Checklist for extended tour
 

Imagine leaving on an extended tour of 12+ months. What sorts of things might belong on a checklist to take care of in advance? Below is my quick summary. Not everything would be necessary for each trip, and some items could be done earlier or later than listed here but trying to get a rough list:

6-12 months in advance:
- Determine the rough parameters of the trip: where are you going, what is the cost/budget, how long will you be gone. Include potential currently effects into the budget
- Consider language training for extended stay

3-6 months in advance:
- Pick a departure date
- Checkup medical including necessary immunizations
- Check passport including expiration dates (6+ months past last trip date), necessary visas
- Figure out what doing with living e.g. placing in storage, renting out, selling
- Work through rough itinerary to avoid snafus e.g. traveling in completely wrong seasons, missing visas
- During previous tax cycle, assess and plan changes for the trip, e.g. tax bracket changes might affect timings on some items
- Determine insurance needs, e.g. travel insurance, evacuation provisions, need to continue existing insurance, etc.

2-3 months in advance:
- Buy plane tickets
- Finish medical and dental and optical checkups
- Make sure legal documents, wills, POAs up to date
- Start wrapping up contracts, e.g. memberships

1-2 months in advance:
- Develop trip gear checklist, get missing items.
- Trial packing, work through bike handling/fit issues with expected gear
- Check cell plans for destination, get maps.

0.5 months to 1 month in advance:
- Inform employer
- Redirect mail
- Pack belongings
- Get travel insurance
- Scan documents
- Get necessary medicines, after checking legality and requirements for traveling with them
- Notify financial institutions of departure. Make arrangements on how bills are paid. Make sure debit, credit, ATM cards are in place.

1-2 weeks in advance:
- Begin packing
- Say farewells

0-2 weeks in advance:
- Pack
- Start travels

What am I missing? What else would you add? As additional comments are added, I'll edit this above. I started with few sources from internet including The Ultimate Checklist for Planning Long-Term Travel | WORLD OF WANDERLUST and then added items.

At this point three weeks to departure on my Prudhoe Bay to Ushuaia trip. Mostly non-bike trip items to handle including moving my belongings to storage, finishing work and clearing out my residence to it can be rented while I am gone.

Edits:
Based on response #2 below - added trial packing and fit, cell plans, notification of financial institutions.
Based on response #7 below - added determine insurance needs
Based on response #10 below - added update legal documents
Based on response #13 below - added consider language training, medicines, currency effects

For a big trip, probably the first thing I do is check out the guidebook options and buy a good map.

For an extended trip, I would put packing earlier. I leave in a bit over two weeks for a trip but I am using a bike I have not toured on before so yesterday I was test riding that bike with the racks I will be using with most of the gear already loaded in panniers to see how it handles. I have to worry about weight for flying, so that is also a reason to pack early. Today I expect to put more weight on the bike to simulate the additional weight of fluids and food. And if I have time today I plan to try it on some hills, both up and down. If you have a bit of hardware that is not quite what you need, you want to learn that early and not be rushed to decide what to buy on really short notice. Several years ago I received my rear rack in the mail the day before I left on a trip. I could have used the heavier and less stiff rack that I had toured with before, so if the mail was late it would not have been a disaster. But I still do not want to cut things that close again.

Maybe add check on cell phone plans where you are going? If you want any maps on your smartphone, add downloading those to your schedule. I like to have any weather forecast, weather radar, lodging, and transportation websites identified long before I leave so I can have those on a tablet or phone. I might also want to save some other documents on my phone for viewing during the trip.

Financials to include credit cards, debit cards, ATM cards, arrange for how payments will be made, notify financial institutions, etc. And backup plans for when something goes wrong. I know someone that had to sit in eastern Europe for several days while waiting for his new credit cards to arrive before he could leave and continue his trip.

I get most of the stuff in that list done way earlier, at least 3-4 months earlier.

Packing usually isn't much of an issue since a lot of my touring gear also serves as my camping/emergency/earthquake/misc. natural disaster kit, so it's pretty much always good to go. Just gotta transfer from my backpack to panniers and head out.

If I run a new bike (almost never, but I got a new bike this year) I'll load it much heavier than what it'd be on tour and give it a good shakedown within a week or so after I get it. Any problems that show up get taken care of immediately. This time around I just had to get a wheel set that's a little more heavy duty than what came with my road bike.

I also make a pretty detailed itinerary printout, with target times, locations, possible routes etc. and leave a copy with someone in the off chance that something really stupid happens.

