Guys, I’m writing this with nothing but butterflies in my stomach. Trip prep has officially consumed all of our time. From packing, to selling our stuff, and buying what we need, WE COULD VOMIT from the excitement. It is making this trip feel SO REAL. Being a month out makes it hard to believe that it’s been eight months since we booked our tickets to Bangkok. As you can imagine, there is a lot that goes into trip prep, especially when you’re planning to be gone for at least 5 years. This has inevitably brought on a little anxiety since the trip is so close, and we still feel like our to-do list is endless. So, if you’re thinking about dropping everything to travel, read on below and see what we’ve been up to.
Step 1: Sell All Of Your Stuff
We started planning this trip while we were living in our two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment. We planned an estate sale to get rid of all of our furniture, and the bulk of our stuff. We sold everything else via Facebook, Consignment shops, and apps like OfferUp. Since we’re going to be gone for such a long time, Daniel and I sold our two cars, his in November and mine earlier this month. We are still getting rid of knick-knacks, and minor last minute things, but hope to be done by two weeks out. Everything that doesn’t sell is then getting donated to our friends over at Goodwill!
Step 2: Research, Research, Research
We made the decision to sell all of our stuff and travel before we really even knew where we were going. When you make a decision like drop everything to travel, you need to take permanent steps (like selling all of your stuff) first so that you don’t talk yourself out of it. 😛
We decided to go to Bangkok first, like many other smart backpackers do. Thailand, and South East Asia in general are very inexpensive. Our hostel in Bangkok runs about $10 a night, and the street food is between .50-$3. For the last 6 months we’ve been developing a rough itinerary of where we are going and what we’re going to be doing. (I’ll link that post right here when it’s done). The research is probably the most time consuming process because you need to not only look at where you’re going, but what the weather is going to be like, what you might need to pack, and what you will be doing there!
Step 2: Get the Right Equipment
As you know, during our travels we are going to be showcasing our adventures on our YouTube Channel, Chase for Adventure, on Instagram, and this blog. Because of this, we’ve had to do a serious upgrade to our camera equipment, and with that HOURS AND HOURS of research about what equipment is the best quality in the smallest package. For us to take all of our camera equipment, we’ve had to pack less personal belongings so we can fit everything in our two backpacks. This has required us to do “Trial Packs” to that we can see if all that we have will even fit. Here’s what we’ve gotten so far:
For Travel
Osprey Far Point 55L Backpack (x2)
Microfiber Towels (x2)
For the Vlog
Sony a6300 Mirrorless Camera (x2)
Adobe Creative Cloud
Tie up loose ends:
Doctors Appointments
Call Credit Card Companies to tell them we’re traveling
Travel Hacking
Get Travel Insurance (Or use this super awesome card, and get it free)
Cancel Health Insurance
Cancel recurring things like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Dollar Shave Club, etc…
Set up hangout with all of our friends that we won’t be seeing anymore
Step 3: Find a Way to Make this Sustainable!
Daniel and I have saved $15,000 to go on this trip. If we were to not work, that would probably get us through the first 6 months of traveling comfortably. We often get asked, what will you do if the money runs out? Well, the answer is simple, we will find work abroad if we need to, however, that’s not the goal. Our goal is to make our blog and vlog so successful that it allows us to fund our trip via sponsorships, classes, and other ideas we’ve got cooking. Let this be the first place you heard it, Chase for Adventure is going to monopolize the travel industry. Are you ready for it? We sure aren’t, but we will keep learning how! Lol 😀
Step 4: Pack- Realize you Overpacked- Pack Again
Before deciding what we were going to keep and sell, we had to figure out how much we were going to be able to take in our backpacks. When I did my first trial pack, after clearing out 90% of my closet, I had still packed way too much clothing. I had to condense my clothes from the XL Travel Cube to the medium travel cube. I almost cried.
In summary
We’ve been really busy working 40 hours a week at our “real” jobs, then another 35 hours a week on Chase for Adventure, and using any “free-time” we get to trial pack, learn how to use our equipment, and market. It’s stressful, but we know it will all be worth it!
If you liked this post, please help us be successful and share it with your friends!! Have a travel hack/ suggestion, please let me know in the comments below!