Our world trip status update - 2 months to go
Even though the days until we take off are getting less and less and our ‘to do list before we leave’ is getting shorter and shorter, it still feels very unreal that we officially quit our jobs to go traveling for a year. I just can’t believe it and have to pinch myself to realize it. Ahhhh! We are super excited though and made some significant steps since I posted my first world trip status update. Just a little less than 2 months to go!
Subletting our apartment
Finding a good solution for our apartment situation was the thing that we were most worried about. What if our landlord makes a hassle about it? What if we don’t receive any serious requests? What if we don’t find anyone suitable to stay in our apartment during our travels?
We decided to try to find subtenants via our own network first to find someone suitable. Together with the announcement of our word trip, we posted some pictures of our apartment on Instagram. And it worked! We received some serious interest and we are very happy that we found the perfect couple to stay in our apartment. They have met with us and our landlord, the contract is signed and we are very relieved about it.
Status: we still have to re-arrange and organize some things in our apartment but the hardest part is done. We found the perfect subtenants for our apartment and the paperwork is done!
We are enjoying Berlin as much as we can, as we are surely going to miss our neighborhood
Picking up an international drivers license
Not sure if we will really need it but hey, better safe than sorry. In Germany you can get your international drivers license at the citizens office for €15. Just book your appointment way in advance or bring a lot of time as - as all Berliners know - it can take a while. I booked my appointment about 4 weeks in advance and could pick up my documents very quickly. Now the only thing I still need to do is to practice scooter riding because this might be the thing I am most scared about…
Status: international drivers license in the pocket!
Planning our world trip itinerary
The first step of planning a trip is of course setting a date and destination. We have a date, (January 1st), a first destination (Bangkok) and a rough time plan (we want to travel for about 11 months). Since we’ve heard amazing stories about Thailand and the travel comfort, we thought that should be a great starting point for us newbies to Southeast Asia and Asia in general. But where to go next?
Apart from the start date and first destination, everything else is still open. The second step is figuring out what we want. It makes it easier to pick the countries we want to visit (from a long loooong list) and to create a rough travel plan. So far we figured out that:
We want to visit a wide variety of landscapes (mountain, beachy and urban landscapes)
We want to get to know a variety of cultures
We want to travel on a ‘flashpacker budget’ (private rooms and affordable accommodations but not the cheapest of the cheapest)
We want to avoid flying where possible and take long distance trains and busses instead
We want to avoid extremely rainy seasons in countries where bad weather comes with certain travel/tour restrictions (e.g. in the Philippines)
I’m spending hours and hours on blogs, in Lonely Planets, on Skyscanner, on Google Maps and in Google Spreadsheets to figure out how our itinerary could look like. It gets me in the travel mood and I love it! Our current itinerary (subject to change) looks as follows:
Thailand (north), Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand (south), Malaysia, Australia (east), Indonesia, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Columbia, Costa Rica, Nicaragua
There is plenty to see in other parts of the world as well, but we want to concentrate on some regions in Asia and Central America to do the regions justice and avoid spending too much time on the road.
Our trip to Saxon Switzerland last weekend proved that Europe has lots to offer as well but we will save it for our next trips
For people like us, who love planning, setting-up schedules and booking everything in advance, it is going to be exciting to travel spontaneously. But that is exactly what we wanted. The freedom to stay somewhere longer or shorter if we want to, not knowing where we will be sleeping tomorrow and just let go. Having a rough itinerary seems to be the perfect balance for us and I am very excited about how we will like this way of traveling.
Status: a rough travel itinerary is in progress and so far we’ve identified 14 countries that we would love to visit.
Building our packing list
We already mentioned it: we love planning and organizing. So we already started building our packing list, did some ‘test packing’ (yepp, call us nerds) and bought some travel gadgets here and there. We are constantly looking for tools and gadgets that make our lifes easier and better but on the other hand we also want to travel as light as possible. So we need (or at least try) to be selective.
These things have made it into our shopping baskets:
A bite away stick - helpful for itching, pain and swelling caused by insect bites and stings
A LifeStraw water bottle - an advanced water filter bottle that filters bacteria, parasites and microplastics, chlorine and organic chemical
Luggage locks
Kai is test packing to see if everything fits
We are still thinking about getting a Pacsafe to lock our tech stuff when we are on the go and about some foldable bowls. I also still need to get a laptop to be able to edit photos and videos and hope to get a good deal with Black Friday. Fingers crossed!
Status: my packing list already contains 97 items! From motion sickness pills to flip flops and camera lenses. Let’s hope everything fits!
6 more weeks at work
We have taken all of our remaining holidays at the end of the year, meaning that December 13th will be our last day at work. Now that we are less than 2 months away from our first day of unemployment, we should go to the Federal Employment Agency (Bundesagentur für Arbeit).
Status: still need to complete one of the last bigger items on our to do list: visiting the Federal Employment Agency. It it on our list for next week!
To do list
Sometimes I freak out about the little things we still need to arrange or when I start thinking about ‘what when we come back?’ but overall I feel good and excited. Everything that we were worried about the most, has been done or at least sorted out.
Done
Quit our jobs
Quit our national health insurance and organized travel health insurance
Found subtenants for our apartment and finished all the paperwork
Booked train tickets to Amsterdam (we will be spending the holidays with my family in the Netherlands)
Booked first flight (Amsterdam to Bangkok) and first 5 nights in Bangkok
Got all the vaccinations
Got an international drivers licence
Got extra pass photos
Copied/scanned important documents
Cut unnecessary spendings
Spent a weekend in Dresden with Kais family and friends
In progress
Researching travel destinations (incl. daily budgets, Visa requirements and best/worst travel periods) and travel routes
Organizing our apartment and sell stuff online (this seems to be a never ending process)
Reducing or stopping contracts and insurances
Purchasing some items for the trip (laptop, hard drives, medicines)
Planning a goodbye party in Berlin
To do
Go to the Bundesagentur für Arbeit (Federal Employment Agency, BA) to inform them about our unemployment
Do administration
Set-up a mail forward program
More to come in our next update next month!