10 Things To Do Seven Days Before Taking An Around the World Trip With Your Family

One: Change mailing address
If you are traveling long-term and have either sold your home or moving out of a rental property, you need to find a forwarding address for all your mail.

Two: Cancel phone, Internet, utilities and other services
Time to cancel everything especially if you are traveling for more than a year. Hopefully you don’t have a contract with your phone company.

Three: Moving out
Arrange for movers or rent a truck and get ready to move all your belongings to a storage or to friends and family’s home. I think it is better to move away at least two days before departure leaving you room to relax and enjoy your last few days with friends and family.

Four: Buy VPN
If you are traveling and will be using the Internet for everything, that is if you are working online, banking, purchasing and watching movies online you need VPN when you travel. Travel and Leisure Magazine December 2012 issue had a great reminder for travelers. The question was “Is it safe to use Wi-Fi hot spots with a smartphone while traveling abroad?” The answer was “there are risks!”

So you need VPN. Not all VPNs are created equal. I can't recommend any at the moment. Will do so after using the current VPN while traveling.

Five: Skype phone
We purchased a Skype phone number and Skype unlimited world plan for our travel. Since we are working on the road, a semi-permanent phone is required for calling our mentors, our clients and customer service.

Six: Confirm reservations
Call the airline and confirm your seats and hopefully get better seats. I use SeatGuru to help me look at the seat maps. Unfortunately, LAN Airlines does not have those seats I wanted. Row 12 to 21 on economy can only be reserved if you are handicapped, traveling with young children and at the airport.

Seven: Print out important reservation confirmation
Print out hotels, tours or airline reservations. In our case, we are staying in apartments through AirBnB.

Eight: Get some local currency
For convenience we prefer to get some local currency through our local bank. That will make our arrival easier for purchasing bottled water, snacks or for local transportation to the apartment.

Nine: Reserve a room to stay before your departure
If you are staying with family or need a room at a hotel in your hometown, make sure you have that reserved. Saddlebrook Resort is providing complimentary 2-room suite for our family before we leave town. Thanks Saddlebrook!

Ten: All packed, have fun and relax
Yes, easier said than done. We are enthusiastic about our new experience, environment and activities. Hopefully you are all packed and ready to go. Arrange for your transportation to the airport and Bon Voyage.