Whether you’re traveling for just a few days, or on an epic multi-month or even year adventure – preparing for it can be almost as daunting as the trip itself. Many, ourselves included, will make mistakes. We second guess ourselves, pack too much, pack too little – you get the idea. Travel preparation can be difficult. To make things easier on yourself, start off with these 11 travel preparation tips to get you going.

11 Travel Preparation Tips

1. Figure Out Your Basics

We didn’t plan to embark on our journey of more than a year initially, but a series of events made it clear to us that this was the best choice for us at the time. Because our trip came out of the blue, we had a bunch of items to deal with. Some people will just sell everything before embarking on long-term travel – the longer you are gone, the more it makes sense financially – but we just put our stuff in storage.

We took the rest of our stuff – remaining bits and clothes – home to Florida where we also left our darling cats with Bri’s dad in Niceville. All of our plants were given to friends, except our avocado trees which we left in Jacksonville with Kyle’s parents. We visited friend and family not knowing how long we would be gone – and of course, we bought our tickets.

After we had been out traveling and freelancing for a while and started wanting a little stability again, a job popped up in San Jose for Kyle so it worked out pretty well that we had placed our things in storage in the bay area. We knew there was the chance we would come back to San Jose when we left but weren’t really sure it would happen. However, you should be aware of your intentions and the reality of your situation before committing to putting stuff in storage.

2. Check Expiration Dates

We already had passports and made sure they wouldn’t expire soon – most countries require at least 6 months validity beyond your stay. We also checked the expiration dates of our debit and credit cards and IDs. You do not want to be abroad and find out that your legal documents are about to expire.

As well, you do not want to have your credit card expire, and be left with no money. We unfortunately experienced this – though not entirely due to our own fault. In 2016, most banks switched to chip-based credit and debit cards. So they cancelled our cards when they sent out the new ones. Unfortunately for us, they sent it to our mailing addresses in the US, and would not send it abroad. After a lot of difficulty, we eventually managed to get the cards sent to us through standard mail, with the help of parents and a friendly Airbnb host.

We ran into further problems in this regard when Briana’s cards expired just days before Kyle’s cards were stolen while in Sri Lanka. So, you should think about having access to multiple cards in case you do run into issues as well.

3. Gather Information for your Planned Visits

Research the countries and areas you plan to visit. We found that we didn’t need visas for Korea but would need them for some other countries. It can sometimes be difficult to get an American visa for country X while in country Y. If you purchase a one way ticket and will enter as a tourist, you may need to prove that you are leaving the country before your allotted time is up.

In most cases they will not check (we were checked only once), but if they do you may need to purchase another ticket at the airport before departing and be subject to the last-minute fares. If you don’t know where you are going afterwards you can make reservations – without paying yet – or buy a refundable ticket.

Some people will fake onward tickets as well. The process is easy enough, but we won’t go into how to do that. It is a good way to get yourself banned from a country and in a lot of trouble if they find out. Either way, it is best to document your onward travel if the country you are visiting requires it.

It is also worth noting that some countries aren’t so easy to simply travel to. Countries such as Russia, China, and India all require special visas to enter, which can take some time to process. In these cases, you may be forced to visit an embassy in your home country to obtain one. Some countries will allow you to go to a foreign consulate for this process, but it’s good to keep in mind. You don’t want to show up at the airport and then be turned away at immigration.

4. Take Care of your Medical Needs

If you don’t have insurance, you may consider waiting until you are abroad – depending on where you are going. Medical tourism is a real thing, and some countries offer great care at a fraction the price.

However, medical care does vary abroad and it is a good idea to make sure you are healthy before traveling. This is probably one of the first things that travelers should do because appointments may need to be made a while in advance. We both had doctor and dentist appointments.

We would also recommend getting refills for any prescriptions before leaving – insulin, birth control, etc. – and if you wear contacts, make sure you have enough. Check if you need any immunizations and get them.

5. Gather your Gear

We began by making a list of what we thought we would need and then we checked out local retail stores to find these items like our backpacks. Next, we looked online for the items we could not find or didn’t like in stores. You could go straight to the internet, but for us, it was nice to go out and get an idea of size and feel for things before ordering online. We could not spend a lot of time looking, because some items take a while to arrive and we wanted the ability to return items and find something new if anything was not up to par.

