I have said it before and I will say it again – the devil is in the details.
When all of the huge pieces – determining the budget and itinerary, getting passports, booking flights and accommodations – are complete, that’s when the real work begins. We are four weeks out from departure and you would think that we would have our ducks somewhat in a row. But our ducks are like little drunken demons completely running amok. So we sat down this weekend for an intervention and tried to get those unruly assholes under control.
I started off by using the “biggest, baddest long term travel to-do list” from Kim at So Many Places and made edits to reflect the parts that applied to us and our trip. And then we had a meeting of the minds to try to determine who was handling what and what things needed to take priority. I’m not sure we made much headway, but at t-minus 27 days, here is where we stand:
Determine travel budget and itinerary.
Go through the house and get rid of stuff – books, garage sale, clothing to Goodwill. (In progress.)
Apply for passports.
Buy packs.
Create blog, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram accounts.
Set up Skype and make sure family knows how to use it to chat with us.
Apply for an international driver’s license??? (We are still on the fence about whether we are going to do this or not.)
Assess the electronics we want to take and how to carry and protect them.
Give notice at work.
Set up appointments at the travel clinic for yellow fever vaccinations and travel meds (ask about anti-malarials.)
Buy plane tickets!!
Update resume.
Create packing list and start shopping to fill in the gaps – clothes and toiletries.
Fill prescriptions.
Health insurance from World Nomads.
Book Istanbul accommodations.
Apply for Charles Schwab account – no ATM fees and lower foreign transaction fees.
Make all doctor and dentist appointments.
Make eye doctor appointment – new glasses for everyone! Order extra pairs of contact lenses.
Prepare house for Tammi – clean carpets, wash windows, weatherize rooms that will be closed off.
Get utilities set up for online bill pay.
Get mom added to checking accounts.
Determine how we will go about filing our taxes while we are gone.
Sell Mason’s car, cancel insurance, etc.
Make sure driver’s licenses won’t expire while we are gone. (Drat! Mine will. Must renew).
Collect addresses for postcards.
Get extra passport photos for VISA applications.
Scan copies of passports, marriage certificates, birth certificates and plane tickets. Email to myself and mom.
Clean out garage to store Ian’s car.
Finish selling books, metals, etc for extra spending money.
Rent a car for first two legs of the journey.
Good-bye dinners and parties for the kids and their friends and us and our friends/family.
One week out:
Clean out fridge and cupboards.
Upload books to Kindle.
Cancel cable, cell phones and other un-needed utilities/services.
Get some cash from the bank (clean, unwrinkled US dollars and some Turkish lira.)
Pack!
Sign passports and fill out emergency contact info.
Notify bank and credit cards we will be traveling. (Make note of international phone numbers for lost or stolen cards.)
Eat all of our favorite foods.
Freak out and wonder what in the world we are thinking.
Pull ourselves together and head out on the grandest of adventures!
I don’t know if you noticed, but there is still A TON of stuff on this list that needs to get done.
The good news is that my last day of work is quickly approaching and hopefully that will free me up to show this list who’s boss. I haven’t lost faith that it will all get so wish us well on tackling this monster!!
What are we forgetting? Do you have anything you would add to this list?
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