There is a particular kind of panic that arrives around 4am on the morning of a long-haul flight. It is the moment you remember the debit card you never told your bank about, the repeat prescription sitting in a pharmacy two hundred miles away, or the two-factor code that goes to a phone number you are about to switch off. None of it is dramatic. All of it is avoidable.
Long-term travel is mostly admin done in the fortnight before you leave. Get it right and your first month abroad feels calm; get it wrong and you spend your first week in a queue. Below is the checklist to work through slowly. Print it, or copy it into a notes app you can tick off.
Money: sort this first, because it is the hardest thing to fix abroad
Banks have improved, but they still get twitchy when a card that usually buys coffee in Leeds suddenly pays for a bus ticket in Chiang Mai. Tell them before you go, even if your plans are vague.
- Add a travel notice in each banking app. If your plans might shift, choose the longest window available rather than a precise itinerary.
- Carry two cards on different networks, from different banks if you can. One lives in your wallet; the other stays in your bag.
- Check expiry dates. A card expiring two months into your trip is a problem you cannot solve from a beach.
- Know the fees. Look up overseas transaction charges, plus the ATM fees charged by your bank and by the machine itself.
- Have a way to be paid. If you are working as you travel, decide how money reaches you and test a transfer before you leave, not on a deadline.
- Save the emergency numbers for lost or stolen cards somewhere you can reach offline.
If you are working abroad or unsure where you should be paying tax, speak to a qualified accountant. Rules differ by country and by length of stay, and guessing is expensive.
Prescriptions, health and insurance
Health admin is the part people leave until the last week, and it is the part with the longest lead times.
- Ask your GP or pharmacist for enough medication to cover your trip, plus a buffer. Explain that you are travelling long-term; a longer supply or a private prescription is sometimes possible.
- Keep medicines in their original packaging, with a copy of the prescription or a letter from your prescriber. Some drugs that are ordinary at home are controlled elsewhere — check the rules for every country you are visiting, including those you only transit.
- Ask for a written summary of your medical history, allergies and current prescriptions. It helps any doctor you see, and it is useful if you need a replacement supply.
- Book vaccinations and boosters well in advance, and keep the record with your other documents.
- Use the weeks before you fly for appointments that are cheaper and easier at home: dentist, optician, and the check-ups you have been putting off.
- Buy travel insurance that matches your trip. Long trips, one-way tickets and pre-existing conditions are the three things that catch people out, and many policies define a "trip" as a set number of days.
For anything medical, take advice from a doctor, pharmacist or travel clinic rather than a blog, including this one.
Documents: paper copies and pixels
The goal is simple: if your bag disappears in a taxi, you can still prove who you are and where you are going.
- Check your passport's expiry date and blank pages against the entry rules for every destination and transit country.
- Apply for visas early, and print the approvals rather than relying on a confirmation email.
- Scan your passport, visa, insurance policy, prescriptions, driving licence and vaccination record.
- Store the scans in two places: a cloud folder you can reach from any device, and an offline copy on your phone. A small USB stick in your bag is a cheap third option.
- Email the set to yourself, and leave a copy with someone you trust at home.
- Carry one paper copy of your passport photo page and your insurer's emergency number, kept separately from the originals.
- Get an International Driving Permit if you plan to drive, and check whether your licence is accepted where you are going.
Test your VPN, your cards and your two-factor codes before you leave home. A failure at your kitchen table is an inconvenience. The same failure at a border is a problem.
Your digital life: VPN, backups and phone numbers
Set up a VPN before you fly
Install it at home, on every device you are taking, and log in while you still have your usual connection. A VPN is useful on public Wi-Fi, for reaching your own bank or a streaming service you already pay for, and for keeping your browsing private on shared networks. Two cautions: some services block VPN traffic, and some countries restrict their use. Check the rules for where you are going before you rely on one.
Fix your two-factor authentication
This is the most common way nomads lock themselves out of their own lives. If your bank or email sends codes by text to a number you are about to cancel, you are one SIM swap away from a very bad week. Move to an authenticator app or a hardware key where the service allows it, and keep your home number alive or ported if you still need it for verification.
Back up, then test it
Turn on automatic photo and document backups, then confirm a file actually arrives. Download offline maps for your first city, save boarding passes and tickets offline, and back up your laptop before it goes in a bag.
Home admin: the boring bits that bite
- Post. Set up a redirect, or ask someone reliable to open, photograph and send on anything that looks official.
- Bills and subscriptions. Cancel what you do not need, switch the rest to paperless, and leave a buffer on direct debits so a late payment does not become a problem.
- Insurance. Tell your home insurer the property will be empty. Many policies limit cover after a set period of unoccupancy, and a leak found three months later is a grim conversation.
- Keys. Leave a set with someone who can deal with a burst pipe, a broken window or a delivery.
- Official post. Update your contact address with the council, your bank and anywhere else that matters.
Tenancy rules, tax residency and benefits all vary. If you are unsure how your plans affect them, ask a qualified professional before you leave rather than after.
The last 48 hours, in order
- Check in online and save your boarding passes offline.
- Weigh your bags, and check the airline's rules on power banks and lithium batteries — they belong in hand luggage.
- Charge everything: phone, laptop, power bank, headphones, e-reader.
- Put medication and anything you cannot replace in your hand luggage, not the hold.
- Empty the fridge, take out the bins, and water the plants or hand them to a neighbour.
- Set an out-of-office, back up your laptop, and log out of accounts on any shared computer.
- Screenshot your first night's address, ideally in the local language, and save your host's phone number.
Keep it, reuse it, adjust it
Save this list somewhere you will find it again. Mine lives in a notes app with a duplicate in the cloud, and it grows a line or two every trip — a reminder to cancel a gym membership, a note
Photo: AirTeo / Air Travel
