Preparations

Initial Preparations

First off, I should tell you that I had been planning a trip that entailed traveling to each state, staying for exactly one week, and documenting as much of it as I could with the help of photographs and video. I had been saving for this trip for a long time.


It wasn't until around 8 months ago I stumbled upon a post on a travel site that would for ever change my thinking of long-term travel. I, like so many, thought it would be extremely expensive to gallivant around the world. Little did I know, many were doing it on as little as $10,000. A light went on in my head and I haven't looked back since.


I decided that I can travel across the United States when I'm older and own an RV. Now that I knew it was possible.... I wanted to see the world! My eyes were opened wide and I was like a kid in a candy store. I started searching for as many travel sites as possible. I spent hours on them reading about tips, tricks and all the ins and outs that people have learned along the way. It was an addiction.


Some of my favorite sites that helped me the most were Travelblog, Lonely Planet's Thorn Tree Forum, Boots'n'all, Travel Independent and Travellerspoint. There is such a wealth of good information on these sites and they are constantly being updated with user question and answers. Many of these sites also link to user blogs so you can follow like-minded people, as they wander from place to place, all from the comforts of your home... an 'Armchair Traveler' of sorts. Very helpful and fun if your planning an exotic vacation or trekking across the globe.


Along with travel sites, I also went to bookstores and read about various places that I found interesting. This led me to buy a couple of great books. The first was a 'how-to' book called 'First-Time Around the World' by Doug Lansky. The second book was a very inspirational, yet equally informative book called 'Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel' by Rolf Potts. I recommend them both for anyone planning any sort of travel.


Finances on the Road

Many people wonder how you carry all that money with you while traveling from country to country, not to mention all the different currencies you will encounter on your journey.

After getting my first experience with this conundrum in Europe, I learned that first, you have to be flexible because nothing runs as smoothly as planned and second, there isn't a perfect method.

What I found out is that while traveling overseas banks love to charge you fees. My bank, Wells Fargo, charges $5.00 for each ATM withdrawal and a 3% conversion fee. Now that can add up over the course of a year. I was fortunate enough to qualify for a PMA Account which waves all ATM fees in the US and abroad. This still didn't help with the brutal 3% conversion fee so I researched some more until I found a solution.


And that solution was a Capital One Money Market account. I'm keeping my Wells Fargo account as my 'home-base' and my Money Market account as my secondary one. With the Capital One Money Market account I'm not charged ATM withdrawal fees, no conversion fees, and my money gains 5% interest while it waits to be spent. Not a bad deal.

I'm also bringing along two Capital One credit cards-- One Visa, One Mastercard. It's always nice to have one of each in case one isn't accepted.


I will be carrying a few 'new' one hundred dollar bills (they get the best exchange rate) for emergencies along with some traveler's checks (between 2 and 3 hundred dollars). I will also be carrying some smaller denominations of bills and stashing them throughout my two bags.

As I was writing this, I was asked " Why do you want to carry any Traveler's Checks, they're hardly accepted anywhere." My response-"I'm carrying them as an absolute last resort and I like the fact that they are 100% refundable. I plan on stashing them at the bottom of my bag and only using them if all other methods have failed."

If you want to know any more tips and info about carrying money abroad, you can always e-mail me and I'd be more than happy to answer your questions. I could go on and on about this but you would get bored and I would get tired and nobody wants that.
~robalrson2 (at) gmail (dot) com

Visas

Visas are "an official authorization appended to a passport, permitting entry into and travel within a particular country or region." Most visas can be attained on arrival. Others you have to apply for before entering the country.

My first stop, Indonesia, has a 30 day visa on arrival policy. With Indonesia being so large I opted for the more difficult 60 day visa. I only say difficult because you have to contact the Indonesian Embassy in Chicago and send them a bunch of forms along with your passport and a money order. Once I got that all straightened out it went pretty smoothly. I sent it off and received it back a week later. Pretty slick.


Health

When planning my trip, I went to the CDC website and they provided a list of what vaccines I needed to keep me healthy and happy. I got my first jabs (Hepatitis A & B and a Tetanus Shot) at the local County Health Department in town. They are much cheaper than your typical clinic. For my other shots (Yellow Fever, Typhoid and a Polio Booster) I went to a travel clinic in a nearby town.

I opted out of the Japanese Encephalitis and Rabies vaccine for two reasons. 1) Japanese Encephalitis has some nasty side-effects and 2) they are both very costly. I'm hoping this doesn't come back to haunt me in the future. The likelihood of getting either is very slim... your chances of getting in a traffic accident are much higher.


I also got prescriptions for Anti-Malarias, Traveler's Diarrhea, and Motion Sickness Patches. I was fortunate to have good insurance that covered most of these expenses (shots included). Thanks Blue Cross/Blue Shield.

To make sure my body gets all the nutrients it needs, I'm taking along One-A-Day Men's Multivitamins. I will also be taking probiotics to help keep my digestive system in proper order. It might take awhile for my body to get accustomed to the food so these two supplements are sure to keep me healthy and fit.

While I'm abroad, I decided to get Traveler's Insurance to cover both my health and my possessions. I opted for World Nomads because they had a policy tailored for backpackers. Hopefully I will never have to use them, but for a small price it's well worth it.


Driving



Many people ask me how I will get from place to place. One of the ways will be driving. In order to do this legally in most countries you need an International Driving Permit. What this does essentially is translate your current Driver's License into one that can be interpreted in most countries. It only cost me $15 and you can get them at your local AAA store.

Scanning Your Documents

As Rob has mentioned in the comments section, It's a great idea to scan all important documents that you will be taking with you. That way, your just a computer away from getting any important information you may need. When I first traveled to Europe, we photocopied everything and kept the copies in a ziplock bag in case we lost something. The 'Digital Age' has made our lives much simpler in a lot of ways. It still doesn't hurt to go the old-fashioned route and make a set of copies to have in your bag or to leave at home. It's never a bad thing to have too many options.