Pre-Departure Checklist
Begin 4 – 6 months before departure date
General Checklist
- Get your passport or, if you already have one, make sure it has at least six months left before expiration.
- Begin to research visa information for the country or countries you wish to visit. Take care to make sure what kind of visa you need before you go. If it’s valid from the date of entry, you can get it fairly far in advance without worrying about expiration. If it’s valid from the date of issue, you will need to get it as close to the time you will be going as possible.
- Consider where you would like to go, how long you’d like to go, and some things you want to do. From here, you can draft a preliminary budget based on the funds available to you.
- If you plan on working, finalize your job plans. If you plan on getting a job once you arrive in the country, make a plan of what you will do when you arrive to begin finding employment.
- Pick a date of departure and book your initial air or boat ticket. For air tickets, if you only have your first destination planned but no subsequent ones yet, you can just get your first ticket. However, make sure you either have a forwarding ticket or a return ticket as many countries require either one of these before issuing tourist visas.
- Purchase a guidebook for the first country you wish to visit. You can easily acquire additional guidebooks while traveling in airports and English language bookstores.
- Book your first couple of nights at your first destination in a hotel. It will probably take you a couple of days to get over your jet lag and to find a place to stay that fits your budget and needs. Having the first couple of days taken care of in advance will save you enormous headaches once you arrive in the country. Of course, in heavy tourist and urban areas, it might be safer to book a longer amount of time in a hotel.
- Purchase your travel gear. See packing lists for details.
- Learn a few simple phrases in the language of the country you will be going to. Lonely Planet Language Guides
are a very useful thing to bring with you. If you have a bit more time and want to really delve in to speaking the language, you can take a class or purchase one of the excellent language instruction software packages from Rosetta Stone
.