An extended trip abroad will take some advanced preparation so that you can leave your home worry-free.
Research travel and health insurance and purchase an appropriate plan.
Update your address book with phone numbers, mailing addresses, and e-mail addresses of friends and relatives. Start saying your good-byes.
Recruit someone to take care of bills, banking and mail while you are away and begin to organize files for this person.
Apply for visas for relevant countries.
Cancel unnecessary accounts, credit cards or services.
Decide how you will access money while traveling and make appropriate arrangements.
Get an e-mail account and educate yourself on how to use e-mail from different servers, if you are not comfortable with this.
Find out what immunizations you will need and set up a schedule. The first in the series of Hepatitis B vaccinations is best administered six months in advance.
Brainstorm various options for taking care of things like your housing, plants, car and pets while you are away.
Apply for any additional credit cards you may need for your trip before quitting your job.
Apply for a passport with extra pages for visas.
Get a medical and dental checkup, and complete all necessary dental work.
Research the places you are considering visiting and begin to create an itinerary.
Look for discounts on plane and train tickets.
Begin any physical conditioning you may need for your trip.
Decide what camera to bring. Take some pictures and develop the film just to be sure.
Make a packing list and begin purchasing luggage, clothing and other essentials. Also start purchasing small gifts to give to people in your travels.
Pack your luggage and test the weight. Make necessary adjustments.
Double-check your packing list and make last-minute purchases.
Buy traveler's checks.
Give any necessary files and information to the person taking care of bills while you are away.
Provide copies of your projected itinerary, flight and contact information to family and friends. Also give someone a copy of your traveler's check numbers and a copy of your passport.
Arrange transportation to the airport.
