Congratulations!! You have made the decision to travel! We completely understand if you are a little overwhelmed and not so sure where to start. Trust us, we have been there and have learned a lot about what works and what did not.  We want to help make this process a little easier for you by sharing how we planned for our adventure! 

​

6-12 Months Prior

     The most important decisions and tasks that need to be completed at least six months prior to departure are: where to travel (obvious first one), figuring out your finances, what visas/documentation are needed, telling your family and employer, and lastly what to do with all of your stuff (house/apt, belongings, vehicles, etc).

     We researched a few different countries including New Zealand, Switzerland, Iceland, and Ireland.  We ultimately decided on New Zealand because it is very backpacker friendly; meaning there are campgrounds and hostels all over, public transit is easily accessible, second-hand stores are everywhere to buy cheap supplies (because we couldn't exactly bring all of are belongings with us), and jobs for backpackers can be found all over the country.

     Well, enough of the boring details of why we picked New Zealand. The real reason is because it is packed full of beautiful scenery of mountains, waterfalls, volcanoes, and glaciers just to name a few. It has amazing hiking trails for us to enjoy, and it is filled with high adrenaline sports such as bungee jumping, white water rafting, and sky diving. New Zealand is the adventure capital of the world for a reason.  The important thing is to truly figure out how you want to travel, how long you want to travel, and what you want to do. Then do some research to find which destination will best meet these goals. We love camping and the outdoors, so New Zealand was the best fit for us and with some research you can find the best fit for you too! Our travel guide will be geared towards traveling New Zealand, but the concepts can apply to any destination. 

​

​

Financial "Fun"

​

     Once you have decided on a location and how long you want to travel it is important to make sure your finances are in order.  The most important thing is to determine if you are financially able to take a trip like this. It is best to not have any debt and to also have a cushion of savings to be able to fall back on.  If you have debt, it will be difficult to continue making these payments when you are traveling and likely no longer have a steady income.  If you have a loan of any kind we recommend working to pay this off prior to departure. 

     We highly recommend making a list of all of the bills you currently pay and then trying to eliminate as many of them as possible.  Often, you can pay for things such as health or car insurance annually or bi-annually. Many subscription such as Netflix, cable, cell phone, etc can be completely eliminated while traveling. Once you have eliminated what you can, make sure you have a schedule and plan of how you will pay the ones that remain. Fortunately, many things can be paid online which can simplify the process, but it is still very easy to loose track of time and forget about them.

     It is important not to expect to make money when you travel, so ensure that you have the finances to pay all of your bills during your travels.  Our biggest recommendation is plan ahead so you don't have to be spending a lot of time during your travels worrying about and paying bills from back home.

​

Documentation  & Visas for New Zealand

 

Passport: When traveling overseas you will need a passport from your resident country. Make sure you allow enough time to receive your passport before booking your trip. The next required document is a visa.

 

Visas: There are three main types of visas for New Zealand.

 

The Working Holiday Visa:This visa always you to stay in New Zealand for up to 1 Year. You are able to work and study in New Zealand for short periods of time. You can only apply for it if between the ages of 18-30. This visa is geared for a person who whats to travel the country, but also allows them to be able to fund the experience with short term work.

 

Working Visa: If you are looking to settle in New Zealand or just want to work overseas temporarily this would be the visa for you. It is more difficult to achieve, because they tend to only give this visa to a person who has the skills currently in demand.  One plus is there is no age limit.   

 

Residence Visas: This visa allows you to live and work in New Zealand, with all the benefits that a Kiwi has. There are two ways to apply for this visa: through a residence to work visa or through skilled migration.

 

Just Want to Visit: You are able to visit New Zealand on just a passport, but are only allowed to stay for 2 months at a time. If you decide to stay longer you can apply for a visa while in New Zealand.

​

Other Visas and Information: These three visas are the most common but there are others. For more information on these and other visas visit www.newzealandnow.govt.nz 

​

​

The  "Talk" (with family)

​

     So you have decided where to travel, figured out your finances, and found the right visa for your plan... Now comes the fun part, telling your beloved family your plans!  It is very fun to finally share your plans with family and friends, but it can also be scary and overwhelming.  We were not sure how our family would take the news so were nervous to tell them. (They took it great and have been more than supportive this entire time)  We come from a very small, close knit community and making a move like this is not very common. Our best advice to you is not to wait too long and be prepared for lots of questions.  It is very important that family and friends here the news from you and not from the gossip that will inevitably surround the news. Just take a deep breath, tell them your plans, and let them share in the rest of the excitement with you :) 

​

​

The  "Talk" (with the boss)

