9 Days To Go! Pre-Trip Odds & Ends

I'm one of those people who always feels extremely disorganized, yet ultimately manages to convert chaos into productivity.

I'll often write to-do lists and intend to focus on a few specific items each day, and then I'll ignore the list and instead randomly choose a task from the clusterfuck of Things That Must Get Done that lives inside my head. I'll put something off for weeks, and then suddenly become fixated on doing that one thing right away.

It's a weird way to operate, but it's my way. My own haphazard, neurotic way.

Now that you know a bit more about how strange I am, here's a round-up of Things That Must Get Done that I've recently done! I am, after all, just nine days away from my RTW departure. Eeeee!


I BOOKED MY FLIGHT TO AUSTRALIA

This is important because I need proof of onward travel arrangements in order to enter my first country: New Zealand. The Kiwis are more than happy to welcome U.S. residents without a visitor visa as long as:

• they plan to stay for three months or less
• they are actually going to leave and have proof of this
• they have enough money to support themselves while visiting (NZ $1000/month)

That means I'll need to have my passport, Australia flight confirmation and a recent bank statement in hand when I fly to Auckland.

I booked a Qantas flight from Christchurch to Sydney on March 5, which means I'll have 28 days to enjoy New Zealand before I hit Oz. This was the first time I ever redeemed frequent-flyer miles (American Airlines AAdvantage miles to Qantas via the oneworld alliance), so I was quite excited to just pay taxes rather than the full ticket price!


I SOLD ALL OF MY FURNITURE

...almost.

One of my roommates is staying in our townhouse, so she recruited new girls to replace the two of us who are leaving. The girl who is moving into my room conveniently needs furniture and is happy to buy almost all of mine! That means I don't have to move a bunch of heavy crap down two flights of stairs.

Look! An unwieldy dresser I don't have to deal with!

I've also got something of a Facebook scuffle going on over this couch. It's a really comfortable couch and I absolutely love it... but it needs to go. Luckily, I have several friends who would like to have it. Come and get it, someone!

I will certainly miss this couch's nap-ability. Ah, well — I'll always have the memories.


I COMPLETED MY VACCINATION BONANZA AND HACKED OFF MY HAIR

These two achievements are completely unrelated, yet nicely demonstrated in this one photo.

My final three travel shots were a piece of cake compared to the six I received during my first visit to the travel clinic, and I'm oh-so-happy to be done with them. Any fear of needles I used to have is long gone by now!

And I cut about six inches off my hair because I needed a change and haven't had my hair this short since junior high. I'm not bringing a blow dryer or straightener on my trip, so expect to see either crazy hair or ponytails in most of my travel photos!


I SCANNED, MADE COPIES OF AND BACKED UP MY IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS

I'm bringing my passport, driver's license and immunization records on my trip, but I'll also bring backup copies of those documents in case the originals get lost or stolen.

Last night, it took me less than a half hour to scan my documents, save copies to my laptop and my email account, and print a few color copies of each to have on hand. I even laminated a copy of my passport and a copy of my driver's license with clear packing tape, just to be safe (and extra neurotic).

Side note: This whole process was made much more enjoyable by a few glasses of red wine.


I UNLOCKED MY SMARTPHONE

I know next to nothing about how cell phones really work, so bear with me if this explanation is fuzzy.

My Samsung Vibrant smartphone was locked, meaning that it would only work on T-Mobile's network, so I had to unlock it to be able to insert a prepaid SIM card and use the phone in other countries. My understanding is that one can buy a global SIM card that will work across many countries, or local SIM cards for each country one visits. Is that right? Kind of?

Anyway, I had to unlock my phone, and I found that it's impossible to get an actual human being on the phone when calling T-Mobile. I ended up live-chatting with a customer service rep on T-Mobile's Web site, and she was happy to forward my request to the T-Mobile SIM Unlock Team (yes, that's a real thing). The following day, I received an email with my unlock code and instructions on how to do the deed.

I had my tech-savvy friend do the actual unlocking, as the process required the use of a non-T-Mobile SIM card and I don't just have those lying around. He popped in his AT&T SIM card, entered the code and boom — it was done.

My phone still works just the same, as far as I can tell, but now I'll be able to connect to other networks once I'm on the road. Good stuff.


I BOUGHT A KINDLE

I've seen the Kindle Keyboard 3G top many bloggers' lists of travel must-haves. It's obviously a great source of entertainment for reading, but its automatic access to free global 3G is the real draw for travelers. It means that, even in the middle of nowhere (with some network limitations, of course), one can hop onto the Kindle's experimental Web browser to check email, update Facebook or send a tweet for free.