You did not say any thing about socks, underwear, shoes, tent, stove, etc, etc, Where will you change out your cold/warm weather stuff? So your "checklist" is missing the important stuff that you'll use every day.

This isn't quite that type of checklist. That is all covered under the "develop gear checklist" and "packing" areas and also discussed more frequently in this forum. However, agree with you on a meta-issue that you mention. On a trip of 12+ months one may well encounter differences in seasons or climate and figuring out where/how you adjust is important. In addition, while a lot of things you bring aren't that different between a one month trip or a one year trip, one will need to anticipate additional wear or breakage of things.

I'll also note that folks seem to differ on how much they pack and determine packing lists in advance. I don't own a car so I'm pretty much on the bike every day. I also take shorter weekend or short trips often enough that I've developed a pretty good set of checklists and will often wait until Thursday to pack for a week long trip that departs over the weekend. However, for a 12+ month trip, I'm still doing a little more advance planning for my gear, particularly if the start of the trip is in a remote region.

Pepper / Bear spray ?

I see you included travel insurance. Will it include an emergency evacuation if needed ? A friend of mine need to be flown out of Canada back to Anchorage after she was injured badly during a fall off a motorcycle. It was very expensive, the insurance however is quite cheap I've been told .

This is a collection of threads which I started as Rowan and I were thinking about our 8-month RTW tour back in 2012 ... maybe something in there might spark an "Oh yes, I forgot about that" moment. :)


http://www.bikeforums.net/touring/16...g-country.html

http://www.bikeforums.net/touring/79...nded-tour.html

http://www.bikeforums.net/touring/71...nded-trip.html

http://www.bikeforums.net/touring/82...tion-tour.html

http://www.bikeforums.net/touring/81...eful-info.html

I did up a spreadsheet including things like the usual weather for that time of year, what the currency for the countries in question is called and how it compared to the Australian dollar at the point in time I did the spreadsheet (knowing it could change, but at least it gave me an idea of what the exchange rate could be like), the vaccinations and visas required, and several other things I can't remember off the top of my head. :)

What about in case of a very nasty event while on tour? Do you have an executable will? Have beneficiaries been declared or updated on any assets such as an IRA or 401K? You really do seem to have thought this out quite well.

Sounds like you know a lot about your packing list. I'm still working on my backpacking list. it never ends, but backpacking is a bit more wt. sensitive. Any chance you'ld share your packing list?
Do you have a homebase person to resupply stuff like bicycle parts, a flattened air mattress, seasonal changes etc.? Good health ins. Anything about visas?

mev is a very experienced cycletourist. :)

Maybe a bit of research on local customs and a few words in the local language for please, thank you, and ... for the different countries to be visited.

Check currency exchange rates and costs and incorporate into trip budget (eg, while not applicable in this case, the Euro and sterling and even the US dollar are worth lots more than the Aussie dollar because of the latter's slide in value in the past 12 months. It's become a moving target...

Purchase necessary pharmaceuticals, medicines, after checking legality of taking them into other countries.

Establish potential "escape" plans if things don't work out too well.

Will?

Added a few more edits based on comments above. Also a few comments.

Insurance is probably a whole string in itself - though it is also going to differ by country. Considerations I've looked at include (a) taking care of things while on the trip, including potential evacuation coverage in case of severe event (b) requirements to maintain insurance within USA (c) what mix of providers and reputations.

Many packing lists out there as well as discussions on them. Here is mine for my upcoming trip: Equipment - A bicycle ride across the Americas Fortunately, I also anticipate on this extended trip I can send things away and get new ones if necessary. Probably the biggest thing I'm doing differently here is expect that the Dalton Highway at start is likely to be my coldest (i.e. warm clothes), most remote (i.e. extra food, not much power to charge electronics) as well as first place to start. So I'll start with necessities there and send a general delivery package to Fairbanks for things I won't need right at the start.

Something else I've done, but not sure fits exactly in the checklist is read whatever journals I can to learn from others experiences in similar places. It gets me excited (and sometimes worried :)) on the trip, but also finds some good nuggets of information as well.

I travel quite frequently and extensively, spending probably more than one third of the time away from home, sometime for a few days, sometime for several months. Circumstances vary, so there are few rules. But I came to believe that if you can access money and get in touch with people (family, friends, office) things will work out. If you can't get money or get in touch, then you are vulnerable.

