Comments on: Preparing to Travel To-Do List

By: Jason

Jason — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 20:10:46 +0000

That feeling will always be there. And you will forget to do some things. It’s almost inevitable. But, in the end you will have a great time!

By: Jason

Jason — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 20:10:07 +0000

Excellent, thanks for stopping by!

By: Dominique

Dominique — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 05:31:36 +0000

Great list. I’m a few months away from leaving but feel like I’m running out of time with still so much to do! AHHHHH! Wish me luck.

By: GRRRL TRAVELER

GRRRL TRAVELER — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 02:41:55 +0000

Great check list! I’ll be passing it on

By: Jason

Jason — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 04:00:58 +0000

Glad we could help Charu.

By: Charu

Charu — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 03:17:04 +0000

Thanks so much for this list—so very helpful. Will definitely revisit this site before I head off again.

By: Massa

Massa — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 06:30:00 +0000

Hi! I just stumbled upon this today because of a twitter post by @travelogged. I left Florida on January 31, 2003 on a one year adventure and never returned! You mention changing car insurance. It’s important for Americans to realize that having a gap in your car insurance is viewed as a risk. It’s something I learned and always stayed as a driver on my family’s policy. That way, if I ever return to the US, I can get normal rates. Also, whenever I do go home to the US for a visit, I am able to confidently drive any car (including rentals) and I know I’m covered.

My other advice is to put a limit on how long you can stomach your things in Public Storage. I never did this and I only cleared out my unit one month ago! I only had ‘stuff’ in there – not even furniture. Whenever I do the math on how much I spent over the years, I get queasy. When I left, I would have sworn that I’d never be in a situation where I was still paying on a storage unit all those years later. I wish I had set a limit on how much I was willing to pay in Public Storage fees. Great blog – thanks for the insights today. Cheers!

By: Abbie

Abbie — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 03:45:43 +0000

This is a great list! I’ll be sure to pass it on

By: Aracely

Aracely — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 16:43:33 +0000

So glad we can help Melissa. Best of luck to your friend!

By: Aracely

Aracely — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 16:42:43 +0000

Laurence, great advice. I completely agree with your comment. We definitely brought stuff we didn’t need and we ended up either sending it home or giving it away. When we came home to a bunch of stuff I got annoyed as to how much crap we had. I will try to travel will less on our next trip for sure!

By: Melissa Witbeck

Melissa Witbeck — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 20:26:15 +0000

Thank you for this list! I am helping a friend pack for her backpacking experience and I will be sure to get this over to her ASAP. Thank you again for your help!

By: Laurence

Laurence — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 08:28:18 +0000

I think as travelling becomes more of a lifestyle and less of a thing you do between other things, the dauntingness of it all lessens. You will find yourself wondering how it was you thought you needed 73 pairs of underpants and all those t-shirts, and compressing your life down to a tiny amount. It’s amazing how paltry airline allowances can cause you to substantially rethink your travelling needs, not to mention the fact you usually have to lug this stuff all over the place! I’ve been on the road for around fourteen months now, and am down to about twenty kilos, which includes a drum I thought may come in handy. My advice would be to start off taking everything you think you will need, and then not being afraid to give stuff away when you realise you actually don’t need it. And don’t take stuff you would desperately miss if it gets lost/stolen/covered in strange goo.

By: Claire

Claire — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 21:12:24 +0000

Trusting in the kindness of foreign peoples is key. It can and it will happen. Most people are happy to have you in their country, and some will take you under their wing and help in a time of need. Trusting can be the hard part though-if a situation doesn’t seem right, it probably isn’t!

By: Jason

Jason — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 19:41:52 +0000

You and me both, Phil.

By: Jason

Jason — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 19:41:12 +0000

Ahh! You said it! “Vacation.” We like to think long-term travel isn’t a vacation, but rather a lifestyle. We are living on the road, cooking in kitchens, trying to find free or cheap places to stay and sometimes looking for work or volunteer opportunities.

Our year long journey has come to an end and we are back in NJ. We are going to continue to travel and remain digital nomads. A term that is used to describe someone who can work from anywhere, as long as they are connected. This is basically what we did the past year to maintain our blog. Only now, we need to do it to maintain an income. A bit more pressure.

Stop thinking, get out there and do it! I know, it’s always more complicating than that, but a little support helps.

By: Jason

Jason — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 19:31:22 +0000

It all depends on the individual. I say, “pack what you want.” There are no rules as to how much or how little you should bring.

By: Jason

Jason — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 19:29:01 +0000

Excellent! Glad we could help Kevin.

By: Phil

Phil — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 09:19:56 +0000

Nice comprehensive list. It looks daunting, but if you take a day or two you can knock most of them out. Procrastinating is where I get into trouble…

By: Anthony

Anthony — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 08:00:10 +0000

Great informative list

By: Darek

Darek — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 17:21:58 +0000

very nice blog !!