I'm not so Internet-crazy that I'd die without 24/7 access, but it's certainly nice to know that I can connect if I really need or want to, regardless of Wi-Fi availability (which is notoriously sketchy in New Zealand and Australia).

And check out Benny Lewis's story about how his Kindle 3G saved him big-time. I hope I never get into a similar situation, but who knows — crazy stuff happens.

I'm already a little obsessed with my Kindle. I used to be a big book-reader before I got so into blog-reading, and I look forward to catching up on books I've been meaning to read for years. I'm also thrilled that I can "check out" e-books for free using my Seattle Public Library card! Technology is so freakin' cool.

***

This weekend, I'll be busy selling more clothes, donating much more stuff to Goodwill, driving a few must-keep items to my dad's place and otherwise clearing out of my townhouse (I'll be staying at my mom's house for several days before I depart). Oh, and my going-away party is Saturday night!

I can't believe next weekend is the weekend. Time flies... but I'll be ready.

###

New here?

• Here's the lowdown on My Story
• You can add Answering Oliver to your feed reader
• Feel free to subscribe to Answering Oliver by email
  
• Liking Answering Oliver on Facebook is also a valid option
• Perhaps you'd like to follow my stream of randomness on Twitter
• Or just hang out. That's cool, too.

###

The Real Costs of Travel Vaccinations (Brace Yourself)

Today is my last visit to the Hall Health Travel Clinic at UW for my final three travel shots. Woo-hoo!

My initial visit to the clinic included a wonderfully comprehensive consultation with a nurse practitioner, who answered all of my health-related travel questions and helped me decide which vaccinations to get. She also showed me the costs of each vaccination, which nearly made my eyeballs fall out of my head.

A representative from my insurance company had assured me over the phone that a number of the vaccinations would be covered, but I still held my breath every time an "explanation of benefits" letter showed up in the mail.

Luckily, the news was always good. Thank goodness for insurance! (I'm on my mom's plan.)

Check out the breakdown of costs without and with insurance:

First of all, none of my visits required a co-pay, so it seems like the $20 I'm responsible for is just a co-pay for my initial visit.

Second of all, HOLY HELL! Vaccinations are expensive. I am so, so lucky and thankful to have insurance that covers so many of them.

I feel the same way about my travel prescriptions, although the numbers aren't quite as dramatic:

I did a lot of frustrating back-and-forth with my pharmacy and insurance company to get my prescriptions filled — especially the malaria pills — but it was worth it in the end to get the full supplies and save $224. Whew.


THE SAFETY NET

I'm not posting all of these numbers to brag about what great insurance I have, but to show what a difference insurance has made in my pre-travel health costs.

The first thing I did when I decided to quit my job was ask my mom if I could hop onto her insurance plan. She checked and found that since my quitting was a "qualifying event" and I'm under 26, she could add me to her plan at no additional cost.

That is really what allowed me to quit my job at the end of November. If I hadn't been able to join my mom's plan, I would have stayed employed while preparing to travel. I would have been miserable for these past two months, but at least I wouldn't pay those huge out-of-pocket costs for travel vaccinations and prescriptions.

Then again, I like to play it safe. If you've prepared to travel without health insurance, I'd love to hear about how you did it!

###

New here?

• Here's the lowdown on My Story
• You can add Answering Oliver to your feed reader
• Feel free to subscribe to Answering Oliver by email
  
• Liking Answering Oliver on Facebook is also a valid option
• Perhaps you'd like to follow my stream of randomness on Twitter
• Or just hang out. That's cool, too.

###

Itinerary Indecision & Shiny Travel Things

She's making a list... she's checking it twice...

It's not my Christmas list, unfortunately.

Thank you, commenters on Monday's post, for encouraging me to look into travel vaccinations sooner rather than later!

I started gathering information and learned a lot from the CDC traveler's health site and from speaking with a woman at the Seattle Public Health Center. I just got new insurance — since I'm under 26, I was able to seamlessly hop onto my mom's health plan — and discovered yesterday that most, if not all, of the vaccinations I'll need will be covered. Hurrah!

But before I can determine exactly which vaccinations to get, I need to define my itinerary a bit further from its current state, which is: "Thailand, then anywhere!"

Oh, hum. Will someone please hand me some darts?

