In any case these are the few things that I had to go
through in preparation for a long trip … a check list in a way
Money, ATM Withdrawal Worldwide
Without a doubt money was the first thing in mind. Do I
have enough to travel? How long can I last? But more importantly will I be able
to get the money out of the ATM machine half way across the world? The final
moment before departure it was more crucial that one could access his own
reserved ; … else …. a u-turn is bound to happen
Some might give advice on which bank to use for lower
fees and better exchange rate which is all good but remember to make sure it
works. So a short trip to the border and test that ATM card … pay that small
painful fee … at lease you know it’s working
Also just bringing 1 card is a big no-no … always bring
two from two different bank so if one fails the other has a chance. I usually
bring a combination of ATM card + DEBIT/ATM card. Also ensure that both bank
that are in use are able to transfer money from one to another using internet
banking or phone banking, this is in the case one card is lost/spoilt/eaten you
will still be able to access money though the other card by transfer …. Nothing
feels worse than knowing you have the money but no way to access it … a u-turn
is bound to happen halfway since half the money is inaccessible J
A third party – such as friends / parents / siblings can
further expend the money accessibility issue and a lot more below but I’ll be
sticking to self-sustain post for that is what I intend to do for this trip.
Bills – Phone Bills, Insurance,
Next up on the list is bills. How I wish I could travel
without the worry of paying bills but unfortunately it is not the case.
Whatever bill you have, phone, credit card, water, electric, insurance, etc try
to minimize it by discontinuing the service. If it’s not possible such as for
me (phone bills and insurance) then find a way to pay it online or auto
deduction method. I personally don’t like the idea of auto deduction which can
sometime be overcharge and then the troubles of calling up the bank from far
far away will come in.
These days almost everything can be online … if the
service is not available … find another that has it. Do remember to set up the
online system few months in advance so you can test run the online payment
system while you are still in the home country so troubleshooting can be done
before departure.
Some bills allow you to pay them online using credit
cards which can be handy. I do that for phone bills … check the bill, pay using
credit card and then use the internet banking to pay the credit card. Check
online banking bill payments availability as well for some will allow payment
though internet banking when they tie the system into the banking services. I
use this for the yearly life insurance payment
Mortgage – Loan
I am a big fan of selling everything and travel without
worries yet at a young age it might not be possible. So I settle for traveling
with loan and mortgage still in place. This time round I have one other item
which is the house mortgage.
I choose auto – deduction for these items as the amount
is pre-fixed hence I won’t have a sudden shocking deduction if it was bills.
Pretty simple this one … one just have to set aside enough money for the
traveling period for the auto-deduction. For example … student loan minimum
payment of $100 a month … set aside $1200 for a 1 year travel
Income tax
This one is a pain in the arse. Depending on where you
pay your taxes the rules will change drastically I guess. For those who pay
Singapore Taxes like me this is how I manage it. Singapore taxation is
accessible online through a tax portal which allows one to view check and
verify his tax assessment for the year. As most of the declaration is done
automatically by the employer one would just have to check how much he needs to
pay. I could either pay in full or in instalment with free interest.
I use the instalment method which is tied to
auto-deduction banking. Just have to set it up right and it will pay itself
slowly over the 12 months … and it will also auto adjust the taxes for next
year. Back-up plan if the deduction fail is to pay in full using online
banking. Just stock up some money in the bank I guess …
Banking
Banking … although most of the money issue is solved as
per above there is always a need to have access to your bank. Internet banking
seems to be the best way as one could use Wi-Fi to connect which is free. Phone
banking seems like a last resort as international call can be very costly
trying to get through those annoying automated machines … PRESS 01 for English
…
One of the hidden function of internet banking I have
found is that you can do request via secure email though the internet banking.
For example waiver of credit card subscription fees which usually the banks
charges you first and the aftershock is that you call in and ask for a waiver …
in this case look for the mailbox inside the internet banking and send a mail
to the bank requesting for a waiver … a reply will be given within 2 working
days though the same way and this way you can avoid international calls.
Alternative is of course the painful phone banking …. But
I too have alternative to that which is SKYPE. www.skype.com. Purchase
some pre amount of skype credits and use it to call the bank instead … as calls
to landlines are normally cheaper in skype it’s a good alternative to using an
international call …
Visa
Visa check …. No help here but just thought it’s worth
mentioning. One of the main points is to check for Visa requirements. Where you
go and whether a Visa is required. Luckily Malaysian passport requires very
minimal visa for traveling the world. My only obstacle would be Australia, USA
and India … but fortunately USA Visa was obtain on the previous RTW travels and
Australia visa can be obtained from a travel agency instantly. India will be my
one challenge in getting the VISA on the road …. Still always plan a re-route
for uncertain Visa obtainability and you’ll be fine J
TIP: Get the VISA from the travel agency in Malaysia for
RM30 instead of the AUD30 if you do it online.
Airplane ticket
I won’t pretend to be an expert in this as there are many
ways to do it from hardcore no flight all boats, bus and trains to only budget
airlines or even buying singles journey as you go. Important thou is that one
must either have a large enough reserve or a detour is bound to happen.
I’ll be flying with Oneworld this time instead of Star
Alliance. I’ll be using the ONEWORLD RTW ticket … thou it seams easy on the
internet getting a RTW ticket takes a bit of effort. Trust me on this … don’t take
it for granted and go talk to the nearest airline agency for that big ticket. They
don’t sell these kinda ticket much especially in Asia so chances are they have
no idea what they are doing and would probably overcharge you.
I’ll probably write about buying RTW tickets in a separate
post …. After completing the flight with OneWorld … BEST COMPARISON EVER J
Storage
No matter how much nomadic one gets … if you are going
around the world chances are you will always have a small amount of personal belonging
that would require storage. I call in favours with my parents … since its free …
still I thought its worth mentioning as it’s quite a key item
ALL SET …. Good Luck
Well I am all set for this next journey … once the key
stuff is out of the way the next one is the fun part … PACKING LIST
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