10 things you need to go on a world trip
Going on the world trip is a dream come true. However, preparation for it can be stressful. Here’s a list to make sure you sorted everything you need to get going
Decide on a rough route
Can you plan your trip down to every stay for months? Hard no.
However, having a rough route in mind will help you to setup essentials that you need to plan around in advance. Think about continents you want to visit. After you decided on that, you can start to think about the direction you want to travel in. Does it make sense to go from warm weather to colder weather? When do I roughly want to be in Africa, North America, Asia? What is the best time to travel? The rough route is your whiteboard you can always go back to when planning in detail.
2. Decide on your ‘must see’ places
There’s thousands of places you could travel to. Which are the ones that actually fit YOU?
There’s a thousand things you will want to see and I promise you, during your travels, a thousand more things will come up. You will meet other travellers that tell you about all these amazing things. Naturally you will become excited and start second guessing your route, maybe think about adding more destinations to your itinerary.
My advice: make sure to not overload your travel plans and instead, always think about what is important on this trip for YOU. Everyone has their own idea of how their world trip should look like. Do your own version. Think critically about what inspired you so far, what places you felt your best before when travelling. Has it been near the beach, near mountains, doing adventure trips? What’s your happy place? Decide on a couple of ‘must see places’ and work your way from there. Try not to fill your agenda with too many things and thank me later :)
3. Prebook long haul flights and expensive rentals
Think about parts of your “must sees” that could be very popular
Especially during peak season and around popular destinations, rentals, camper vans, flights and accommodation - sometimes even activities - can get very expensive or even become unavailable if you want to book spontaneously. Try to plan these in advance to avoid being frustrated. If you are planning to rent a camper van in New Zealand during summer, book it in advance. If you want to go to Coachella, find out how to get the best tickets.
I’m not saying you should book all destinations and tickets, but I was really glad I had booked my Camper van in Australia 9 months ahead because prices had tripled by the time I got there. Think about parts of your trip that could get high demand and perhaps, book it already. You can always juggle around these dates if other parts of your itinerary can stay flexible.
One advice for long haul flights since they can get really expensive: thing about booking the around the world ticket with Star Alliance. You are already booking the flights, however can still change the dates. Huge win!
4. Prepare all documents and formalities
Know what you need to get accepted into each of your destination
After you decided on your rough route and your must see countries, make sure you know what to prepare to travel to each of them. Any special VISA requirements you need?
Apps you need to download and register to? Cerficates you need to have? Outbound flights you need to show when entering your destination?
Things like an international drivers licence, an updated passport and getting vaccinations done will take up weeks of planning. Preparing these things in advance will save you loads of stress beforehand.
5. Credit cards are key
Two things you will always need: your passport and credit card (s).
Traveling for months and months there's two things you will always need: your phone and your credit card. Especially travelling to many countries, you will need the best option to withdraw cash. You might also need to put some deposits on your credit card and still pay for your other expenses. Make sure to:
check your credit card limit, and if you can, extend it just in case
check rates for cash withdrawal worldwide
check if you can withdrawal anywhere and if you can pay in another currency at what cost
make sure to always pay with local currency instead of your home currency
have an extra credit card available - you can also pay most things with debit cards (but note: for most rentals you need to deposit your credit card)
Online banks that you can use worldwide
6. Get rid of the things you don’t really need
One of the best ideas: selling all smaller things in one day at the flee market
Honestly, most of the things that I came back to after my world trip, I didn’t even miss.
Going on a world trip is the best way to tidy up your life and differentiate between things you really need and things that you thought you needed. Big difference.
I really loved using the Marie Kondo Method. Going through all your pieces and seeing what sparks joy. Anything that doesn't, thank it and get rid of it. You can start small. For instance, start going through all your books. All books that you don’t really need anymore, sort them out. Next day, you can start going through your clothes. And so on.
Going on a world trip will be expensive, so you might think about making some profit with the things that you are getting rid of. I sold valuable electronics and clothes online, put the furniture online for pick up, and sold sorts of things that weren’t too valuable on a local flee market. And believe me, I made some bucks for things that before were just laying around.
Helpful online resellers
7. Find a safe place to store your things
Spoiler alert: make sure to label your boxes
Leaving for months and potentially years, make sure to find good storage for your things. You don’t want them stored in a moldy cellar of a friends who might move soon. Do you want to keep your apartment and sublet? Great, do you have somebody reliable who could take care of things? If you can’t really answer that question, you might want to think about storing your things in a storage place. Yes, it will cost a buck or two, however your things will be stored safely without you worrying about things at home.
8. Pack your things in advance
Pre packing will save you loads of stress right before your departure
Make sure to do a pre packing session. Think about your travel destinations and essentials that you need to bring. Just think about essentials. Not the things you might need. Stuff such as toiletries, clothes, you can get almost anywhere in the world. Sort everything together and see if you can fit everything into your bags and carry easily. If not, you might want to loose a couple things.
9. Assign someone to sort things at home and have a place to stay when you come back
Don’t take your keys with you - find someone you can go back to
At some point, you will be back. Make sure to find a person to give your keys to. Ideally, that’s a person that will most probably still be living around the same area. Do you have a friend or family you can stay at after you can come back? Perfect!
10. Farewell party
Telling your friends and family about your plans is the ultimate commitment, make sure to say proper goodbyes before you jump on the plane
Now, last but not least, tell your friends and family about your travel plans! That’s the ultimate commitment. Once you said it out loud, things will just unfold one after the other. Send out a save the date invitation for a farewell party. Make sure to include all your loved ones. You don’t need to plan something huge. It could be as simple as having a pizza and beer night. Once you started your journey, you will think about your people at home, so it’s a good way to kick off your trip to leave on a high note.
Anything you would add? Let me know in the comments