I have a few must-attend events in 2012 that'll require me to return to the States for a week each in mid-May and early July, which makes choosing my itinerary a bit tricky. I have to take into consideration weather, festivals I'd like to hit, tourist seasons and costliness of each country I want to visit, then try to arrange those countries into an itinerary that makes sense in terms of time and money.

"A year of traveling" sounds like a wonderfully luxurious expanse, yet I'm already worried about being short on time and missing out on things.

I definitely want to spend plenty of time in Southeast Asia, including Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. I'd like to spend a month each in New Zealand and Australia, although I know they're more expensive. I've dreamt of visiting Greece and Croatia, but I don't know if I want to do Europe (again, money). Maybe Central and South America? And Africa would be amazing, but I feel overwhelmed by the thought of it.

I hear Iceland is nice, too, but it's all out there in the middle of the ocean by itself. Poor Iceland.

There. That's the jumble of thoughts in my head right now. I've never traveled outside of North America, so choosing where to go is proving to be difficult — I want to go everywhere! Feel free to add your two cents in the comments.


SHINY TRAVEL THINGS

While I'm getting rid of many belongings in preparation for my round-the-world trip, I'm also acquiring a few new ones to take along for the ride. Luckily I'm much more decisive when it comes to choosing these things than I am when trying to choose places to visit.

Here's what I've picked up so far. (Links point to where I bought each item, and none are affiliates.)


Canon PowerShot S95 digital camera

Hello, my precious. This arrived in the mail on Tuesday and I'm already smitten. I've used this camera before since my photographer friend has it, and it's been recommended by travel bloggers galore for its compact size and low-light shooting power. It also captures HD video!

I have yet to decide whether I'll take my incredible-but-large-and-heavy Canon Rebel T2i with me. (Keep in mind that I already have a 15" MacBook Pro to worry about.) Either way, the S95 has a guaranteed spot in my pack.


MOO business cards

I first learned about MOO business cards when I met Jodi Ettenberg of Legal Nomads and Shannon O'Donnell of A Little Adrift on a train from Seattle to Portland last June. How lucky was I, as a girl wanting to learn more about traveling, to randomly meet such awesome solo female travelers?!

Jodi and Shannon both had lovely MOO cards that featured stunning photos from their travels. They let me peruse all the cards and choose my favorites to keep. What could have been a basic exchange of contact information morphed into a fascinating conversation about the stories behind the photos. On top of that, the cards were thick and beautifully printed — much more memorable than the average business card.

A sampling of Jodi Ettenberg's MOO cards.

While this blog is not a "business" at all, I know I'll want to keep in touch with the folks I meet throughout my travels.

I chose 16 of my favorite photos, which were taken everywhere from Hawaii to New York City, to make up the front of my cards, and designed my own back. I like that the description — "Writer - Runner - Photographer" — is who I am, not what I'm paid to sit in a cubicle to do. I'll be thrilled when these cards arrive in a week or so.


***Attention, men: You may want to skip this next one. Don't say I didn't warn you.***


DivaCup

I had read about the DivaCup on a few healthy living blogs starting about six months ago, but I never considered getting one until I chose to pursue long-term travel. It's a menstrual cup made of medical-grade silicone that is used in place of tampons or pads, and Shannon has written that she loves it with every fiber of her being — read her great review for more information.

I haven't received this in the mail yet and can't say much about it other than what I've read, but it'll be a huge relief to not worry about lugging tampons around with me! Aaaand, end period talk.

***

I still have many items to pick up for my round-the-world travels — like, uhh, a backpack — but fear not. I've been poring over several resources and have a great idea of where to go from here. For example, both Jodi and Shannon have put together pages full of ridiculously helpful tips to aid round-the-world travel planning:

• Legal Nomads: Tips and Resources for Round the World Travel and Career Breaks
• A Little Adrift: RTW FAQ and Travel Planning Resources and Round the World Travel Packing

See what I mean about how I couldn't have met two more awesome people on that train?

And just one more thing for today: You all can rest easy knowing that this little guy has been permanently spared from my recent decluttering rampage.

Several reader comments and a frantic email from my mom convinced me to keep my childhood bear, Corduroy. I don't think I could have gotten rid of him anyway. Look at that sweet face!

The lesson here? Many possessions will come and go, but a few special things are simply irreplaceable.

###

New here?

• Here's the lowdown on My Story
• You can add Answering Oliver to your feed reader
• Feel free to subscribe to Answering Oliver by email
  
• Liking Answering Oliver on Facebook is also a valid option
• Perhaps you'd like to follow my stream of randomness on Twitter
• Or just hang out. That's cool, too.

###