With only three days until we fly out of Sydney for another 18 months of full time travel, I’m definitely all over the place with my assessment of how I’m doing – sometimes feeling confident that its all under control, and then getting panicked that I’m going to run out of time. I’m working during the day in the city and packing/organising at night and early in the morning. I’m not feeling excited yet, I’m trying to keep that under wraps. But I’m pretty sure there will be tears and my heart will feel like its about to burst once we walk through departures.
By biggest issue at the moment is our passports. If they are completed within the 10 days we had hoped for then I should be able to pick them up from the Passport Office today. But if they take longer well, it’s going to be stressful. I’m really hopeful though that we will have them today or Thursday – I’ll be checking my gmail all day for the email and then trotting off to collect them. NOTE: My passport arrived at the office five hours before our flight! We just made it.
Top things to do before traveling – long or short term
- Get your VPN (read about it here)
- Make sure you have travel insurance: if you can’t afford travel insurance you can’t afford to travel. We use CoverMore
- Check your passport for expiry dates and pages
- Check visa requirements of the countries you’re going to
- Talk to your doctor about any vaccinations you may need
Here’s everything that I have worked on the past two weeks while I’ve been working at my actual job! It’s been okay though, I’m sure even with all the time in the world I would still end up where I am now, down to the wire.
You can also read what I did three weeks out and two weeks out for a compete list until I pull it all together.
Here’s what I’ve accomplished in the last week before traveling (with a few more things to complete…like the passports!)
Health insurance
In Australia we are required to have health insurance, but the good thing is we can put it on hold if we are out of the country. You just need to ask. I’ve put mine on hold for 12 months.
New card
My credit card was hacked so I had that to contend with last week. I have a new card now which is great and I’ve also applied for a no fee card for travel. I haven’t done this before as I always ran out of time or just didn’t bother, but now I’m trying to look after every penny.
School – back to Distance Ed
Sadly Emmie’s principal didn’t allow us to do remote schooling so I made a last minute application to Distance Education. I’m heading up to the school in my lunch break today to get info from them and set up Emmie’s iPad. Hopefully it will all be okay.
Garage sale
I had a last minute garage sale and I’m glad I did, I made $750 and got rid of a lot of stuff. I’ve also managed to sell a lot on Facebook pages (evens Emmie’s school uniforms) and I put a computer and a few things on eBay. I think by the time we go I’ll have made about $2k altogether
Donated so much stuff
I’ve donated so much stuff. It feels good. We have a clothing bin nearby us so lots of clothes have gone in there as well as lots of toys, and Ive sent a lot to the bushfire appeal too, and remember that hospitals and doctors surgeries are often looking for kids toys and books too.
Storage and removalists
I managed to get a ‘hot deal’ at the local Kennards self storage for the stuff we are keeping and I’ve booked it in. I am really hoping everything fits as I don’t want to spend more than I have to on storage – it’s a quarter garage (my mind says 3.5m x 1.7 but could be wrong) and $134 per month.
I booked removalists for Friday. So expensive! $160 per hour! They come at midday on Friday, then the estate agent comes at 4pm to do a check and then the cleaner on Saturday – by then we will be gone!
Bags and packing cubes and necessities
I’ve bought Emmie and me new carry on bags and packing cubes from Kathmandu – these were stolen when we were robbed in Spain. As was everything, I’ve even had to buy new bras. Its expensive BUT one of the positives of being robbed is that we are setting off with less.
Skin check & medical
I’ve booked in for a skin check-up tomorrow and Emmie has been to the dentist – no cavities hooray – and Ive stocked up on my medicine (steroids for my arthritis that I’m hoping will disappear when we leave). I haven’t had time to go to the dentist but I’m happy to visit one in Malaysia or Vietnam while we are traveling. The one in Penang that replaced my front tooth last trip was awesome.
Insurance – claim and cover
I submitted my insurance and they’ve come back to me with some questions, and I’m being hopeful.
I decided to stay with Covermore this trip as they’ve always been so good to me. I booked it in til the end of March when we return to Australia to collect our winter gear for a few weeks in Japan (the return Japan flights were already booked so its fine, and Emmie will be able to see her friends and my mum and dad). Not that if you have annual cover it is voided if you return to your home country. Also, my quote was initially for $568 for four months but when I reduced a day it dropped by $120 – I must have just been over 120 days…make sure to check that when you’re booking too.
Hair cut & grooming
I actually had a haircut and hopefully before we go I’ll be able to get a lash and brow tint. I’m not taking make up (I don’t really wear it anyway) but I like to keep brows and eyelashes tinted. I’ll get a leg, pit and etc wax too – all about simplicity…who wants to shave?
Money
I’ve organised my Philippine pesos and pick them up on Friday. I’ve never done this before I’ve always just gone to an ATM on arrival but I’m trying to reduce unnecessary charges so this feels good and organised. We will see!