By not booking a RTW ticket though you'll be more than likely making things much more expensive for yourself though, I think SHM said he managed to get a RTW ticket for £1700, which is quite a bargain considering everywhere he went. If you try and book single tickets it's gonna add up to much more.
To be honest, the only reason I'm against the idea of booking a RTW ticket with a few stops is I dont like the idea of having to leave one place at a predetermined date. If I'm having a blast I would want to stay in the region for longer, but if its not too my taste I can get the fuck outta there at a drop of a hat.
Also, as I'll be traveling solo I may meet a sound bunch of people and could change my plans and join them for a bit. I think a massive bonus not having a RTW ticket is the flexibility it will give me. But I havn't really looked into the pricing of each option, or how easy it would be to re-schedule any major flights so I'm not dead against the idea of a RTW ticket, just the possible regimented traveling it
may result in.
If you definitely don't want to do the RTW ticket route then I'd suggest maybe just doing one or the other Asia or South America. You can take a one way ticket to Thailand, spend a few months travelling around SE Asia without any real need for flights, maybe even head to Aus at some point if it interests you (cheap flights with AirAsia & Jetstar) and get a cheap flight to India too.
South America was the main place I wanted to go to, but thought it would be a good idea to go to SE Asia to kinda ease me into it. Plus the more I thought about it, more I read about the place the more I realised it would be a pretty fucking cool place to visit in its own right, not just a place to get me into the traveling spirit. As I'll only get the chance to do a massive trip once doing both SE Asia and South America is on the cards.
One thing I could see myself giving a miss, if it would cost too much, is South Africa. The main reason I want to go there is to go cage diving with Great White Sharks. But that could be done on a 2 week holiday a few years in the future if needs be.
Nah mate just do it. It's easy. Best thing you'll ever do.
Definitely gonna happen, just gonna take me a little while to get the money together. Finish my course in the next 6 months or so and then work for the next 6 - 12 months, saving all the way, and then I'm off