Our first overseas trip together wasn’t a slow one. Darren and I flew to the US, spent time around Anaheim and Los Angeles (Disneyland included), then hired a car and drove out to Las Vegas, Zion National Park and the Grand Canyon, before heading through Death Valley up to San Francisco and Yosemite. We chose the US for two simple reasons: it was an English-speaking country, and we thought it would be fun to drive.
My very first overseas trips were with my parents, to New Zealand when I was five and through Europe when I was 11. I think that Europe trip is where I caught the bug for wanting to see the world.
There’s no single best country for a first overseas trip. The right one fits the time you have, how far from your comfort zone you’d like to go, and what you actually love doing. These are the questions we still ask before every trip, and they’ll help you narrow the whole world down to a short list.
Start with how much time you have
For us, the first question is always how long Darren can get away from work. That one answer rules out half the map.
If we have a couple of weeks, we stay closer to home in the South Pacific or Asia. With more time, the Americas or Europe come into play. And sometimes a trip is simply short and close, like the week we spent exploring Singapore.
The reason is simple: maths. Long flights and recovery time eat into your days, so a far-off destination on a short trip can leave you with less time actually there than you’d expect. How long should your first overseas trip be? helps you work out the right length for a first trip.
Budget belongs in the same conversation. Flights further afield usually cost more, and daily costs vary a lot from country to country, so it’s worth looking at time and money together. We go through the numbers in our Time & Money guides.
Be realistic about the flight
Living in Australia, we’re used to long flights, because almost everywhere we want to go is a long way away. Even our quick week in Singapore meant about eight hours on a plane each way. When we flew from Brisbane to Reykjavik in Iceland, the whole journey took 35 hours: Brisbane to Hong Kong, Hong Kong to Helsinki and Helsinki to Reykjavik, plus the waiting time at each airport.
If you’ve never done a long-haul flight, it’s worth thinking about honestly. How many hours are you happy to sit on a plane? Would you rather fly direct, or break the journey with a stopover? And how many days are you willing to give to jet lag at the start of the trip?
None of that means a long flight should rule a place out. It just means the journey is part of the trip, and worth planning for.
Good to Know
Jet lag generally starts once you cross two or more time zones, and the more you cross, the harder it tends to be. Flying east is usually harder than flying west. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention puts the average adjustment at about an hour a day after flying east and about an hour and a half a day after flying west.
Decide what kind of trip you’re dreaming of
Next, think about how you’d love to spend your days. Beaches, cities, culture, nature, food, adventure: most destinations do one or two of these especially well, and knowing your priorities narrows the list quickly. Beach, City, Culture or Adventure: What Kind of Trip Suits You? goes through each type in more detail.
Two more questions help here.
Hot or cold? This one sorts our list almost immediately. As I’ve got older, I’ve come to absolutely love cold climates, so my first thought is usually somewhere cold in the Northern Hemisphere, because we’re usually sweltering through a hot Australian summer at home. Your answer might be the complete opposite, and that’s fine. Just remember the weather depends on when you go, so check the season at your destination for the dates you have in mind.
More adventure, or something more relaxed? Some trips we want a bit more adventure; on others we simply want to wander and explore at our own pace. Being honest about which one you want or need this time matters more than going where everyone else is going.
Choose how you’d like to travel
How you travel changes which destinations feel manageable the first time. Travelling independently gives you the most freedom, but you make every decision yourself. An organised tour takes care of the transport, accommodation and order of things, which can take a lot of pressure off a first trip.
If you’re nervous, a planned trip can be a really good way to start. There are plenty of companies running small group trips of up to about 12 people, which gives you more flexibility than a big tour on a full-size bus.
When Maureen’s sister came out from the UK and wanted to see New Zealand’s South Island, I helped her and Maureen organise a coach tour. It was the first time the company had run that tour, so they’d kept the numbers down: about 12 people on a full-size coach. They came back saying they absolutely loved it, and the small numbers made it even better.
If you’re not sure which way suits you, What Kind of Traveller Are You? Finding a Travel Style That Suits You can help you work it out.
Driving yourself
A self-drive gives you the most freedom of all, and our first trip together was a road trip. Since then we’ve self-driven in countries such as Iceland, Canada and New Zealand. If your first destination drives on the other side of the road from home, though, it’s worth knowing what you’re in for.
Lisa’s Tip
Driving on the other side of the road for the first time was really interesting. It was easy when there were other cars around, but on the long empty roads through Death Valley, where we wouldn’t see another car for miles, there’s a tendency to drift back to the side you drive on at home, so you’re constantly thinking about it. It takes about a day to really settle in, and it’s got easier with every road trip since. We only ever hire an automatic.
Think about language and culture
Language is one of the biggest comfort-zone questions. Choosing an English-speaking country first, as we did, takes one unknown off the table, but it’s less of a barrier than you might think.
Language took me a little while to get used to on early trips, but you soon learn ways to communicate without much talking. Pointing at what you’d like goes a long way. Now Google Translate helps when you really do need to talk to someone or find something out: it can translate signs and menus through your phone’s camera, help with a two-way conversation, and work offline if you download the language before you go.
Not understanding each other can be part of the fun. In Seoul, we were the only non-locals in a small restaurant. The elderly lady who was running it by herself stepped in and cooked our meal for us on the hot plate, because I don’t think she trusted us to know what we were doing. That’s part of the experience, and part of the culture.
It’s also worth asking yourself how different you’d like your first destination to feel. Some people love being thrown into somewhere completely unfamiliar; others prefer to start somewhere that feels a little closer to home and build from there.
The little restaurant in Seoul.
Check safety advice and entry rules before you commit
Before you settle on a destination, check what your own government’s travel advice says about it. Most governments publish advice for every country, and it’s updated as things change.
I always check before we decide, and if there’s a concern, I talk it through with Darren. A higher advice level doesn’t automatically mean no. When we went to Sri Lanka, the Australian advice was to exercise a high degree of caution, partly because of the threat of public demonstrations. We decided it was still safe to go, as long as we stayed aware of the risks and took the right precautions. For demonstrations, that’s common sense: you don’t go near them, and if you see one, you turn around and walk the other way.
Check the entry rules at the same time. Do you need a visa? How much validity does your passport need left on it? Rules change, so go straight to official government sources rather than a third-party site. Our International Travel Documents Checklist goes through the paperwork in more detail.
Good to Know
Each government sets out its advice a little differently. Australia’s Smartraveller and the US State Department both use four levels, from exercising normal precautions up to do not travel. The UK doesn’t use numbered levels, but advises against all travel, or all but essential travel, to some countries or areas. Higher advice levels can affect your travel insurance, so check your policy before you book, and again if the advice changes after you’ve booked.
Narrow it down to two or three
By now you’ll probably have more than one place in mind, and that’s where we usually are too. I’ll normally come up with two or three destinations, then ask Darren which one he’d pick for the time we have to explore. Then we plan the trip around the one we choose.
Working this way takes the pressure off finding one perfect destination. You’re choosing between a few good options, any of which would work.
Before you decide
- How many days you really have, including travel time
- How long you’re happy to spend getting there
- A rough idea of flight costs and daily spending
- The weather at your destination for your dates
- What your government’s travel advice says
- What you need to get into the country, including visas and passport validity
Your first overseas trip doesn’t have to be the biggest or the furthest. Ours happened to be a road trip across the American West, but the right first destination is simply the one that suits you and gets you going. When you have your shortlist, our First Journey Dream guides have more to help you turn the dream into a plan.
Until next time… keep wandering.
Last updated: October 2026. Government travel advice systems, jet lag guidance and Google Translate features checked.
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