How to Prepare for an Extended Trip Abroad
An extended trip abroad will take some advanced preparation so that you can leave your home worry-free.
- Difficulty:
- Moderately Easy
Instructions
Things You'll Need
- Bookstore/music Gift Certificates
- Luggage Sets
- Money Belts
- Address Books
- Local Guidebooks
- Dental Exam
- Passport Services
- Pretrip Medical Exams
- Travel Health Insurance
- Travelers' Checks
- Visa Services
- File Folders
- Cameras
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One Month in Advance
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1
Research travel and health insurance and purchase an appropriate plan.
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2
Update your address book with phone numbers, mailing addresses, and e-mail addresses of friends and relatives. Start saying your good-byes.
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3
Recruit someone to take care of bills, banking and mail while you are away and begin to organize files for this person.
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4
Apply for visas for relevant countries.
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5
Cancel unnecessary accounts, credit cards or services.
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6
Decide how you will access money while traveling and make appropriate arrangements.
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7
Get an e-mail account and educate yourself on how to use e-mail from different servers, if you are not comfortable with this.
Six to Three Months in Advance
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1
Find out what immunizations you will need and set up a schedule. The first in the series of Hepatitis B vaccinations is best administered six months in advance.
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2
Brainstorm various options for taking care of things like your housing, plants, car and pets while you are away.
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3
Apply for any additional credit cards you may need for your trip before quitting your job.
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4
Apply for a passport with extra pages for visas.
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5
Get a medical and dental checkup, and complete all necessary dental work.
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6
Research the places you are considering visiting and begin to create an itinerary.
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7
Look for discounts on plane and train tickets.
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8
Begin any physical conditioning you may need for your trip.
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9
Decide what camera to bring. Take some pictures and develop the film just to be sure.
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10
Make a packing list and begin purchasing luggage, clothing and other essentials. Also start purchasing small gifts to give to people in your travels.
Final Week
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1
Pack your luggage and test the weight. Make necessary adjustments.
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2
Double-check your packing list and make last-minute purchases.
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3
Buy traveler's checks.
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4
Give any necessary files and information to the person taking care of bills while you are away.
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5
Provide copies of your projected itinerary, flight and contact information to family and friends. Also give someone a copy of your traveler's check numbers and a copy of your passport.
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6
Arrange transportation to the airport.
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1
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Comments
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moniquedc
Sep 03, 2009
Please note that US-based credit cards charge you 3-5% as a "currency conversion fee" every time you use the credit card. IF your extended trip has you being in one place for more than a month, I recommend opening a local bank account (example CitiBank) and using the ATM from that account for Euro transactions. You can always have your US-based bank do a wire transfer to the European account if you need to. The only thing to remember is to close out the account before you leave. -
magicweaver
Jul 27, 2009
Very good suggestions. It would have been nice if they were put in a different order. Start with the first things (6-3 months in advance), then have the things for 1 month in advance, then the final week. But all the information is very helpful. Having traveled abroad, another suggestion (at least it would be for DFW airport though I think most airports are the same with security measures as they are now) go wearing flip flop or slip ons (no laces) because you have to remove your shoes.
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karrimama
Jul 21, 2009
When I traveled to the Netherlands in March of 2008 I could not cash my traveler's checks in banks, stores, or even the VVV tourist offices were no help. I could use a credit card for everything, or do an exchange of travelers checks for Euros at the train station exchange banks. To use an ATM I needed of course a pin number. I recommend opening a special checking account with a Visa or Master Card association and put the money in there to access for Euros as you travel instead of counting on traveler's checks. Would have been much easier and the new account would not have all your money in that one account in case the card was stolen or lost. Just an idea.
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arlic
Jun 07, 2009
after reading just the first pointers i started to feel an incredible desire to travel :D
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intellect99
May 03, 2009
How to Prepare for an Extended Trip Abroad has great advice! Thank you 5*