​

     Telling your employer can definitely be another intense situation but do your best to keep it a positive one. This will be different for every one depending what kind of work you do and who you work for. It may be possible for you to take a leave of absence, or to continue to work remotely.  I work as a nurse and did have to resign, because it was not possible for my employer to hold my full time position for as long as we wanted to travel and we wanted to keep our return open-ended.  If you can commit to a timeline it may be possible for your employer to hold your position, obviously this is something you have to communicate with them. No matter what situation you find yourself, I recommend giving a lot of notice and being honest with them about your plans. Keep things positive and give them ample time to prepare for your departure. My employer was completely understanding and supportive of us going on this journey and my goal through all of it was to be open, honest, and keep it a positive transition with hopes that their door may be open for me again in the future.

​

What about all your stuff?

    One of the largest hurdles to wanting to travel can easily be your "stuff".  One important decision you will have to make is how long you wish to travel. This will largely impact what to do with those lovely belongings. If you are only going to go for a few months, likely you can just lock up and go and ask someone to keep an eye on things. However, if you plan to travel longer this may become more of a challenge. 

​

House/Apartment:

​

If you own a house you could look into renting it out and having a good friend or family watch over it for you.  If you have a housekeeper in mind renting your house/apartment out as an AirBnb or VRBO could be an excellent option as well! Dan and I decided to sell our house because we were looking to move anyway and it gave us more freedom to travel longer. If you are renting an apartment, hopefully it is possible to work around your lease agreement.

​

Everything in the House/Apartment:

​

Sell/Donate:  Dan and I took this opportunity to really downsize our "stuff" and keep only what we will use in the future. We both have been interested in truly simplifying and reducing our things and gaining more  through experiences so it was a wonderful way to make this a reality in our life! We had a large garage sale and sold many items on facebook marketplace. We also donated lots of our used goods too! 

​

Storage: Obviously you will hold on to some treasured items and will need a place to keep them.  There are many ways to go about putting your stuff into storage. If you have lots of helpful family and friends they may be willing to store things for you (free!). You could also buy a storage unit (not so free but climate controlled and secure). Dan and I discovered a way to combine both of these options. We bought a used shipping container and our very helpful family were willing to let us keep it at their place (not totally free, but a wonderful option for us). Storage is all about finding the best option for you and will depend on the value and volume of your belongings.

​

Rental:If you are renting out your house you could keep most of your belongings in your house and include a damage deposit fee to cover if anything is broken. This way you still have things to come back too and don't have to pay to store them! Obviously, you still want to protect grandma's china and may need to find a home for those extra special or valuable belongings :) 

​

Vehicles:

​

Sell: If you are not emotionally attached to your vehicle the first option would be to sell it! This is a nice way to get some extra cash before your trip and not have worries when you are across the pond! 

​

Car Keeper: We however, are emotionally attached to our vehicles (my lovely jeep is named Rocky) and decided to ask our wonderful family one more favor! They are borrowing our vehicles for now and driving them enough to keep the engines running smoothly. Just makes sure you have worked out insurance and registration bills so that everyone is on the same page as to who is responsible to pay those bills.

​

Store: Another good option is to store your car while you are away. Just ensure this is done properly. This involves raising the tires off the ground, draining fluids from the engine and ensuring you have a secure place to keep it. One perk to this route is that you can change insurance to "storage" insurance which is much cheaper. 

​

​

2-4 Months Prior

​

Initial Travel Plans

​

Flight: Once you figure out how you will manage your responsibilities at home it is time to plan the fun things! The most important things to plan at least 2 months prior is your flight. We recommend shopping around for a few weeks to see how the prices change.  Often flights during mid-week and not around holidays will be cheapest. One possibility is booking through a travel agent which can sometimes give you a better deal. We booked directly through Air New Zealand (which was a wonderful airline) but there are many different options available so research until you find the cheapest for you! If you know when you want to come home, we recommend doing a round trip because often this is cheaper than two one-way fights. It is also possible to make the return ticket flexible (for extra money) but could still save you in the long run. 

​

Accommodation: Another important thing to plan in advance is where you will stay once you arrive.  Likely you will be tired and will need a place to recover from your jet lag. Dan and I booked an Air BnB for two weeks in Auckland.  This gave us time to recover, get settled, and gear up before hitting the road. Air BnB's tend to be cheaper than hotels and hostels (especially if traveling as a couple) and often give you more such as a kitchen, laundry, and wifi. It is also nice to stay with a local who may be able to help you get to know the area and country. Try to find something relatively close to the airport and public transportation so that it is not too difficult to get to when you are red-eyed and drowsy from a long day (or two) of travel. 

