A Million Things To Do

In order to get ready for an extended period of travel, we put together an extensive to-do list based on our research. Maybe there weren’t a million items on this list, but we had A LOT to do to get us into a position where we finally feel somewhat prepared. This list included:

HEALTH/MEDICAL:

• Research and have LASIK performed for Christina. This is something she had been considering for several years and would mean we wouldn’t have to worry about packing contacts or contact solution.
• Research what vaccinations are recommended or required (The CDC is a great resource for this)
• Make our various doctors appointments (Physicals, Dentists, Travel)
• Research what travel insurance to buy. We ended up going with an international policy from Global Underwriters. Several travel blogs we read recommended World Nomads, but the policy was three times as expensive and didn’t seem to provide any additional coverage than the plan we selected.

FINANCIAL:

• Open up numerous credit cards in order to earn as many points/miles as possible
• Open up a Charles Schwab High Yield Checking account. This is absolutely the go-to checking account for travelers. It has no fees and will reimburse you for any ATM fees charged anywhere in the world.
• Set up a recurring transfer from savings to our new checking account

HOME/WORK:

• Quit our jobs and leave on good terms by giving enough time to allow for a smooth transition at our companies
• Let our management company know that we (sadly) are not renewing the lease for our apartment and will be moving out
• Cancel our gym memberships, magazine subscriptions, cable and power
• Change our address on all of our credit cards, bank accounts, insurance policies and other accounts as well as at the post office

BLOG:

• Pick a name for this blog and purchase the web domain
• Set up a draft version of the website
• Write our first blog post
• Set up social media (Facebook, Instagram) for the blog
• Launch the blog!

GEAR:

• Research and try out backpacks. We ultimately landed on the Deuter Transit backpacks (65L for Chris, 50L for Christina)
• Research the various tablets and laptops to figure out what we wanted to bring with us. We ended up purchasing an Asus Zenbook UX305A (using a promo code to save a $100 and also purchasing it through the MileagePlus Shopping portal earning 3 miles/dollar). It’s very light (<3 lbs), durable and fast.
• Research and figure out what camera to bring with us. We debated bringing just a simple, small digital camera or maybe even just our iPhone 6 since it takes great pictures. In the end, we opted to bring our Canon Rebel T3i DSLR since it takes incredible photos without any effort at all. While we’ll be adding some weight and sacrificing some space in our bags, we feel that it’ll be worth it in the end.
• Buy the remaining items on our packing list including sneakers, shoes, quick-dry clothing

TRAVEL/MISCELLANEOUS PREP:

• Apply for new, larger passports with more pages
• Book our first flights! This was our way of making the trip OFFICIAL.
• Reach out to our friends/family abroad and line up schedules for visits
• Purchase a membership to WWOOF France
• Email various farms throughout France and pick one where we can volunteer and work
• Figure out what we’re going to do for cell phones abroad. We ended up sticking with the T-Mobile plan we have now which offers free, unlimited international data, texts and Wi-Fi calling.
• Visit our 1st UNESCO site (Lady Liberty)
• Apply for an International Driver’s Permit

Even now we still have a few things left that we need to finish prior to leaving for Barcelona on the 11th, but we think that we’re in pretty good shape. We’ll find out soon enough!

– The Morts