7 Practical Things To Do Before You Start Longterm Travel
1: Sort Out Banking
Check the expiry dates on all your cards and apply for new ones if required. Ensure you have internet banking enabled on all accounts, even savings accounts. Also, warn your bank you will be travelling in different countries to avoid your credit card being stopped when you try to use it.
2: Get Skype, Work Out How To Use It And Build A Contact List
Skype is one of the cheapest way to make long distance calls (WhatsApp, of course, is great for texting). And Skype video calling is an amazing way to stay in touch with friends and family, so be sure you have the contact details of folk you want to contact. Be aware that Skype will only work, however, where you have good internet access, so…
3: Get A Mobile Phone Solution
International roaming costs a fortune. If you are spending a couple of weeks or more in a country, by far the cheapest way to communicate outside the internet is to buy a prepaid SIM card. If you are travelling fast, or want friends from home to be able to call you easily and cheaply, your best option is an international low-cost SIM card. GeoSim offers US and UK SIMs.
4: Check Your Passport Expiry Date and Pagination
Your passport should be valid for at least six months after the end of travel, as many countries require six months’ passport validity before you enter. Also check you have enough space in your passport for visas, visa extensions, entry stamps, exit stamps and, in some places, internal travel permits.
5: Sort Out Your Tax
Make arrangements to file and pay your tax online. If you plan to nomad, work out where you will be resident for tax purposes. If you have a family and are in receipt of government parental benefits, advise the office how long you will be away.
6: What Shots? When and Where?
Travel vaccinations are eyewateringly expensive in the US, cheaper in Europe and Latin America, and even cheaper in Asia. Depending on where you are starting your trip, and when you reach regions where vaccinations are recommended, it may pay to hold off on some jabs until you reach a cheaper location.
7: Use Paypal? Tell It Each Time You Change Country
If you use Paypal to send and receive money, or buy online services, you need to warn the system before you change country. Otherwise your account will be locked. Use the contact form to keep them regularly updated.
Thanks to Ken Meyer for the passport image.
Thanks for sharing your wisdom. We’re about to get into some heavy duty planning and this really helped.
One question: Do you buy travel insurance or just pay as you go if you need something?
Oh god, Heidi! I neglected travel insurance. Yes, I do, and everyone should do. Travel insurance covers you against catastrophes. Most things you lose/break and most minor illnesses will cost so little it won’t be worth using the travel insurance. If, however, you need to be treated in a private clinic in Africa and then flown home, as happened to me, you’ll need to cover tens of thousands in cost. Ditto for having a motorbike accident in Indonesia, being flown to Australia for treatment, etc. Ditto for being robbed of everything you own Yes, everyone should have travel insurance, but read the T&Cs carefully. World Nomads are extremely good for longterm travel and will cover you after you’ve started travelling and extend cover for as long as you want.
My x-girlfriend broke 5 ribs in Mongolia last year. Fortunately, she followed my advice and bought insurance before she (we) departed the US. The cost for the medivac flight from Ulaanbaatar to Hong Kong was just over $100,000 US. She had to put it on her AMEX card but the insurance company cut a check within two weeks…
Jesus Christ, Scott, that’s impressive. Not just the bill. but that she happened to have the wherewithal to cover it. Medevac is what insurance is really all about.
brilliant tips – esp the money parts. thanks!
Yes, the money is a devil. Also be very careful you can reset internet banking logins over the phone.
Paypal can be so infuriating sometimes, so good tip about informing them when you change countries. We had our account randomly locked a few months ago and it took FOREVER to get it unlocked.
The other thing you can do, Christy, if it does happen is tweet @askpaypal, and follow @askpaypal so they can MD you about it. They are very responsive on Twitter. Got mine unlocked in under an hour.
Great tips! We had a trusted friend as a signer on our bank account too, which came in handy a few times, but that was several years ago and international access has improved greatly in just a few years!
I have a friend who fields mail for me, which really helps. Because odds are you’re going to need a mailing address. I’ve not needed a signer on the bank account, because British banks are very keen to move everyone online to save their mailing costs. I’m sorry. Our banks in Britain are committed to the environment and think we should all do internet banking because they love the trees as much as I do 😉
With regard to PayPal, they told me today they need an update every 2 weeks you are using your PayPal debit card out of the country you typically reside. Important to use that contact form!
Every two weeks?! crikey. I didn’t even know Paypal did debit cards. Pretty cool that they do, though.
And don’t forget to update your email address with banks and relevant companies, like domain name registrators, should you have a business website…otherise it will disappear off the face of cyberspace…because you never received the ‘renewal is due’ notification. BLAST!!!!!!!…there goes my Google ranking, for now anyway.
You are joking! Well, no, I guess you’re not. God, what a horrible thing to happen.
Good tips. I didn’t know that Paypal is so finicky about in which country you’re located. Will def follow them on Twitter from now on.
Yep. Each time you change country, they block you and you have to unblock. Which often requires things like mobile numbers and so on.
Sounds like common sense and not difficult to remember, but oh so easy to forget! i’d add to that list to photo copy all credit cards (both sides), insurance paperwork, vaccine records and of course your travel itinerary and passport – then leave at least one copy with one friend back home in the event the documents are lost/stolen – much easier to replace if you have clear copies or scans to refer to.
Yep. And I would add to that add, which is a great add, put them in a ziploc plastic bag so they don’t get soggy. Which is, obviously, what’s happened to ours.
Awesome tips! I didn’t know about the paypal tip. Thanks!
Yeah, Paypal can be made to play nicely if you use the comments field.
Great reminders. We’re doing all this now, or trying to anyway. I’m sure I’ll forget something…
Oh, you will. I can guarantee you will. The bizarre thing is how much time people tend to spend buying special bits of clothing and travel gadgets, and how often the tedious stuff gets neglected.
Excellent tips Theodora!
Thank you, sir.
Thanks for the tips! I had no idea about the Paypal thing…
Yeah. Its set-up isn’t quite as international as it claims, but you can work it…
I would also add get the email address and direct line of someone at your bank. When I arrived in Mexico my bank had frozen my money but I emailed my rep and it was fixed within the hour.
That’s a good tip, thank you.
I’ve recently taken a “permanent” internet phone # – you can buy a Skype # or, in the US an even cheaper option is the Magic Jack for $20 a year. All phone messages are emailed as a .wmv file and you can call your credit card company back when they see “unusual activity” (read: any purchase outside of your home country) and know BEFORE they turn your card off.
I’ve found (at least with American credit card companies) that telling them before travel is useless:
Me: Why did you turn my card off?
Credit Card rep: We noticed suspicious activity.
Me: Like what?
Credit Card rep: Purchases in Mongolia.
Me: And what do the notes read in my account?
Credit Card rep: (reading out loud), “I’ll be traveling in Mongolia, please don’t turn off my card again for the 13th time,” oops, my bad.
argh!
Since I switched to American Express I’ve never had it turned off…
Wow I had no idea about PayPal! Thanks for the tip!
great post! Totally agree with skype- get it, use it and know how to do it before you leave!!
Yes. Though you do need a mobile as well, unless you’re going to be sellotaped to the internet.
Gosh, I had no idea at all that Pay Pal does that to you. Thanks for this post, sure helped a great deal.