Is there such a thing as too little time for planning a RTW trip?

Travelers tend to fall into two very general camps when it comes to planning – either they want to plan everything down to the last minute detail, making sure every possibility is accounted for, or they want to plan no further ahead than their next few days. Yes, these are extreme generalizations, and maybe most people will fall in between these two ends of the spectrum, but you know what I’m talking about – and you probably have an idea of which end of the spectrum you gravitate toward, too.

But even if you’re the kind of person who wants to let the trip just happen organically, not planning too much in advance, is there such a thing as too little planning time for a RTW trip? BootsnAll member Deanna has been dreaming about taking a round the world trip for years, and finally thinks she’ll be able to do it – but she’s got five weeks to plan a six-month trip. Has she cut it too close?

I am not really an over-planner; my last 3 trips have come off fabulously having only a hotel reservation for my first night, but they have been only 2 week jaunts. … I have a good backpack. I have all my shots. I have a vague itinerary. But the question still remains: Is planning a 6 month trip in 5 weeks insane??

So far, the replies Deanna has gotten have been weighted on the “just do it” end of things, but of course it’s easy to tell someone else to do it when you’re not the one who has to get all the planning done in a short amount of time! What do you think? Is planning a six-month trip in five weeks do-able? Is it insane? Join in the conversation on the BootsnAll message boards and share your thoughts.