So, just how do you prepare for a vacation through 10 countries in 30 days covering 16,837 miles/26,939km (9 countries if you consider Taiwan part of China and believe in the One-China policy, 8 if you think Vatican City is a stretch, but by all accounts it is an independent country).  I will tell you how I went about planning it.

 This trip was a bit unique given that I had time to prepare for it.  In previous trips, like Greece, Turkey, Japan, and Hong Kong I just picked up and went with no preparation.  

To find places to stay I used www.hostelworld.com and www.orbitz.com and www.expedia.com  When I was with my dad we stayed in hotels. When I was on my own I stayed in hostels.  When looking for a place to stay, I tend to look for a place in a location convenient for transportation.   In Rome, Shanghai, Beijing, Switzerland, Seoul, Taipei, Bangkok, and Madrid I was less than 5 minutes of walking from the subway.  If it is raining, that helps a lot (now that I live in the desert I kind of despise rain.).   But as a traveler you are going to be going from place to place all day so you might as well start off on the right foot by getting on the subway right away.   I also factor in factors such as cleanliness and safety and past customer opinion, which are all can be viewed on www.hostelworld.com's  website.

First, I discussed with my dad where we might like to meet on a vacation.  We went back and forth for a while and finally decided on Spain and Morocco, a vacation I had wanted to take back in December/January.  We picked dates and ironed them out with our employers.  In searching for a flight to Spain, the second cheapest option to get there was Swiss Air with a transit in Zurich.  I decided to leave two days early so I could see Zurich and then continue my journey on to Madrid where I'd meet my dad.

Then I decided on the internal transportation within Spain and Morocco and the ferry and all the timings of each of these.   I had to get my dad back to Madrid to catch his round trip flight back home.  The cheapest way to do this was via Rome using Alitalia.  Thus, Rome became a part of my itinerary.  I was there with my dad for a day and then stayed in Rome two more days.  I had no intention of going to Italy.  I figured it'd be a nice place to go with both of my parents someday.

After Rome I had to figure out where to go next.  I was thinking of going east.   I could fly into Zagreb, Croatia and work my way up to Warsaw, Poland and see all the places in between; I especially wanted to see Prague.  In the end, I found I could fly from Rome to Beijing relatively cheaply using a student ticket on Austrian Airlines (which applies to anyone under 26 years old).  Thus, my trip to Asia was born.   I have wanted to go to China for a long time. 

Last year I went to Japan and Hong Kong, but if I didn't need a visa I would have gone to China instead.   So now I had my route up to Beijing.  I then decided I should go to four more places based on the amount of time I had.  I decided on Shanghai, Seoul, Taipei, and Bangkok.  From Beijing it made sense to go to Shanghai first.  It also made sense to end in Bangkok for geographical reasons and because I could get a direct flight back to Doha. After Shanghai I could have gone to Taipei or Seoul.  If I went to Taipei first, it would mean I'd fly north to Seoul and then have a long flight south to Bangkok.   Additionally, there are no direct flights from Shanghai to Taipei (long story.  Mainland China and Taiwan aren't really good friends, but that may change because of economic reasons).  So I decided to go to Seoul first, then Taipei, then Bangkok and found reasonably priced flights accordingly.

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