Step 4: Backpack

Whats backpacking around the world without a backpack? I decided that it only made sense that I had a post talking about the packs I plan on taking. My main pack will be a Kelty Coyote 4900. I think it’s made for camping and hiking, but it was one of the most comfortable packs I tried on. It has plenty of room and is able to compress to a pretty small profile when needed.

My daypack will be will be a North Face Recon which fits all my electronics so I can take it with me in places where I cannot lock it up. It too compresses to a small size. It has water bladder compartment which also fits my laptop pretty well. It wasn’t very comfortable when I first got it, but it has since then been broken in and fits me quite well.

Feeling Invincible

Finally got my last round of vaccinations today. Along with my antibiotics and malaria medicine, I'm invincible and ready to take on the world!

Step 3: Fund Access

Since the decline of the dollar I am trying to find ways to decrease my expenses. There are two main fees that I am familiar with thus far. The first a foreign transaction fee which gets applied when using your plastic in other countries with different currency. The second is the all too familiar cross bank ATM charge. We’ve all experienced the domestic charges before, but the foreign bank ATM charges are even more costly.

Anytime you use a credit card there are foreign transaction fees involved. Usually Visa and Mastercard charge the bank or whomever issued your card 3% of the transaction. On top of that, the credit card issuer also tacts on another 2-3% of their own. Which means by the time we see the charge it is already increased to 5-6%. That is a lot of money to throw away each time you use your card. Luckily I found that CapitalOne not only does not charge foreign transaction fees, but they also eat the 3% that Visa and Mastercard charges.

Another fee that I will most likely face is the notorious and annoying ATM charge. This varies from bank to bank, however there are some banks out that allow a certain number of free cross-bank ATM transactions before they start charge. Even more interesting is that I’ve heard there are banks that don’t charge ATM fees at all. Definitely a plus when traveling. I've opened up a HSBC Online Savings account which comes with an ATM debit card that I can use globally. There seems to be an ATM in most major cities. In addition I have learned that my accounts with Bank of America allow me to withdraw money from ATMs fee free belonging to the "Global ATM Allliance". For Europe this includes Barclays and BNP Parbias.

Step 2: Beefing Up the Immune System

I have a HSA account with my current employer which means each year I have a set amount of money that I can use towards medical expenses. When I leave my company all that money disappears. So before my departure date I plan on using as much of the money as I can.

I scheduled a dental cleaning appointment which is covered under my delta dental account. However any uncovered or co-pay procedures I am able to use my HSA account money to cover my half of the expenses. Well I didn’t have any cavities and cosmetic procedures are not covered.

I then moved on to vaccinations. I scheduled an appointment for travel vaccinations. Upon arrival I met my doctor who asked where I was going. I started verbally listing all my destinations starting with Ireland then working my way through Europe and by the time I got Northern Africa, I noticed that he had stopped taking notes. He looked up at me as if I was joking. I assured him that I was not and in fact had many more.
After listing off all the places I was recommended to have the following vaccinations: Polio, Hepatitis A/B, MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella), Tdap (Tetanus Diphtheria), and Typhoid. I guess I won’t be fully covered for hepB as the vaccine consists of three separate shots with separations of one and six months a part; meaning I will only be getting the first two shots. I would have another appointment a month from then to get my second HepB shot and to pick up Malaria and general antibiotics.

To my surprise all this was fully covered by insurance meaning I did not need to use my HSA money towards. So now I need to find further expenses that will eat up my account. I guess I will be taking a trip to CVS to load up on medical supplies or scheduling extra wellness medical procedures.

Step 1: Tickets Booked

The time is 8pm, I'm sitting at Panera Bread at the Plaza in Kansas City and I have just ordered two tickets from Kansas City to Washington DC to Dublin, Ireland. I've been monitoring kayak, cheaptickets, expedia and orbitz for sometime now and this seems to be the cheapest route to Europe. Nathan and I will be leaving March 31, 2008. Gene will be a day behind us, leaving on April 1st. Hopefully we will somehow rendezvous a day later, or Gene will have pulled off one of the best April Fools pranks in history.