Preparing for long term travel in 2021 and beyond.
What To Know Before You Leave The Country For Long Term Travel… This article may contain affiliate links, if you click and purchase, I may get a commission, this helps me create more content and sustain Zero Impact Travel’s mission to spread sustainable travel awareness.
You landed a remote job or handed in your walking papers and are setting out to a post COVID journey. GOOD FOR YOU! Before you jet off to your new co-working space, read these tips here to ensure you don’t make my mistakes like: losing access to your money, not having wifi or cell service, and not having access to critical apps like GMAIL because you can’t get past two-step SMS verification. Plan for longterm travel with these tips.
SECURE YOUR MONEY: Plan For Long Term Travel
We have a great article on saving money for long term travel here*. But how do you secure your money when you are in a different country? We show you how.
- Call your bank/credit card company and tell them you are travelling.
- Sign up for multiple additional bank accounts that have free worldwide ATMs. My preference is Transferwise* as they cater to an international audience.
- Make sure your credit cards are set up so you can make cash advances in an emergency.
SECURE YOUR APPS:
Many apps now have two factor verification, meaning you have to verify twice, once via email and then again via SMS, if you can not access your SMS messages because your phone plan does not have roaming, you will lose access.
Here is how to prevent losing access:
- Check to see if your phone SMS service has international roaming.
- If you don’t have roaming, either upgrade to a plan that does OR get a digital number with a service like TextNow. In the apps you use most, change your phone number to your digital number.
- Another option is to check each app you use for the authentication settings, some apps use third party apps for authentication, see if you can change two factor to an authentication app.
STAY CONNECTED:
Not having constant access to wifi, regardless of the country you are in IS DANGEROUS and expensive. In my experience it is 100% worth it to pay upfront for a device like Solis WiFi* they were super nice to give me a 15% off code: 0TRAVEL – It works in 150+ countries and you can top-up online in your account. 90% of my fails would have been avoided if I had this device, and I would saved way more than what it costs!
The next thing you need is a VPN, my personal favorite is Proton, you get 10 devices and unlimited data on their vast network, and a protonmail.com address that is great for keeping info secure. Alternatives are TunnelBear, and NordVPN… Just make sure you pick one and be sure to use it in a private place.
FINDING A PLACE TO WORK:
In order to avoid WIFI meltdowns, missed meetings, and annoying your team, you need to have a quiet space and fast wifi. Per the note above, a VPN keeps you safe if you are using wifi on a public network. Jen from The Soloist Traveler has an amazing article on how to work remotely in a foreign country. This is a must read!
*What To Know Before You Leave The Country For Long Term Travel. Some links may contain affiliate links, I may get a small commission should you make a purchase. This allows me to create more content at no cost to you.