Tag: checklist

Checklist for Europe Travel

So about a month ago I embarked on traveling across Europe for a year. Here is the checklist I used to prep before my departure:

Checklist

  • Visit with family before leaving
  • Reach out to friends to see if anyone wants to meet up abroad
  • Complete taxes
  • Pay any outstanding bills (hospital, friends, etc.)
  • Cancel subscription based services that are not needed
  • Remove outdated data/information on laptop to clear up space, shift over to external harddrive
  • Buy/Test camera
  • Buy/Test backpack
  • Buy/Setup Eurorail pass 
  • Book initial flight oversees (Flight from Chicago → Dublin)
  • Book first 2 days at Hostel (to give some peace of mind when arriving)
  • Call all banks to ensure accounts are not flagged when traveling abroad
  • Ensure passport and license are up to date
  • Ensure vaccination status is up to date
    • Recs for EU Travel: COVID + booster, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, typhoid and rabies
    • Recs for Asia Travel: COVID + booster, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, typhoid, rabies, cholera, yellow fever, and Japanese encephalitis
  • Buy travel insurance – pay about $500 for 6 months through WorldNomads
  • Ensure several checking accounts are setup, favorites listed below:
    • Charles Schwab – no foreign fees, no monthly fees, all insured, reimbursed for all ATM fees  
    • B of A – major bank that works with all the other banks and can fight for the best deals 
    • HSBC – ATMs all around the world, cheaper rates than other banks if you are not using their ATMs 
    • Worth checking nerd wallet for sign up bonuses 
  • Ensure all Credit Cards are up to date:
    • Chase Sapphire Preferred Card 
    • Capital One Venture Rewards Card
    • Discover Card 
  • Update phone plan
    • Switch plan from T-Mobile to Mint Mobile (since I’m not texting / calling abroad, all I wanted was to keep my phone number – which you can do for $15/month indefinitely with Mint through their plan)
    • Buy Airalo Data plan – get 100 GB of data for 180 days throughout +38 countries in Europe (https://www.airalo.com/europe-esim)
  • Pack Clothes 
    • 14 boxers
    • 7 socks
    • 14 shirts
    • 1 pillow case
    • 2 tank tops
    • 1 pair of pants
    • 1 pair of khakis 
    • 2 pairs of shorts
    • 1 pair of swim trunks
    • 2 pairs of shoes (sperrys and sneakers)
    • 1 hoodie
    • 1 jacket
    • 1 beanie, 1 baseball hat
  • Pack Appliances / Other
    • Laptop, electric shaver, kindle, phone charger, portable charger, hard drive, drone, camera and all their respective cords
    • Lock
    • Papers (passport, IDs, etc.)
    • Usual toiletries (toothbruth, toothpaste, nail clippers, towel, chapstick, deodorant, ear drops, eye drops)
    • Sleep care (eye mask, ear plugs)
    • First aid kit (consists of 3 bandaids, ibuprofen, antibiotic cream)
  • Create general budgeting through Excel or Google Spreadsheet to calculate spending costs
    • Categories I included:
      • Up front costs, such as: Insurance, flights, Eurorail pass, etc
      • Average data/phone plan spend (per month)
      • Food (per diem)
      • Hostels / Hotels (per diem)
      • Activities / Entertainment (per week)
      • Average travel / transportation costs (per month)
      • Average subscription costs (Spotify)

sys.exit(“end of checklist”)

I understand that this list is personalized to what I needed, and as quite a unique individual (if I do say so myself), would not work for everyone. But I am still hoping that if you do end up traveling for an extended time, you can use this as a rough skeleton of some of the things to consider.