Pre Departure Checklist | Getting Your Affairs in Order
The idea behind this, is so that everything from your pre travel life is either closed down or that your can run it from wherever you are. Nothing worse than relying upon family members back home.
Setting up your finances
So you have worked your ass off, earned a shit load of cash and saved as much of it as you can. But it ain't no good if you can't access that money when you are out on the road.
Bank cards are sadly valid for a limited amount of time. My cards are always valid for 3 years.
Replacement cards in the event of having lost them, either from theft or your own carelessness or them having simply expired, will only be sent to your registered address.
You need a kind and trusty family member to get these sent out to you. DHL or the general mail service in 1st world countries. Japan, Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore for example.
Once in Malaysia I asked Pos Malaysia about any registered/secure service that they had and was told that you can not send things like passports or bank cards through Pos Malaysia. Period.
I've posted 10 postcards from Calcutta once. Only 2 ever arrived. Though as a mailman here in the UK, I do deliver items sent from India. Mostly they are tracked items.
But would you ever have anything important sent to such a country which relies on their national post service? Probably not.
So you just have to think about the fact that nearing 3 years of travel, you've gotta be somewhere convenient to pick up replacement cards.
Unless that is, you have no qualms about 'nipping home' during your 'oh I've been away for 10 years' trip. A trip home for me would mean the clock stops and you start from ZERO again.
So before you go, order new cards and find someone who is willing to send out new cards to you.
Set up multiple accounts. Have the bulk of your money in an account for which you don't have a bank card for.
Organise a standing order payment of say 400$ a month from your BIG account to your EVERYDAY account.
Makes sense.
Go paperless.
Sign up on line so that all statements get sent on line instead of through the post. If you are leaving your flat, set up a ReDirect with your postal service so that your mail will get sent to a nominated address.
Emergency Cash. Get money sent via Western Union or other.
You can have someone send you the money with them paying by cash. Assuming your phone/laptop hasn't been stolen, send money from your bank account either directly or via your bank card preferably a direct debit card.
Sending from your bank account costs £4.90 based on sending £100. Fees may apply when using credit cards.
The exchange rate may not always be so good.
For example, sending £100 to the Philippines, plus fee of £1.90 via WU would give receiver on the ground in Manila, 6349P but a friend confirmed that today, handing over £100 in cash, she would get 6518P, 200P more, less than 4$. Not that bad.
And today ordering £100s worth of Peso here in the UK would only give me 5985P. And having the Western Union option would get you out of a shit load of trouble.
Some banks with Ebanking, provide you with a card reader. Another thing you've gotta carry/worry about not losing. I just ordered a spare one online by saying I'd lost the first one. Was assured in the bank that this would NOT invalidate the first one. We shall see.
Have a system where you can inform your bank where you will be. With my regular bank, I go online and enter the new country plus dates. A second bank which I will use as the withdrawal fees are much less, does not as yet have a system set up. I will clarify that nearer to departure.
Setting up your finances
So you have worked your ass off, earned a shit load of cash and saved as much of it as you can. But it ain't no good if you can't access that money when you are out on the road.
Bank cards are sadly valid for a limited amount of time. My cards are always valid for 3 years.
Replacement cards in the event of having lost them, either from theft or your own carelessness or them having simply expired, will only be sent to your registered address.
You need a kind and trusty family member to get these sent out to you. DHL or the general mail service in 1st world countries. Japan, Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore for example.
Once in Malaysia I asked Pos Malaysia about any registered/secure service that they had and was told that you can not send things like passports or bank cards through Pos Malaysia. Period.
I've posted 10 postcards from Calcutta once. Only 2 ever arrived. Though as a mailman here in the UK, I do deliver items sent from India. Mostly they are tracked items.
But would you ever have anything important sent to such a country which relies on their national post service? Probably not.
So you just have to think about the fact that nearing 3 years of travel, you've gotta be somewhere convenient to pick up replacement cards.
Unless that is, you have no qualms about 'nipping home' during your 'oh I've been away for 10 years' trip. A trip home for me would mean the clock stops and you start from ZERO again.
So before you go, order new cards and find someone who is willing to send out new cards to you.
Set up multiple accounts. Have the bulk of your money in an account for which you don't have a bank card for.
Organise a standing order payment of say 400$ a month from your BIG account to your EVERYDAY account.
Makes sense.
Go paperless.
Sign up on line so that all statements get sent on line instead of through the post. If you are leaving your flat, set up a ReDirect with your postal service so that your mail will get sent to a nominated address.
Emergency Cash. Get money sent via Western Union or other.
You can have someone send you the money with them paying by cash. Assuming your phone/laptop hasn't been stolen, send money from your bank account either directly or via your bank card preferably a direct debit card.
Sending from your bank account costs £4.90 based on sending £100. Fees may apply when using credit cards.
The exchange rate may not always be so good.
