Written by Lisa. Published on Wednesday, 10th September 2014
Our gigantic to-do list of everything we needed to sort out before leaving the country!
It's only 3 weeks until we finally depart so I figured it was about the right time to share our travel checklist.
We started planning back in February or March which is about 6-7 months ago. As we thought of more and more things that needed to be done before leaving, our to-do lists evolved and morphed in monstrosities that we couldn't even read when we went back to them. I decided then that we needed to combine all of our lists into one central place that we could both update and add to as required and so our Google spreadsheet was born.
It has been our main point of reference for everything travel related and a true lifesaver these last few months but it's rather frightening to see how much still needs to be done with only a couple of weeks left in the country!!
So here it is, everything we have done/need to do to leave the country and set off travelling around the world:
Travel Gear / Packing
|
Task
|
Complete
|
Notes
|
|
Buy backpacks
|
Yes
|
See our article about
how we chose our backpacks
|
|
Buy clothes
|
Yes
|
See
our packing list for more information
|
|
Buy toiletries
|
Yes
|
See
our packing list for more information
|
|
Buy other travel equipment
|
Yes
|
See
our packing list for more information
|
|
Buy packing accessories
|
Yes
|
See
our packing list for more information
|
|
Decide on a laptop
|
Yes
|
|
|
Decide on sim cards
|
Yes
|
Changed to 'Three' and will get local sims in places where we can't roam with 'Three'
|
|
Buy camera
|
Yes
|
See our article on how we picked our camera for more information <link>
|
|
Buy electronic accessories
|
Yes
|
See
our packing list for more information
|
|
Buy kindle
|
Yes
|
See
our packing list for more information
|
|
Buy books for kindle
|
Yes
|
|
Travel Bookings
|
Task
|
Complete
|
Notes
|
|
Flights to New Zealand
|
Yes
|
Included some complimentary stop offs. Check out
our itinerary for more information.
|
|
Organise getting to the airport
|
No
|
|
|
First 2 nights accommodation in Auckland
|
Yes
|
|
|
New Zealand Campervan
|
Yes
|
Read our article about
how we chose our campervan for more information
|
|
Book ferry between NZ islands
|
No
|
|
|
Accommodation in Christchurch
|
No
|
We will book this as we travel
|
|
Accommodation in Sydney
|
No
|
We will book this as we travel
|
|
Australia Campervan
|
Yes
|
Read our article about
how we chose our campervan for more information
|
|
Accommodation in Cairns
|
No
|
We will book this as we travel
|
|
Flights from Cairns to Melbourne
|
Yes
|
|
|
Accommodation in Melbourne
|
No
|
We will book this as we travel
|
|
Accommodation in Singapore
|
No
|
We will book this as we travel
|
|
Flights around South-East Asia
|
No
|
We will book this as we travel as we haven't decided our route yet
|
|
Accommodation in South-East Asia
|
No
|
As above
|
|
Activities in each country
|
No
|
We haven't booked anything in advance; we will book this as we travel
|
Travel Documents
|
Task
|
Complete
|
Notes
|
|
Check if need New Zealand Visa
|
Yes
|
Not required for us
|
|
Check if need Australian Visa
|
Yes
|
E-visa required
|
|
Check if need Indonesian Visa
|
No
|
We will get it on arrival
|
|
Check if need Singapore Visa
|
Yes
|
Not required for us
|
|
Check if need Malaysian Visa
|
Yes
|
Not required for us
|
|
Get passport photos
|
No
|
|
|
Sort travel insurance
|
Yes
|
We decided to use
Insure and Go
|
|
Get electrical item cover
|
Yes
|
Included in travel insurance
|
|
Get International Driving Permits
|
Yes
|
Can get these from the post office
|
|
Find Yellow fever certificates
|
Yes
|
|
|
Create folder of important documents online
|
Yes
|
We are using dropbox and google drive
|
|
Print important documents
|
No
|
|
Finances
|
Task
|
Complete
|
Notes
|
|
Decide on best credit card
|
Yes
|
We decided to use the Halifax Clarity credit card |
|
Cancel bills and direct debits
|
Partially
|
|
|
Get foreign currency
|
Partially
|
|
|
Notify bank we will be travelling
|
Yes
|
|
Medical
Work Related
|
Task
|
Complete
|
Notes
|
|
Compile everything required for specialty applications for Lisa
|
Yes
|
|
|
Consider signing up for locums before leaving
|
Yes
|
|
|
Let locum agency know about travelling
|
Yes
|
|
|
Cancel BMA subscription
|
Yes
|
|
|
Renew GMC registration
|
Yes
|
|
|
Contact GMC about revalidation
|
Yes
|
|
|
Relinquish license to practice
|
Yes
|
Check out our article about
taking a gap year after the foundation programme for more information
|
|
Renew medical indemnity insurance
|
Yes
|
Reduced cover for the year
|
|
Alistair's tax return
|
Yes
|
|
Sorting Our Stuff
|
Task
|
Complete
|
Notes
|
Storage
|
Yes
|
|
|
Give notice to landlord
|
Yes
|
|
|
Inquire about moving out procedure from estate agent
|
Yes
|
|
|
Sell car / put it off road
|
Partial
|
|
|
Decide what to take back to Northern Ireland
|
Partial
|
|
|
Pack everything else
|
Partial
|
|
|
Dispose or sell big furniture
|
Yes
|
|
|
Change our address on everything
|
Partial
|
|
|
Book ferry to Northern Ireland
|
Yes
|
|
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