Recently, I found myself moving to another country for a few months, and as a complete travel newbie, I was/am quite lost. Here’s a list of things for you (and a reminder to me) to consider doing before you move.
- International drivers license (apparently you just have to go and get a booklet, I forgot to do this so I’ll have to look into this some more)
- Make sure your passport is up to date (even for some months AFTER you plan to come back as some countries require your passport to be valid for 6 months after your planned departure date)
- Travel health insurance (if you’re a student, you are probably already covered, but call in to make sure. I was covered for 4 months)
- Change mailing addresses for your bills
- Cancel your cell phone plan (or put it in suspend or travel mode ~ $15/month if you still have a contract)
- Unlock your cell phone so you can use it with a different carries (all I had to do was call my carrier Telus, pay $35 and they gave me a code to enter)
- Get your travel shots (for some reason, I totally forgot about this. Was able to get (most of) them within a weeks time). You will probably have to book an appointment to go over your vaccine history and the health risks in the countries you are going to. You should budget for this as the initial appointment is ~$40 and each shot you get is around $40-$90 (appointment and shots often done on the same day). I needed 2 that I had to pay for.
- Bring local cash
- Scan your ID (passport, driver’s license) so you have a backup copy
- Credit card (Visa seems to be accepted most places) with some money on it
- Power adapter (not all places have the same electrical outlets nor the same voltage). I already fried my poor electric shaver :c (as a side note, if you are surprised by the power your electric shaver has, and it’s unusually warm, you should probably unplug it…)
This list, I’m sure, is incomplete.