Essential Preparations Before Your Long-term Travel

The rest of the world is hard at work distributing vaccines. Soon enough of the global population will have been inoculated. Herd immunity will come to light. Countries will open their borders to foreign travelers. After almost two years of zero travel, you will once again experience the highs and lows of gallivanting through exotic destinations. And now is the perfect time to level up your adventure. Yes, no more short bursts of travel. It’s time for you to make your dream of traveling for the long haul a reality.

To ensure that your journey goes as smoothly as possible, do all essential preparations. Here are some of them.

Save up

You probably already know this. But it’s worth emphasizing, especially now that you’re looking into long-term travel. It’s easy to save up if you’re only traveling for a weekend or a month at most. But if you’re traveling for an entire year or more, it’s a different story. Unless you’re a trust fund baby, you’ll need to come up with a huge budget.

Alternatively, you can save up for your travel nest egg. You decide on the amount that will be enough to give you peace of mind. While traveling, you can still work freelance as a digital nomad. You can use your monthly earnings to fund your daily needs. Meanwhile, your travel nest egg remains intact for contingencies or bigger expenses like plane tickets.

Purchase necessary insurance

You need travel insurance. Plus, health insurance. You can’t risk not having those, especially if you’re traveling long haul. You do not want to get sick in an expensive city and pay for hospital bills out of your pocket. That will deplete your travel funds.

You might need to purchase manufactured home insurance too. That is if you haven’t already got one. Remember that you’ll be leaving your house behind. Even if it’s a mobile home, you can’t take it with you. And even if you’re entrusting it to someone you can fully rely on, things still could go wrong. You do not want to be bothered by essential home repairs while you’re on an island sipping margarita.

Look into your tax obligations

Just because you’re away does not mean you’re exempt from paying taxes. Or from filing your tax return. If while overseas you earn more than the threshold specified by the IRS, you’re legally obligated to declare it and pay the corresponding taxes. You might want to hire an accountant to sort out your tax responsibilities while you’re away.

Have essential documents at hand

The pandemic has changed the rules of traveling. Most likely, you will be asked for documents on your vaccination status. So have those documents ready.

Research your planned destinations

Again, traveling won’t be as lax as before. Some countries might impose certain restrictions. You need to research the specific rules imposed by the countries you plan to visit. Or at least the first destination in your itinerary.

You do not want to arrive at a foreign city and be told to fly back home by immigration officials. You won’t get a refund for your plane tickets from a personal error.

Discuss your plans with friends and family

You’ve always traveled solo. You make plans on your own. There’s no problem with that per se. But as much as possible, you should not exclude the people who care for you from your plans. After all, they will be the first ones to worry if you encounter any untoward incident while abroad.

So, discuss your travel plans with your support system. And while you’re away, keep them updated with your travel progress. No man is an island, they say. That’s true even if you’re on the most beautiful and remote island on the planet. Share your travel with the people you hold dear.

Traveling does not always go as planned. Things go wrong at some point. No matter how much you prepare, there’ll be contingencies that are beyond your control. That does not mean you should just wing it and travel without plans and preparations. You still need to iron out the details you have the power to sort out before you leave. Start with the ones listed above.

Once you got those sorted out, begin the countdown. Let yourself feel the excitement that goes with knowing you’re about to explore the world. You’ve watched enoughtravel content on YouTubefor the past year. Now it’s your turn to experience those thrills firsthand. Have fun and stay safe.