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In my opinion, South East Asia is by far the best option for travelling solo, especially as you're heading to Australia. I gave this advice to a friends son who was setting off on his gap year. He told me he fancied Nepal as a first destination. I advised him against it due to the lack of a real 'circuit' followed by independent travellers of his own age there. I tried to steer him towards SEA...but, he didnt listen and headed off to Khatmandu. He lasted two weeks and came home.

He later set off again and visited SEA amongst other places, loved it, and agreed he should have headed there first.

Thailand is a great place to start off- lots of flight options, cheap, lots of other young travellers and as 'western' or foreign as you care to make it. From there, you have plenty of options -Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos have well trodden traveller circuits and you'll meet loads of people travelling alone. All are great value as well so you'll be able to save some cash which you'll certainly need down under given the current exchange rate!

Also, (and I might get ticked off for saying this on here!) you'll probably get better advice on specifics such as where to stay, bus and train timetables, cost of things etc on a site such as Lonely Planets Thorn Tree forum. You'll find theres usually a lot of people posting on there who are 'in country' at the time so tend to have more up to the minute info.

Wherever you decide to go - Good luck and have a great time.

Having done a RTW solo for around 18 months I would say that going solo is the only way to do it - it's not as though you'll be on your own particularly often since there are so many other backpackers you'll meet in hostels, buses, trips etc that you'll easily make friends with the added bonus that you're not tied to anyone else's plans.  Make friends for a bit, then go separate ways and meet a whole load of new people all over again in a new place.

I'd say ignore South East Asia and head for Latin America.  There's still a backpacker trail if you feel you need it, especially at places like Cusco in Peru.  My twenty-something colleague just returned from his second gap year to SEA and was really disappointed at how touristy and over-commericalised it had become in just a few years since his first trip.  I would agree with LS13 though to check out the Thorn Tree for more specific advice.

Other advice I'd give you is get a few basic Spanish lessons as this will really help you get a feel for the place.  The landscapes in Chile are superb, the people in Peru are fun to be with as they are a little crazy (in a good way) and Argentina, Colombia, Bolivia and Ecuador are also full of fantastic places to visit.  Allow plenty of time to wander and have fun!

The first thing that I would say is do not be scared to travel alone- you will have the best time of your life. Particularly in Australia I actually think that you will have a better time alone than with others and you will meet so many other backpackers going along the same route. I absolutely loved Thailand but I'd say it's not as easy to travel alone as somewhere like Oz, although it is totally doable. This is mainly because people follow a less obvious route than in Australia but there are so many backpackers around you may not find this a problem at all. Enjoy - it will be amazing! :)

Thank you for your responses, they are all very much appreciated xx

Hi

I'm planning on traveling around Europe - seeing as it's such an exciting mix of cultures and I love the idea of crossing one border to the next and landing in a totally different place - However, I am also knowing this is a totally new experience for me and I would want someone to come with me too! I don't know if you're interested?

Kirsty x