Just starting to plan my year long travel trip. I want to hit South Africa, New Zealand, Switzerland, plus many more. Trying to figure out my best route (cheapest) between these three. They are not the closest to each other so having stops in between is the plan. I've begun planning my budget as well, any tips here would also be awesome.

Very few people read this Travel Tips forum.

Instead post your question on the various destination boards... Europe, Africa, Australia, etc.

Also The Thorn Tree forum at Lonely Planet's website has an around-the-world branch.

I suggest you take a ride on the AirTreks.com TripPlanner, about halfway down the page. I'd send you a link but I'm traveling and on a tablet, not that profficient. Anyway, the company might be very useful to you, as well as their planner. They do RTW & multicontinent trips, an air consolidator, who I've used several times and been more than happy, for as long as a 6 month trip.

Presumably, you might as I have, have some segments by surface travel (trains, buses, etc) and can put those in using the TripPlanner. At the end you'll get an estimate of cost for the air part and if interested can then work with one of their agents who, in my experience, are great.

Have a spectacular year!

I'd re-post on the Air Travel board. There are several threads (including one updated today) about RTW tickets (for the sort of travel you are considering an Around the World Ticket is often MUCH cheaper than other sorts of transport)

Gardyloo is one of a couple of Fodorite experts who know every conceivable detail about booking this sort of ticket. RTW doesn't mean you have to do all the travel consecutively w/o stopping. They are basically segments you book traveling in one general direction. They can save you MANY thousands of $$$ and you earn enough mileage for more award travel afterwards.

I have done several year long trips and have only used a RTW ticket once. These days are so many budget airlines, both long and short haul that the advantages of RTW tickets are being eroded. That said, it depends heavily on you country of origin. I am based in the UK where RTW tickets have become a lot less popular in recent years than say the US where awards points are a far greater factor.

Yours is a somewhat unusual route that may not figure highly in the "standard" RTW programmes. I would also urge you to factor in a large proportion of overland travel so as to really get to see the contrives you are visiting.

I have done three RTW trips using FF miles for a One World award but that only allows one open segment. I had very big open segments though.

You might look for a copy of Hasbrouck's Practical Nomad