A quiet revolution in air travel has halved the cost of travelling all the way around the world. You can now complete a circumnavigation of the planet for about 500 pounds or $1000 dollars by getting four budget airlines to act as your carriers.
Of course, since you are using four airlines rather than one, things are a little less joined up. Advance planning is definitely required.
Starting from London we could fly across the atlantic with Zoom for £129.00. We land in Torronto and take a low cost internal flight to the west coast $89.00 (about £60.00). Next a flight with westjet to Hong Kong for £310.00 and finally back to London with Oasis Airlines for £150.00
Book early, get discounts and get the whole shebang for around £500. This compares with the £1200 you would pay if you went to STA and asked for a 'round the world' ticket.
With A whole raft of new low cost airlines opening international routes from summer 2007 even this paltry round the world fare is going to drop considerably. In short round the world tickets are now within everyone's budget.