Health And Safety

Pin-cushion

Our arms felt like pin-cushions after we had all the vaccinations recommended by World Health Organization at our local travel clinic: Typhoid, Twinrix, and 2 times Japanese encephalitis. Luckily a couple of the vaccinations we had before going to Peru a couple of years ago were still valid. The vaccinations have to be done 8 weeks in advance as some of them have to be done twice. It is important to bring proof of vaccinations as some countries won't allow you entry without it.

Made by Stephanie in Elementary School

Travel Advisories

We signed up for travel advisories from the Canadian and the Danish ministries of foreign affairs to keep an eye on what might be going on in the countries we were going to visit. The travel insurance will not cover us if we go to a country or a region in a country, which the government has advised against going to. We also registered our itinerary with the two governments, so they can get in touch with us should trouble break out in the country we are in. 

The key is to be informed, not paranoid

- Anonymous

Travel Insurance
We do, of course, have world wide medical and theft coverage, as well as emergency air lift, so we are covered when hiking in the mountains.

Banking

All bills were set to automatic payment, and we can easily keep track online along the way. The respective banks and credit card companies were informed of our itinerary in order to avoid not being able to use the cards as the institutions might think they were stolen.

Personal Items

Since we have been lucky to rent out our home while we are away, we rented a small storage locker for our heirloom, personal documents and things of sentimental value. The 'crown jewels' are stored int the safety deposit box in the bank.

Luggage

We will be bringing safety pins of varying sizes to 'lock' the zips of the backpacks when carrying them as they then will be much more difficult to open for possible thieves, as well as a padlock with wire, so we can secure the backpacks anywhere, if necessary. We are also bringing water purification tablets, head lamps, whistles, rain covers, bed liners, emergency blankets and blister packs!

Documents

We have scanned and uploaded copies of important documents such as passports, birth certificates, travel insurance, bank and credit card numbers, e-tickets, itinerary and contact information to Google Drive as they are kept safe and easy to access offline.

You are only as safe as the last person, or fly, to handle your food 

- Mark Wise

Destination Everywhere - Research and Planning

To Plan or not to Plan?

We had decided when to go, where to go and how to go, so it was time to do some research and planning. Or was it? Most of the online travel blogs and websites of people who have traveled the world do NOT recommend making any but a few plans as things will change along the way anyway. Well, we are two people traveling, we are a middle-aged couple with different needs than 20 year old backpackers, we don't want to spend time along the way doing a lot of research, we had the time to do it, and, last but not least: for us planning the trip is a huge part of the trip itself, exciting and fun!

                                  The journey not the arrival matters 

                                                                         - T.S. Elliott

Travel Intelligence

So, over Christmas we took some pictures of the walls in our living room, put up an extra table, bought maps of the countries we want to go to, picked up travel books at the library, and set up a 'Research Lab'.  When I told my daughter she said that I had watched too much CSI!

Destination Everywhere

The Internet is, of course, a great resource, but, man, is it overwhelming!  You research one place, and in a few clicks you are on to somewhere or something totally different, and you have to back track. But it is also inspiring and full of valuable information. It worked well for us with a mix of travel intelligence from our friends and colleagues, maps on the wall, books and the Internet.

Courtesy: Study in Canada

Spreadsheet Galore

In order to keep track of our research, progress, web links (we were drowning in Bookmarks!) and various confirmations, we developed a spreadsheet with many different tabs, e.g. 

1) Itinerary 

2) Visa rules: we are not the same nationality, so who needs visa where?

2) Contact information for Canadian and Danish Embassies

3) Budget

4) To Do list

With a 'Little' Help from Our Friends

Several of our friends and colleagues had done similar trips, and they were very generously sharing their itineraries, ideas and tips, which was a tremendous help and very inspiring. So, why spend time researching accommodation, things to do or how to get from A to B, when we could get first hand information from somebody who had been to the destinations recently or new somebody there? THANK YOU!!

You got to be careful if you don’t know where you’re going, 

because you might not get there

 – Yogi Berra