In regards to gear:

• Plan – according to the weather. Don’t bring a coat to the tropics, and leave your flip flops at home when in the tundra.
• Identify – hard to find items where you are going- whether it be Tylenol, deodorant, or feminine products and be sure to stock up. Inversely, just purchase easy to find items upon arrival to save space in your pack.
• Download – any e-books and apps you might want.
• Check – your tech stuff to see if you need a converter. Many items are 110-240v and 50/60HZ now, so a converter will not be necessary. Regardless, you will likely need a plug adaptor. These are separate items, but can sometimes be purchased together.
• Ensure – your connectivity. In some countries, like China, you will need a VPN to access many sites. Figure out if that is something you will want/need. We choose Express VPN and initially paid for 6 months and then later renewed. The VPN worked well, and proved necessary at times for some of our work. Be sure to have it installed and working before you depart.
  • If the internet is important for you, be aware that internet speed varies greatly across the world. Korea has some of the fastest internet in the world but there are many places still that connectivity is rare to find.
• Test –  that you have enough space beforehand. Make sure everything you are bringing will fit in your suitcase/backpack! You do not want to find out that you don’t have enough space for everything you need just before your departure.

6. Get An International Driver’s License

There are non-legitimate sites which claim to provide them. There are only two locations you can actually get these: DMV and AAA. We got ours at AAA. The application is $15/person and if you let them do the passport photos they are $10/person (2 photos).

These proved important in our travels. Although they do not cover motorbikes, an IDL will probably get someone to rent you one in some countries. We were pulled over in Bali by an officer, and while we were told off because our license did not cover motorbikes, he let us go with a warning. That would not have happened had we had nothing.

As well, it allowed us to drive all over Cyprus during our 3 months there. Whether you house sit for someone with a car, or rent one yourself – having the legal option to drive is a major plus.

7. Bring your Bank up to Speed

You will want to know if your bank has any locations abroad and know what fees will be charged if you take money out of a foreign ATM. Your debit/credit card may also charge an exchange rate fee. Take advantage of any rewards programs and consider getting alternative cards if you will be long-term traveling. Travel Cards are a topic for an entire post, but just be aware that they are very useful but demand careful respect too – you don’t want to find yourself in debt.

Before you leave, make sure to let your banks and/or card providers know that you will be leaving the country so they don’t put a hold on your card after your first international purchase. It is no fun going to the ATM and being told your card is denied. We encountered this in a few locations even when we had informed our banks – so always be prepared with a spare bank card.

8. Get Travel Insurance

Travel insurance, health insurance, car insurance. Deal with all of these. Travel insurance can cover a little or a lot, depending on the plan. At the time we couldn’t afford it and decided against it. Ultimately, it was not needed for us, but we had a few close calls. We were lucky with a motorbike accident in Sri Lanka to be able to walk away with only a few minor scraps and bruises (though keep in mind most insurance companies do not cover motorbike accidents). We would still recommend it to others though, and we will probably get it in the future.

9. Learn a Little about where you’re Visiting

Research and be aware of the customs of the areas you will be visiting/living. You do not want to offend or disrespect. Even the finger you point with or the way you set your chopsticks can be interpreted as rude.

Read books – or at least articles – on the area and learn at least a little bit of the language. While some places will be more forgiving of tourists, others will not be. It also can go a long way if you show respect and understanding of the region.

10. Make Duplicates

Copy your passport, IDs, international DL, and anything else you think might be useful. Take some extra passport photos as well if you plan to move between countries as well. Briana kept paper copies and scans of these documents on her laptop.

11. Don’t Overpack!

This may be the hardest of all to follow, but is also very important. DO NOT OVER PACK. As a general rule – you don’t need it. There are so many things that you can get abroad already, it doesn’t make sense to bring with you.

You can always buy another t-shirt, socks, pants – whatever. Basic toiletries, batteries, etc. the rest of the world has them too. Perhaps not in the same brand, but you’ll live. Your back will thank you when you are not carrying an entire closet on your back.

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