How to fly around the world for under $2000

For most people, the idea of traveling around the world ranks somewhere between the ridiculous and the impossible. It's the sort of thing that only wealthy adventurers would consider, requiring vast amounts of money and planning.

In fact, that's not true at all. For only about US$2000 - an amount within the reach of almost anyone with a job - you can fly clear around the earth and see a lot of fascinating places along the way. Of course, you'll have to pay for food and hotels, but with the right guidebooks (or even internet research) you can keep those costs far lower than you'd expect. That's a topic for another article, however.

One of the reasons it seems like such an expensive thing to do is that until recently, it was. Round-the-world tickets from conventional airlines and airline alliances like United (StarAlliance) or Delta (SkyTeam) cost $4000 and up and come with a number of complicated restrictions. They're impossible to book without extensive consultation with a travel agent who specializes in these fares and will charge a fee for the service.

These days, though, thanks to the rise of low-cost carriers - along the model of USA-based pioneer Southwest Airlines but with international reach - it's possible, and even easy, to circumnavigate the globe using only cheap one-way tickets you can easily book online.

The hardest part is finding out which airlines to use. Because most low-cost airlines only advertise in their own countries, it's tricky to research them from across the globe. And because many of them only sell tickets through their own web sites, you won't find out about them from major online ticket agencies like Expedia and Orbitz. This is where a few other handy web sites make a big difference. Sites like Which Budget and Budget Flight Finder have databases of low-cost carriers from all over the place, and let you plot a course from almost any point A to any point B. These sites don't sell tickets themselves; you still have to go to each airline's site and buy them there. This takes a little longer but it ensures you'll get the lowest possible pries.

So get out your globe and follow along as I put together an itinerary that will put Marco Polo to shame. My trip will be a few months out, since that way tickets are cheaper. November 2009 sounds about right.

I'll start in Vancouver, on the west coast of Canada and near to the US border. From there, I want to cross the Pacific and get to Australia. Searching on the Budget Flight Finder site for routes from Vancouver to Sydney, I see that I can take Westjet to Honolulu, and then Jetstar from there onward to Sydney. A quick visit to each airline's web site tells me that Vancouver-Honolulu will run me $219 in Canadian dollars (US$199 at today's rates). And the flight on to Sydney is another US$472.

Already, I like this - I get a bonus stop in Hawaii, something I hadn't even planned on. I can take a few days and hit the beaches, or just hang out in the airport and catch the next flight onward to Sydney.

From there, I head to Bali. Again on Jetstar, it will cost me $323 in Australian dollars, which is US$268. After a week blissing out in Bali amongst monkeys and temples, I fly to the Asian mainland, touching down in Bangkok. This flight, on Malaysia-based AirAsia, the largest low-cost carrier in Asia, costs me just US$127.

My tongue still on fire from spicy Thai food, I continue westward, to India. Air India Express flies from Bangkok to Calcutta for only US$97 on the date I check, which sounds good to me. From there I can take Indian carrier Jetlite to New Delhi for US$57, and then back on Air India Express to Dubai for US$160.

I'll hang around in Dubai for just a short time, doing a desert camel trek and loading up on delicious middle eastern food. Then it's off to Europe, via AirBaltic which flies from Dubai to Dusseldorf, Germany via Riga, Latvia for US$249. And finally, when I've had my fill of strudel and wienerschnitzel, home again to Vancouver on Air Berlin for €229 which works out to US$326.

Grand total for my air tickets around the world? Just US$1955. A few years ago this would have been impossible. But thanks to the growing reach of these low-cost airlines, the dream trip of a lifetime is actually quite affordable.