Ask HN: Any advices to travel around the world?

I saw the WSJ video - Take Six Months Off Work or School and Travel the World. It's about Steve Yoder, WSJ's San Francisco bureau chief, and his 15-year-old son Levi took six months off work and school respectively to travel through Africa and the Middle East. But it wasn't a spur of the moment decision. Steve talks about planning, what they saw on their voyage, and how to live with a teen 24/7.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncyfPbJ2FMg&feature=g-u-u&context=G2846569FUAAAAAAAAAA

Am I thinking of doing something similar with my kid too! Anyone does something similar? Any advices?

I had a very good experience in Asia, and I have a half-Japanese daughter. Travel should be a part of an education today (the geography in schools these days is horrid!), and a foreign language is always a plus.