​

Overall Travel Plan: 

As much as Dan and I wanted to travel without an agenda and experience whatever seems interesting from day to day we still had to figure out how we wanted to travel around New Zealand and a general idea of the path we were going to take.  You will need to figure out what you all want to see and how you want to get around. Will you stay local, work in one area, or travel right away? How you will get around? Where will you stay? There are many transportation and accommodation options including buying a car, camper-van, taking the bus, train, helpx, woofing, or even house/pet-sitting.  Please refer to our Transportation and Accommodation page for more information on the various ways to travel around New Zealand. 

​

Budget: As much as we all love finances this is an important piece to start planning early on. How you plan to travel will very much affect the budget. It is important to figure out how much you can spend and how much you want to travel versus work in one area. This will affect how you can travel and where you will stay. Please refer to our Budget Page for a better picture of what our travel budget looks like for New Zealand.

​

2 months to departure date

​

Packing:  We recommend you start thinking about and packing your bags early on. It is best to have time to think about what will be most important to take with you. Space will be tight so extra time will allow you to make your pack the most efficient and best fit for you! Please refer to our page on Packing for more information about what is in our pack!

 

Research Transportation/Accommodations:  Now you should have an idea of how you will get around and where you will stay while traveling. We recommend doing research in this area so you can jump into it right when you arrive! If you are going to buy a car or campervan keep an eye out for available vehicles through the facebook group, trademe, turners, and other retailers. You may even be able to find something prior to arriving. If you are going to travel via bus or train make sure you understand the system and know where to catch them! For more information visit our Transportation and Accommodation page.

 

Bank Account:  Decide if you want or need to set up a bank account. If you plan to work while you travel a bank account will likely be required. If you will be traveling more than a couple of months a local bank account can likely save you money by preventing international transaction fees. In New Zealand, setting up an account is fairly simple and did not take a lot of time. We went through ANZ bank and were able to set up the account prior to leaving the USA. I would start this process at least 2 weeks prior to departure. They required us to email them copies of our passports, visas, and proof of address in the USA (our USA bank statement was good for this) and then they could set up our account. We were able to transfer money into this account before we left and then set up an appointment at an ANZ branch to finalize our account and get our debit cards. Visit ANZ website for more information.

 

IRD number:  If you want to work in New Zealand you will need an IRD tax number. You will also need a bank account and will need to set this up prior to applying for an IRD number. You can start this process prior to leaving, but we found it easiest to complete it once we arrived and had out bank account finalized. You can complete this application at the post office. You will need to send copies of your passport, visa, and proof of address in New Zealand with the application. A bank statement from New Zealand works well for this.  The bank and post office are well aware of what you need to do and are a very good resource. 

​

Cell phone & Communication Home:  You will need to figure out how to best communicate both in New Zealand and back home. As for having a phone in New Zealand, Dan and I brought our phones from the USA. We were then able to get a simcard from NZ for $2 and a phone plan for $20 a month. Make sure your phone is unlocked prior to leaving. We went through Vodafone and have had good luck with service and the price is very reasonable. We did a prepay plan so we can easily “top up” and add more data, text, or minutes to our plan. Data and minutes that are unused will role over from month to month. Vodafone also has packages you can add to your plan. For example, we have the chat pass which is $5 a month and gives us unlimited use on whatsapp, viber, and messenger without taking from our data. There is also the Social package which is the same concept but for facebook, twitter, instagram and snapchat. Visit Vodafone for more information on the available plans.  The other phone networks include Skinny, 2 degree, and Spark. 

 

Keeping your previous number:  Since you are putting a new sim card in your phone and going on a different network you will have to get a new “local” number. Our provider in the USA was verizon, and they are not very user friendly when it came to keeping our old number. However, we discovered a way to keep our old numbers active without having a cellphone provider attached to it. You can port your current number to a google voice number. This will allow you to receive text messages and voicemails through your email. We switched our numbers about one day before we left and it took about two days for it to make the official switch. It did cost $20 to do this per number but is worth it if your number is important to you! Check out port your number to google voice for more information.

 

Calling Home:  Your loved ones will want to know how they can contact you and hear about all of the fun you are having! For calling home we decided to go with the app “viber”. It is free to call or text anyone with the viber application. You can also “viber out” which allows you to call any number. There are international fees but they are much cheaper than any phone plan we found. Check out Viber for more information.  Other Applications such as whatsapp and messenger can be very useful in eliminating international calling fees as well.

 

We also recommend updating or making a contact list for the people most important to you. You may not have access to all of the numbers In your old phone or things can easily get lost when traveling so it is important to have backups available in case you need to contact someone!

​

​