Prepping and Planning for Long Term Travel

Long term travel and solo travel is something I have talked about and wanted to do for well over five years and it is now, finally, a reality. As the days leading up to my departure slowly tick by, my excitement continues to grow. However, getting to this point before departure has been busy and at some points chaotic.

This spring, the closer I got to the end of my senior year of college, the more certain I was that I wanted to go through with my plan to travel for an indefinite amount of time. It wasn’t until the beginning of June when I finally pulled the trigger and said to myself “if I’m going to do this, why keep delaying the inevitable of booking the ticket?” After a discussion with my parents, I was able to fully say to myself “Yes! I am committing and this is finally a reality!” and then I booked the flight. Originally, I bought a ticket to Milan, Italy departing on Monday August 22nd, however, I continued to look at flights during the airline's 24 hour grace period in hopes of finding a better deal or flight. In doing so I found a better flight that left a week earlier (Monday August 15th) that flew into Rome, Italy. This left me with 67 days to prepare for my new life.

After booking my flight to Rome, my next step was to create a to-do list and a rough idea of a packing list. My “to-do before leaving list” included finding travel insurance, booking hostels for Italy, figuring out what my plan for my phone is going to be, creating this blog and a travel email, figuring out my credit cards and banking, packing my apartment, cleaning my apartment, and moving, all while still working. Overall, it has been an incredibly busy two months that has gone by in the blink of an eye.

At the very end of July, with about 25 days to go and while still living in Iowa, the need to look further into travel vaccinations was brought to my attention. Earlier in my planning I had briefly looked into travel vaccinations and did not think I was going to need any. However, after my mom double checked, I found out that I did in fact need vaccinations and I was cutting it close. With a good dose of stress, I was able to find a travel clinic in the Twin Cities, thankfully covered by insurance, and was able to get an appointment for August 1st. Since I am planning on spending time in Southeast Asia, I ended up needing two different vaccines: a Typhoid shot and two Japanese Encephalitis shots, as well as Malaria medication.

The final two weeks leading up to my trip have been a combination of busyness prepping and relaxing at home with my family. I have done a lot of last-minute purchasing of items, had multiple appointments, and completed numerous other miscellaneous tasks. As the final days before I leave tick by, I am even more excited and ready to go. I cannot wait for this adventure of a lifetime and all the experiences I will have!

“The best education you will ever get is traveling. Nothing teaches you more than exploring the world and accumulating experiences.”

– Mark Patterson