For example, sending £100 to the Philippines, plus fee of £1.90 via WU would give receiver on the ground in Manila, 6349P but a friend confirmed that today, handing over £100 in cash, she would get 6518P, 200P more, less than 4$. Not that bad.
And today ordering £100s worth of Peso here in the UK would only give me 5985P. And having the Western Union option would get you out of a shit load of trouble.
Some banks with Ebanking, provide you with a card reader. Another thing you've gotta carry/worry about not losing. I just ordered a spare one online by saying I'd lost the first one. Was assured in the bank that this would NOT invalidate the first one. We shall see.
Have a system where you can inform your bank where you will be. With my regular bank, I go online and enter the new country plus dates. A second bank which I will use as the withdrawal fees are much less, does not as yet have a system set up. I will clarify that nearer to departure.
Check the withdrawal fees. You can always do better. British banks are famous for giving their customers un friendly terms.
Bank A |
£100 |
£200 |
£250 |
£300 |
Foreign trans fee 2.75% |
£2.75 |
£5.50 |
£6.875 |
N/A |
Withdrawal fee 2% min 2£/max£5 |
£2 |
£4 |
£5 |
N/A |
Total in fees |
£4.75 |
£9.50 |
£11.875 |
N/A |
Bank B |
£100 |
£200 |
£250 |
£300 |
Foreign trans fee 2.99% |
£2.99 |
5.98 |
£7.475 |
£8.97 |
Withdrawal fee £1.50 |
£1.50 |
£1.50 |
£1.50 |
£1.50 |
Total in fees |
£4.49 |
£7.48 |
8.975 |
£10.47 |
I've banked with Bank A forever. Bank B is a bit more customer friendly. You can withdraw up to £300 a day, their fees are less. £3.20 less on a £250 withdrawal AND no withdrawal fees in 33 European countries.
Organise some cash.
You do need cash. Niger, Iran, Sudan to name but a few, don't have ATMs which work with foreign issued cards. In Nepal I recall, famous for it's never ending power cuts, the internet would be down, so foreign cards would not function. In 2010, Mastercard was almost not accepted at ATMs across Damascus.
ATMs in some countries give out USD. Russia, Cambodia, Georgia for example. A good chance to stock up.
Organise some cash.
You do need cash. Niger, Iran, Sudan to name but a few, don't have ATMs which work with foreign issued cards. In Nepal I recall, famous for it's never ending power cuts, the internet would be down, so foreign cards would not function. In 2010, Mastercard was almost not accepted at ATMs across Damascus.
ATMs in some countries give out USD. Russia, Cambodia, Georgia for example. A good chance to stock up.
The Inland Revenue aka The Tax Man
I've quit my job, 3/4 of the way through the financial tax year which in the United Kingdom runs from April to April. When we work, we pay tax, weekly or monthly based on the idea that we will be working the full 12 months. So when I quit at the end of December, I will be eligible for a tax refund.
And as a taxpayer, I am also registered on the Electoral Roll. This also means that I can get called up at any time to attend JURY SERVICE.
So when I quit, I send a P85 to the Inland Revenue and this tells the tax man that I have left. It means they sort out my tax refund without having to wait until August at the earliest to receive it. It also means that I am registered as being NOT HERE.
I've quit my job, 3/4 of the way through the financial tax year which in the United Kingdom runs from April to April. When we work, we pay tax, weekly or monthly based on the idea that we will be working the full 12 months. So when I quit at the end of December, I will be eligible for a tax refund.
And as a taxpayer, I am also registered on the Electoral Roll. This also means that I can get called up at any time to attend JURY SERVICE.
So when I quit, I send a P85 to the Inland Revenue and this tells the tax man that I have left. It means they sort out my tax refund without having to wait until August at the earliest to receive it. It also means that I am registered as being NOT HERE.
Vaccinations
Some countries require you to have a YELLOW FEVER CERTIFICATE.
The yellow fever vaccination I had, 10 years ago cost me £10 Now it costs a staggering £58. Shit happens!
I am eligible for a few free vaccinations from my own doctor courtesy of the NHS. I recently had a free flu jab, courtesy of the Royal Mail.
Some countries require you to have a YELLOW FEVER CERTIFICATE.
The yellow fever vaccination I had, 10 years ago cost me £10 Now it costs a staggering £58. Shit happens!
I am eligible for a few free vaccinations from my own doctor courtesy of the NHS. I recently had a free flu jab, courtesy of the Royal Mail.
Set things up so you can deal with them remotely
This list could be endless depending on your lifestyle but for me simply means that I can control my finances; banking, tax refunds and upcoming pension funds from where ever I am. This just entails memorising a long list of log in details and passwords but for others you may be renting out your house, dealing with financial investments.
Make sure you've sorted it before you go.
This list could be endless depending on your lifestyle but for me simply means that I can control my finances; banking, tax refunds and upcoming pension funds from where ever I am. This just entails memorising a long list of log in details and passwords but for others you may be renting out your house, dealing with financial investments.
Make sure you've sorted it before you go.