1. I travel with credit cards from both leading issuers (Visa and MasterCard). Being Canadian I also have two debit cards. I never carry all the cards in the same wallet. Usually two on me, two in my luggage. Remember to inform your issuers about your travel plans because otherwise your transactions are likely to be denied.

2. I always investigate how I can access data services with my phone. Extensive travel in different countries typically requires an unlocked phone. I read that American carriers offer great roaming packages. Make sure that such plans include data and are valid in the countries you are likely to visit. I personally swap SIM cards (If you like complicated things, you can use a DID to point inbound calls to whatever local number you happen to have. Works in theory, and sometimes in practice, always to great effect when you tell the caller who has dialed a number apparently listed in NYC that the weather is great in Mendoza today). I also travel with two mobile devices (phone + tablet) in case one is lost/damaged/stolen. I also sometime travel with a SPOT beacon, which can transmit pre planned custom or emergency messages from almost anywhere. Overkill in most cases, but much appreciated if you travel off the beaten path.

3. Some prefer to ask for directions - it doesn't work for me. I usually have offline maps. Used to be Copilot, later augmented by gMaps. Now I am partial to Locus+OSM which provide excellent worldwide coverage and more than decent routing.

4. You may want to read travel advisories. You may or may not go through sensitive areas. Canadians may register their travel plans, which, I presume, is useful if disaster strikes.

5. Being an Android user, I download language packs so I can use Translate offline. It can be useful. It also guarantees moments of irrepressible laughter.

6. For an extended bike trip I'd try to plan ahead drop points (friendly Airbnb host, hotel, poste restante) where first world supplies could be sent. I'd also do my best to make sure that they'll never be used, by carefully choosing tech equipment, putting reliability ahead of fashion/sophistication.

7. Depending on your circumstances, you may have to consider your fiscal status, and other consequences of being away for such a long time. (In Canada, health insurance doesn't extend to more than six months per year out of thé country)

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I suppose that one can spend more time planning than traveling. So to summarize - I'd say that access to money and communications is critical. Plan accordingly with robust and redundant solutions. You'll figure your way with the rest.

I'm curious about the .5 month window for informing employer. I assume this is because you would quit the job and 2 weeks notice is customary. Perhaps for some though a much longer window might be required to arrange a leave of absence/sabbatical. I know with my union I am allowed one extended LOA every 5 years or so and still have my position available upon return.

As it is I am doing a one month tour this fall (smaller than the example I know) and one of the first things I did, after determining I could do what I wanted in the allotted time, was to approach my employer to ensure I could take all my vacation time in one shot (so they could arrange adequate coverage). That was probably the one big hurdle to overcome before I shifted from maybe to actually going.

Visas ASAP, especially if you are going through multiple countries that require them. I've had to acquire a few for my non-biking travels, at anywhere from a week to a month or more, it can never hurt to start as early as possible. Also gives you an opportunity to replan if for some reason you don't get one, or it is not what you want (i.e., single entry instead of multi entry) or as long as you wanted.

Also, I gave myself a month for fit/refinement of the bike before my first tour. I could have easily used triple that, by the time you start looking at things you don't like, ordering replacements, replacing parts, etc. I was adding and fiddling even throughout the tour.

I think this one is going to vary a lot by company as well as your relationships with your bosses. Despite what I put there, on a previous long trip where I took a LOA, I asked my employer 18 months in advance (or more precisely indicated I was going on the trip and asked if I could get a LOA to return). I had a good relation with my bosses and that made sense.

On my upcoming trip, the period is longer than allowed for LOA and makes sense on both my part and the employers part to quit. However, don't want to burn any bridges since one of the choices on return might be to solicit at the former place of employment where we both know each other. In this case, I actually used a progression:
- Several years out, indicated that my life goals included taking an extended break for this trip. Time frames including years were vague.
- Within a year out, we discussed "succession planning". Again nothing definite, other than making sure I'm growing individuals who might be able to take over particular functions, as well as setting up communications plans so information generally know.
- Six weeks out a more precise timeline was set. Left it to manager on when it made sense to inform other team members (in most cases, only when transition plans and successors were lined up, since the extra uncertainty would not help)
- Two weeks out was the explicit formal notification
So in both a 12-month LOA case and an 18-month termination case, I ended up discussing more in advance. There is some danger there (as things are known relationships change) and it will vary a lot on the relationships with direct managers and employer. In my case there is a fair amount of mutual respect/trust and we used a longer timeframe that also makes for a smoother transition.