Adventure is a State of Mind
A Little Planning Goes a Long Way
For many people, the 48 hours before international travel is stress-filled and unpleasant, but this is not an inevitable state of affairs. A little planning can go a long way toward reducing stress.
There are always some last minute tasks that we either don’t anticipate or we choose to do right before leaving, but the more we can think through everything in advance that we need to do in addition to packing, the less stress we will experience. If you travel frequently, you may even want to create a list on your phone or computer that you can access each time you are going on a trip so that you don’t have to put effort into making a new list for each adventure.
The following suggestions can help you to start your own list, but you can personalize it with tasks that are unique to you and your situation.
The List
- Stop mail and newspaper (if you still get a paper paper) delivery or make arrangements with someone to pick up your mail.
- Confirm any pet-sitting and/or house-sitting plans.
- If your bank and credit card companies require it, make sure that you have notified them of your travel plans.
- If you plan to take some currency for the country or countries you will be visiting, make sure that you have ordered it at least a few weeks before your trip and don’t forget to pick it up before leaving home.
- If you don’t have all of your bills set up to be paid automatically, and if any of those bills will come due during the time you are gone, make sure that you have paid them early or have made arrangements to pay them late without a penalty.
- Check with your cell phone company whether they have an international calling plan and enroll in one if necessary. (Some mobile carriers will charge you significant fees if you have not pre-enrolled in their international plan before using it.
Before anything else, preparation is the key to success.
Alexander Graham Bell
- If you are still working, wrap up projects and make sure you’ve made arrangements for who is covering for you while you’re gone and have notified anyone who needs to know of this plan. (This includes setting up an away email and voicemail message if you need to do so.)
- Work on using up, giving away, or thowing out perishables, such as milk and fruits and vegetables, before you leave.
- Double-check your prescription medications and whether you will need a refill before you return. If so, talk to your pharmacist several days before your trip about getting an early refill since it may require special permission from your insurance company. This applies to other medical supplies as well, such as a backup battery for a glucose monitor or insulin pump if you have diabetes.
- If you plan to use any form of electronic entertainment, such as watching movies on your phone or tablet or reading an e-book, make sure you have these downloaded and your devices fully charged.
- Water your plants (for short trips) or make arrangements for someone to water them while you’re gone (for longer trips).
- Make sure to take any trash to the outside bins. (Nobody likes coming back to a funky-smelling home!)
- Adjust your thermostat — if no one is staying in your house while you are gone, you likely can lower your energy bills by reducing (in winter) or increasing (in summer) the temperature.
- Leave your itinerary and copies of your passports and credit cards with a trusted friend or family member or stash copies someplace in your house where they can be found by a trusted friend or family member with a key to your house in case of an emergency.
- If you are flying, check your flight times online starting a few days before your trip. Increasingly, airlines are changing not only flight times but even the locations that passengers are flying in or out of. Catching this early gives you a chance to adjust your schedule and/or call the airline to change the flight if the new reservation will not work for you. Also, don’t forget that for most airlines, you can check in electronically 24-hours before your flight.
Think through everything that you want to make sure to do before you leave on your travel adventure, even if you don’t have a trip booked right now. What didn’t I include in the list that will be important for you? Write your own personal list now that you can use when you are leaving in just a few days.
