
It's completely different from the Indian embassy.
It seems that there are not many people who want to go to Pakistan...

After receiving the Pakistan visa, I was very concerned about the phrase "Purpose of Visit" which says "Visit". What does "the purpose of visiting is visiting" mean? (laugh) When I asked about this, I was told that it is usually written like that, not exactly as written on the application form. It seems that it is fine if it is for tourism. Hmm. I don't quite understand, but well, I guess it's okay.

■Turkish Visa
No visa is required for up to 90 days. It's truly a friendly country.

■European Countries
No visa is required due to the Schengen Agreement.

■Moroccan Visa
No visa is required for up to 90 days. It's truly a tourist-oriented country.

■Brazilian Visa
A Brazilian visa must be used within 90 days of issuance, so if I have a chance to return to Japan temporarily, I will obtain it then. If I am traveling from Europe, I will obtain it in Europe.
It seems that Lisbon (Portugal) is easy to obtain a visa.
Alternatively, you can enter a neighboring country other than Brazil and obtain a Brazilian visa in that neighboring country.
However, there is a possibility that I will skip Brazil... I will think about it later.

■South American Countries other than Brazil
No visa is required (supposedly).
I will check the latest information again when it gets closer.